Now Who's Choking?

#13 on THE LIST: Eating 1,000 different fruits/veggies/plants is beginning to look slightly more difficult than planned. I've been recording for a few weeks now, and I've only packed in 30 plants!!! Uhhhhht- oh. And with the staples like onion, garlic and tomatoes already on board, how am I to fill up 970 more slots????

The answer - eat crazy stuff, stuff you and no one else would normally eat, clumsily figure out a way how to prep it and then eat it. This is not a mission for the faint of mouth!

On my quest for these under-appreciated plants, I stumbled onto this 'thing' that looked like a cross between ginger and potato, smooth and nubby. I didn't know what this thing was or how this thing tasted, but I bought it. The rest I could figure out later, right?

It was a Jerusalem artichoke (aka the Sunchoke, aka the Sunroot, aka Aardpeer (earth-pear) in Dutch). Despite it's name, the Jerusalem artichoke is not an artichoke and it's not even from Jerusalem???? really? Really. So what's with the name? Basically it comes down to word corruption and garbling of languages. Nuff said.

So what was it like? Well, basically it was delicious. I prepped it simply - boiled then stir-fried it with a little bit of butter. It was creamy, sweet, kinda like a potato, but better. Maybe better because it was new and exciting, but it left me scratching my head "why doesn't everyone eat these - ALL - THE - TIME??"

I'll tell you why. Gas.

Although I didn't experience this 'unladylike' side-effect, this ('ahem') problem is probably directed related to it's absence in many fine-dining restaurants.

So should you indulge in this nutritious and scrumptious treat??? Perhaps. Perhaps first in the privacy of your own home.