SC - artichokes

[Laura C. Minnick]

Stefan li Rous wrote:

> There do appear to be at least two types of artichokes. One is
> European and one is American. From this, I imagine what I see in
> the vegetable counters here in the US is the "Jerusalem artichoke",
> right?

Not around here! Generally in my experience, a 'Jerusalem Artichoke'
(which a sort of starchy tuber-oid thing) is clearly labelled such. It
looks _nothing_ like a standard artichoke. Standard artichokes are
usually about the size of a softball, and look like giant thistle heads-
which, of course, is what they are. They are green. Jerusalem artichokes
are brown. They are nothing alike and are not interchangable. I don't
know why the name is the way it is.
 
Artichokes are steamed or boiled, and then you dip the leaves (in melted
butter or mayonnaise, sometimes with lemon juice), and drag the inner
side of the leaves over your bottom teeth, scraping off the soft flesh.
All too delicious... *sigh* why do I feel like I've been writing soft
core? ;-)

'Lainie