When I searched for its English translation, I found several names for this strange vegetable. Some of them are jerusalem artichoke(does it have a relation with Jerusalem?), sunchoke, sunroot and earth apple, but I loved topinambur the most among these. I don’t know where this word is coming from, but I love the sound in it. When I first read it aloud, I thought it sounded like the meaningless words used by illusionists. We call it ‘yer elması’ in Turkish, meaning earth apple.
Although they have a very ugly texture, I find topinamburs so cute with their craggy structure and different color. Despite its unusual look, it is a great source of glucose and minerals. And it is generally advised to people who can’t gain weight as it has a fattening effect. I wasn’t aware of this until my hubby bought some a few years ago. Yes, I had heard its name several times before, but hadn’t tasted until then. I didn’t have any idea about how to eat it. I didn’t even know if it is in the category of vegetable or fruit. He grabbed a knife and cut one of the topinamburs, peeled it and ate it cutting into slices. He was eating it just like an apple. When I got a bite of it, I felt itwas so much like raw potato. Then I decided to try cooking it in the same way with celery root.
I must also say that it is not so easy to chop topinamburs. It may sound nonsense, but I definitely feel that I’m chopping a living thing when I see some pinkish lines inside it which look like blood vessels. That’s why it is hard to chop them.
PrintTopinambur With Olive Oil
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4
Ingredients
- 4 cups topinambur,chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- Half lemon
- Half orange
- 1 sugar cube
- Salt to taste
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Celery leaves
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Put the chopped topinamburs in a bowl and squeeze half lemon on it. This will prevent the topinamburs from blackening.
- Saute the onions and carrots with olive oil in a pot. Then put the chopped topinamburs with the lemon juice, squeeze half orange.
- Add a sugar cube and salt and stir.
- Pour water after 5 minutes. Then cover the pot and lower the heat. Cook it until carrots and topinamburs get tender.
- Serve it with some celery leaves, either warm or cold.
Zerrin, here in Canada we call these “Jerusalem artichokes”, I’ve never heard them called anything else – topinambur seems to be the German name for them. And although they are native to North America I’ve never eaten them – although I have seen them grown, they are fairly uncommon, and I have not seen them in supermarkets here. Sound like they might be worth trying, though!
Whichever name you cal them by you can’t deny that they do taste really good.
Zerrin, here in the states they go by Jerusalem Artichokes (maybe because they sound more exotic than their appearance implies) or sunchokes. They are delicious and I love the sound of this soup you made so hearty with all the bits of vegetables and refreshing (the orange juice sounds lovely) Thanks for sharing and educating all at the same time.
I love these babies. They are naturally sweet? But so delicate as well.
I am a big fan of Jerusalem Artichokes – I particularly love them just roasted with olive oil – I would love to try it in a soup like that one day… and topinambur does sound better!
Always great to learn new ingredients!
This is one veggie I’ve never had — the flavor sounds very unique (and delicious!) though. It sounds like cooking it similar to a potato worked perfectly!
I call them sunchokes (or Jerusalem artichokes) and they are one of my favorite veggies! I love this soup recipe, so delicious!
I so love topinamboures or jerusalem artichokes in English or sunchokes in American!! We, in Dutch call them aardperen!! They are so good for you too, with inulin in them instead of insuline!
This dish is very appealing to me !!! MMMMM,…A Happy Belated Blog anniversary to you!! Cheers!
I like them too, but beware, too many can give you some serious gas. They contain an indigestible fiber called inulin.
Interesting! I would love to try them ! I wonder if they taste like “colcass’
Ppl have been asking me about this root as they think it is what we call eddoes. It looks like an eddoe but the skin is too purple.
I didnt know that u can use acid on the root veg to prevent it from blackening.
I am going to try that with white sweet potato as it always turns black when I am working with it. Thanks for another great recipe and useful tips.
that vegetable looks like galangal almost! the soup look so delicious..i learnt something new from u today ! TQ :))
They’re called topinambur in Italy too! (and yes I like that mysterious name better, even if I don’t know anything about the origins). The most common way topinambur is used is in the dish bagna cauda – a strong-flavored sauce made with anchovies, garlic, milk and olive oil. It’s a popular dish in the Piemonte region, and not only topinambur but other cooked and fresh vegetables are dipped into this sauce. It’s always fun to get invited to a bagna cauda (BAH-n’yah COW-dah) party!
I haven’t had this vegetable in a while. I can’t remember what it tastes like. But I do love them.
Here in the U.S, we called it Jerusalem artichoke. Not sure if its has anything to do with Jerusalem though. For sure, your soup look delicious Zerrrin.
I think I’ve seen it back home, love to try it one day. Thanks for the recipe, Zerrin.
Olive oil is very tasty and has some nutty taste too.”:`
mmmmmm. looks delicious, thanks for that recipe