Giving Jerusalem Artichokes another try

[squeezyjohn]

Just had my first (absolutely delicious) meal of jerusalem artichokes for absolutely ages.

Wish me luck! 

[squeezyjohn]

[pumkinlover]

Lovely, hope that you are back down to earth tomorrow.

[Paulh]

Yes, I had my first for the year today, too.

[small]

I dug a whole load a week or two back, more to clear a space than to harvest. but had some lovely huge tubers so I made a batch of soup - delicious, it was. I was hoping that the soup process might soften the effects, alas no!

[squeezyjohn]

I don't know what all the fuss is about ... no different to usual!

[Vinlander]

I dug a whole load a week or two back, more to clear a space than to harvest. but had some lovely huge tubers so I made a batch of soup - delicious, it was. I was hoping that the soup process might soften the effects, alas no!

I made some suggestions in "Novelties" = best picked straight into into the compost bin. « Reply #37 on: November 17, 2017, 10:41:39 »

[ACE]

Is it just me or is delicious usually given to something that tastes like paraffin wax candles.

[pumkinlover]

I think that they are best in soup.
However as I have previously said their use has been prohibited.!

[terrier]

Ah! The much maligned JA. Evidently, people harvest them too soon. They should be left in the ground for much longer until they are fully matured, this, evidently alleviates much of the side effects. Unfortunately, I stopped growing them after a couple of tries due to the fact that I hate the taste as well 

[squeezyjohn]

Is it just me or is delicious usually given to something that tastes like paraffin wax candles.

They don't taste like paraffin wax candles (actually I don't know because I've never eaten them ... and don't even know what they are) ... they taste like sunflower seeds - sweet, nutty and aromatic.  One of the best roasting root vegetables by far.

[Obelixx]

Love them in soup but also instead of potatoes in a gratin dauphinoise.   Just have to make sure we're not going anywhere the day after altho we eat so many veggies and pulses the wind effect is less strong these days.

[ACE]

They don't taste like paraffin wax candles (actually I don't know because I've never eaten them ... and don't even know what they are) ... they taste like sunflower seeds - sweet, nutty and aromatic.  One of the best roasting root vegetables by far.

It must be the aromatic that put me off. I grew some years ago and I could not get on with the 'aromatic hints'. Being semi self sufficient back then I fed them to the goats only to pick up the same aroma in the milk. Perhaps now my taste buds have been blasted away  by being rather partial to a drop of the cratur I should try them again.

[Beersmith]

Just had my first (absolutely delicious) meal of jerusalem artichokes for absolutely ages.

Wish me luck! 

I am not sure if it is you that needs the luck, or the other members of your family!!

[squeezyjohn]

I am not sure if it is you that needs the luck, or the other members of your family!!

As I said before ... absolutely no ill effects ... well ... no more than usual 

[Vinlander]

It must be the aromatic that put me off. I grew some years ago and I could not get on with the 'aromatic hints'. Being semi self sufficient back then I fed them to the goats only to pick up the same aroma in the milk. Perhaps now my taste buds have been blasted away  by being rather partial to a drop of the cratur I should try them again.

Aromatic is supposed to be mostly good - for example, aromatics are the first things lost when apples are bred for yield rather than flavour - culminating in vile pap like Gala, Golden Delicious (sic) and Bertrand (another French product that's even more annoying because it looks a bit like Egremont Russet) .

This money-driven trend is so pervasive that some people are shocked by flavour appearing in foods they know, and many don't like it - dumbing food down and making it harder and harder to buy the real thing. This vicious circle really pisses me off - in fact I'm now deliberately crusading against blandness.

I do agree that aromatics that trigger unpleasant associations are horrible - but that's a deeply personal thing.

I only ever bought one Babaco fruit - I was disgusted by the overwhelming taste of washing-up liquid (much worse than horrible so-called "extra-smooth" beers**). But I got a non-detergenty babaco clone in a swap and it's enjoyable - though I wish I could find time to try Plan A - using it as a rootstock for papayas.

I get a petrol headache when I eat shop-sourced (orange) cape gooseberries, but the properly annual species is easier and ripens to amber and doesn't have that taste. Growing and picking the perennial ones early - at amber all-over - dodges most of the problem (they are also much easier to enjoy when you haven't paid for them).

Cheers.

**PS. I also really hate the fact that every day it gets harder to find the real thing because so many people like things better if they have none of the disturbing stuff that makes them different:

Preferring beers that taste more like water than beer... sometimes worse than water.
Preferring whisky that doesn't taste of whisky (though some Speysides are very good)
Preferring meat that doesn't taste like meat...
Preferring Science Fiction films that aren't - they are just ordinary plots moved to "a future" like eastenders in Space (too many to mention) or discrimination/inquisition in Space (eg. Gattaca) - don't even think about mentioning that worthless piece of manure called "Gravity" (Antarctica/desert/shipwrecked etc etc. in Space but with horrendous mistakes in the  Physics and Dynamics).

I could go on.

I have to admit that some people accuse me of only liking the "slightly weird" kind of "country music" that doesn't sound quite right - but that's because it sounds like Music - and they don't really like that.

I don't begrudge them their opinion, but they are also ignorant because they are failing to recognise Bluegrass when they hear it.

[Vinlander]

Ah! The much maligned JA. Evidently, people harvest them too soon. They should be left in the ground for much longer until they are fully matured, this, evidently alleviates much of the side effects. Unfortunately, I stopped growing them after a couple of tries due to the fact that I hate the taste as well 

Since you don't like them... when you say "fully matured" do you mean rotted away? eaten by pests?

I generally dig them as needed; up to and sometimes beyond the time when they have made sprouts underground (quite a useful substitute for beansprouts) and I've never noticed any 'gas improvement'.

I have been known to dig them in early September and never noticed anything worse apart from slightly less yield (I needed them for the first roast of the season). The compensation is how they come out so amazingly clean if you dig before the rains.

On that aspect - does "fully matured" mean impossible to find in the mud? - I've been known to give up after losing wellies without trace in February (only finding them stuck on the end of my fork next year).

Cheers.