A Jerusalem artichoke (also known as a sunroot, sunchoke or topinambour) is a gnarled lump of a root vegetable with a tenacious off-white or reddish skin that is surprisingly a species of sunflower (its big yellow flowers do not accompany the edible tubor to the market).

Looks can be deceiving. Steam it carefully (too long and it will turn to mush), or boil and mash it and you have a silky purée with a fine-flavored artichoke taste. It makes a lovely white soup as well.

The Jerusalem artichoke is neither from Jerusalem nor is it an artichoke (though they are from the same family). It was originally cultivated by Native Americans (they called them "sun roots") and was introduced in Europe by French explorer Samuel de Champlain, who discovered them in Cape Cod in 1605. Some historians believe that the "Jerusalem" part came about when Europeans, who initially called it a "girasole," the Italian word for sunflower, changed the name to the similar-sounding Jerusalem to avoid confusion.