Sunchokes are a rather uncommon but delicious root vegetable that I was introduced to a few years ago around this time of year. I was reminded of them when they popped up on the menu at the restaurant that I work at a few days ago. They are also more commonly known as Jerusalem Artichokes, but they are neither from Jerusalem, nor are they an artichoke. It's theorized that the Jerusalem part is a corruption of the word
girasole, as they were called by Europeans who discovered the plant which is indigenous to North America. An early French explorer, Samuel de Champlain, in particular sent the roots back to Europe and compared their flavor to the European artichoke after being introduced to them by Native Americans, hence the artichoke part of the name. To avoid confusion, many have begun to refer to them by the name Sunchoke, a combination of sunflower and artichoke.