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Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: kmark on December 13, 2010, 19:09:18

Title: artichokes
Post by: kmark on December 13, 2010, 19:09:18
Tried these for the first time the other day ;D, they should be named "fartychokes"!
          Good tip,- dont go on a date after eating them  ::)

                       Regards,
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: saddad on December 13, 2010, 19:13:47
Renowned for it...  ;D
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: PurpleHeather on December 13, 2010, 19:56:29
Well, there is plenty of info about it.

If you must try it for yourself to find out if we are telling fibs..........

You deserve what you get and the repeats..
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: daitheplant on December 13, 2010, 20:41:25
Keep away from naked flames after eating Globe Artichokes. ;D
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: pumkinlover on December 13, 2010, 21:22:46
Try soaking in water then boiling them,  then using as you would have done. It helps a bit, well a very little bit.
Ok not much. I have been "banned" from growing them.
Don't understand it really :D :D
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: Duke Ellington on December 13, 2010, 21:53:30
What is in them that makes you *break wind* :-[???

Duke
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: daitheplant on December 13, 2010, 21:58:48
They are very good if you can`t afford a jacuzzi.lol
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: grawrc on December 13, 2010, 22:10:01
I know this is a problem with Jerusalem artichokes but I've never heard of it in relation to globe artichokes. Apparently the problem is a high level of inulin and complex carbohydrates which our body finds difficult to break down. It is broken down by bacteria in the bowel rather than digestive enzymes.

But don't quote me on that! ;)
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: pumkinlover on December 13, 2010, 22:10:30
Quote from: Duke Ellington on December 13, 2010, 21:53:30
What is in them that makes you *break wind* :-[???

Duke

They have a carbohydrate called inulin (not insulin)! as the body breaks this down it produces the side effect that they are known for. It is supposed to be healthy though-the inulin that is.

I think they make a lovely addition to soup-but alas no more ???
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: antipodes on December 15, 2010, 15:59:21
mmm probably my favorite vegetable.
But I am intrigued as to how you get to eat them in December Unless you are in the southern hemisphere - they are a spring vegetable  ???
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: Robert_Brenchley on December 15, 2010, 17:55:35
I lift mine any time after the foliage dies back.
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: Flighty on December 15, 2010, 18:08:32
Antipodes here in the UK Jerusalem artichoke tubers are lifted as required anytime between the end of October and early March!
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: kippers garden on December 17, 2010, 08:17:32
We call them 'Fartichokes'

You can make an artichoke soup out of them...but i daren't as i think we would all blow a hole in our roof
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: jontaylor9 on December 18, 2010, 13:44:35
I'm a big fan of jerusalem artichokes they look good in the summer shooting up to 10ft tall and give a reliable root harvest in the winter. I cut them into fingers, peel, slice into discs and fry in a little oil until they brown and go deliciously creamy. Leave a few in the ground for next years harvest.
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: allanwoolley on December 18, 2010, 14:52:57
They are supposed to be very good for you, and what's wrong with some farting?
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: cleo on December 24, 2010, 14:06:00
That first time you invite him/her to `sleep over` make a gratin of Jerusalem artichokes.

If you are still speaking the following morning-that`s one hurdle less to living together happily ;D
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: saddad on December 24, 2010, 15:18:45
Bricks on the corners of the duvet...
and a room that smells like a giraffe enclosure...  :-X
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: Obelixx on December 24, 2010, 15:34:20
Once upon a time I made a fartichoke gartin for a dinner with friends - same recipe as for gratin dauphinois with spuds.  It was absolutely delicious but the two Kiwi friends who ate it were up all night with painful wind and thought I'd given them food poisoning.   Clearly not enough fibre in their usual diet.

I have a few plants out there now waiting to be harvested but they're under a foot of more of snow in ground that's already frozen.................

 
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: chriscross1966 on December 30, 2010, 12:45:57
Grew them on the old plot.... mice got most adn the rest did live up to the rep.... if you need an "alternative" rootcrop I'd suggest celeriac, they need a stupid amount of water (I put mine on the watering circuit that fed the greenhouse so their soaker hose got 2 hours a day....) but are otherwise easy.... good alternative to parsnips, easy to start in modules (a huge plus as far as I'm concerned) tase somewhat liek parsnips with a big dash of celery salt.... lovely roasted, treat as parsnips.... apparently the French make a salad out of the grated up, but then they're a bunch of randy unwashed cheese-eating surrender monkeys so YMMV....

Mine have withstood the recent weather with aplomb and have the big advantage over a parsnip when the ground is frozen that you aren't pulling out of the ground, you're just taking it off the top really......

chrisc
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: pumkinlover on December 30, 2010, 13:16:20
Before I was banned from growing them, I never gave them extra water. did not know they needed it.

Any chance the "windiness" is reduced if they get a lot of water? :-\
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: grawrc on December 30, 2010, 17:17:15
It's celeriac that needs a lot of water not ja.
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: Vinlander on January 01, 2011, 22:48:38
The problem in Jerusalem Artichokes definitely comes from inulin, but I doubt that the similar flavour in Globe Artichoke heads comes from the same - they are supposed to reduce flatulence!

Also the sweetness in the globe ones becomes more pronounced as you dig in - that's because it has an even more special substance (not a sugar) that acts on your tongue to make everything you eat afterwards taste sweet.

Inulin can be broken down into other more digestible (but worse GI) sugars.

I find long slow cooking helps JAs - basically if you are roasting them leave the skin on (so they don't disintegrate) - you need to end up with slightly shrunken bags of mush. Absolutely delicious.

However Obbelix is right - any guests unused to a high fibre diet will still have some small problems whatever you do.

Cheers.

PS. JAs can be fermented and are highly rated as a feedstock for making industrial alcohol. And in Germany there is a JA schnapps (which I look forward to trying).

Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: grawrc on January 01, 2011, 23:11:53
Well I've tasted my first jerusalem artichokes ... and decided not to grow any!!  I made some soup with a bag of ja from the farmers' market. The texture and consistency was great but I didn't think much of the flat, back of the palate taste. I ended up adding cumin and coriander to make it more appetising but still couldn't get away from that aftertaste. So I'm not planting any! There are so many other things I would rather eat it seems kind of silly not to stick with them.
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: sunloving on January 02, 2011, 10:19:48
Is it a myth that if you cook them with winter savory that the fart factor is reduced?
Its just me and the dog though here so just have to stay out of the local library on artichoke day!
:)

x sunloving
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: lottie lou on January 02, 2011, 20:21:53
I put in a dozen plants and the returns are phenomenal, however.........  So that's why my celeriac only grew lovely greenery with nothing on the bottim - not enough water!!!  Thanks for the advice
Title: Re: artichokes
Post by: Vinlander on January 02, 2011, 20:57:34
Quote from: grawrc on January 01, 2011, 23:11:53
Well I've tasted my first jerusalem artichokes ... and decided not to grow any!!  I made some soup with a bag of ja from the farmers' market. The texture and consistency was great but I didn't think much of the flat, back of the palate taste. I ended up adding cumin and coriander to make it more appetising but still couldn't get away from that aftertaste. So I'm not planting any! There are so many other things I would rather eat it seems kind of silly not to stick with them.

I don't recognise that flat, back of the palate taste you describe - I might say something similar about beetroot but not JAs...

I start with at least 10% onion softened in butter before braising the JA tubers long and slowly (which also reduces windiness) in LOTS of butter.

If you look it up on google you will find lots of people who think it is the best soup in the world...

It's also worth trying them slow roasted before giving up on them - they are the easiest of all veg to grow well - the only problem is avoiding a glut every single year.

A good candidate for guerilla gardening in your local rough ground or neglected verge!

I have high hopes for my JA and (woody) parsnip wine still brewing from the spring.

Cheers.