I've planted and grown Jerusalem artichokes twice. The first time I was living in a wee cottage with just a strip of garden about three metres long and less than a metre wide between the wall and the pavement. I planted all sorts of things there. I had beautiful nasturtiums climbing up the wall and I sprinkled a packet of 'cottage garden' flower seeds around and got cornflowers, poppies, daisies and a bunch of other stuff. I planted herbs as well - mint, oregano, basil, chives and sage. Everything flourished but the thing that grew best was an artichoke plant. I had bought a few pounds of knobbly roots from the organic green-grocer and stuck one in the soil under the kitchen window just to see what would happen. And what happened? Jack and the beanstalk - that's what happened. It grew and grew, covered up the window and almost reached the second floor and then a big spray of brilliant yellow miniature sunflowers appeared at the top. It was one of the best plants I've ever grown and in the autumn I dug it up and got a load of tubers from amongst the roots.
The following spring, long after I'd forgotten about the great artichoke tree of the previous summer, a whole load of small artichoke plants sprung up from the tubers I'd missed during the autumn harvest. None were as big as the original mother-monster but they produced pretty flowers all the same. The next year there were even more of them and I started getting a bit fed up because there wasn't much room to plant anything else.
My second artichoke adventure took place in Kazakhstan. We bought an abandoned dacha and when we went to explore our new territory, I recognised a patch of very familiar yellow flowers growing on the edge of the compost heap. As the land was bordered by a bare metal fence that people could see through from the track, I transplanted some of the plants to make a hedge. The first year they didn't do so well, but on subsequent years vigorous lush green shoots would appear in spring and a tall thick flowery hedge would be in place by the time we started sunbathing and swimming in our wee pool.
Jerusalem artichokes are beautiful plants and the tubers also make good food. They are good for the blood and liver and have pro-biotic qualities, which means they encourage beneficial bacteria to flourish in the gut (this also means they make you fart, but we'll count that as but a minor side-effect). One of the best ways to prepare them is as soup. Depending on how knobbly your particular bunch of artichokes is, they can be very difficult and fiddly to peel. There are smooth varieties, but the kind I grew and the kind I made this soup with were all rather lumpy. One or two of my last lot were like hedgehogs. In this recipe I've used a technique which I think makes the preparation much easier and less time consuming. We boil the roots whole and then remove the skins.
As the title states, this is a zero-fat recipe. Jerusalem artichokes have a wonderful texture which produces a thick and filling soup without the need to use oil. You can add some if you like, but what I recommend, if you don't mind a tiny wee bit of fat in your soup, is the addition of a large blob of yoghurt when serving. It tastes great and provides just the sort of beneficial bacteria that artichokes encourage.
I made this soup just for me and Sveta, but I'll give quantities for four people here.
Ingredients
1 kg of Jerusalem artichokes
1 bay leaf
A few black peppercorns
Some chopped fresh herbs - parsley, coriander, mint and/or green onions
A couple of stock cubes or some stock powder
1 -1.5 litres of water.
Give the artichokes a quick scrub to remove any soil and boil them whole for about 15 minutes. Drain off the water and cover with cold water so that they are cool enough to handle.
Peel the artichokes, return them to the pan and mash well. Add the water, stock and bay leaf, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in some chopped herbs and crushed peppercorns and serve.