Why is the sunchoke also known as a Jerusalem artichoke?
There are several theories: That it is a corruption of the Italian word “girasola”, meaning “turning toward the sun,” a reference to the sunflower. That it is a corruption of the “Ter Neusen”, Netherlands area where the sunchoke was originally introduced to Europe. “Artichoke” comes from the Arabic “al-khurshuf”, meaning thistle. Thistles have above-ground foliage.
