Jerusalem Artichoke

from wikipedia:
helianthus tuberosus, also called the sunroot or sunchoke or earth apple or topinambur, is a species of sunflower native to the eastern United States. it is also cultivated widely across the temperate zone for its tuber, which is used as a root vegetable.

despite its name, the jerusalem artichoke has no relation to jerusalem, and it is not a type of artichoke, even though both are members of the daisy family. the origin of the name is uncertain. to avoid confusion some people have recently started to refer to it as sunchoke or sunroot.

the artichoke part of the jerusalem artichoke's name comes from the taste of its edible tuber. samuel de champlain, the french explorer, sent the first samples of the plant to france, noting that its taste was similar to an artichoke.

jerusalem artichokes were first cultivated by the native americans (who called them "sun roots" long before the arrival of the europeans; this extensive cultivation makes the exact native range of the species obscure. the jerusalem artichoke was titled 'best soup vegetable' in the 2002 nice festival for the heritage of the french cuisine.

In the baden-württemberg, germany, over 90 percent of the jerusalem artichoke root is used to produce a spirit called "topinambur", "topi" or "rossler".