It's
3:30 in the morning and I'm pulling into the San Francisco
Wholesale Produce
Market in my truck to
go to make my daily produce purchases. The Terminal Market
is a brightly lit city in its own bustling with countless
trucks and forklifts. Worker’s coffee cups on top
of boxes, some in hand, and some creatively attached
to forklifts
all send up signals of steam against the frigid early
November morning. Another season has arrived. Pallets
and pallets
of boxes with several varieties of fresh produce items
line the stalls like a city skyline. Buyers and sellers
haggle
over prices as the porters with hand trucks and pallet
jacks scramble along the docks filling trucks. Several
rows of
colorful boxes are lined up awaiting the orders of Bay
Area stores and restaurants. As
I find a spot to back in my truck and begin the walk
from stall to stall looking at all
of the new arrivals,
I think to myself: why did I get back into this? Long hours,
hard work… Well anyway here I go… First a quality
check here and a price check there along the way. Okay,
I’ve seen what’s here and now its time to re-walk
the market and make my buys. Besides all of the items that
I need for the store I am searching for the new crop of
Sunchokes. This edible root from the sunflower family is
a favorite not only of several of my customers, but of
mine as well. In the past it was marketed as Jerusalem
Artichokes, but it didn’t go over very well. It is
neither from Jerusalem nor is it an artichoke. It is native
to North America and was found growing along the eastern
seaboard from Nova Scotia to the southern states of the
U.S. Grown by American Indians who called them sun roots,
they made their way back to France via Samuel de Champlain
and eventually Italy. That is where the name became victim
of the children’s game “telephone.” The
Italian word for Sunflower is “girasole” which
means “turning toward the sun.” Somehow, some
way girasole became Jerusalem and because Champlain insisted
that they tasted like artichokes Jerusalem and artichoke
was combined. For years known as Jerusalem artichokes the
roots made a smash hit across Europe, all along being enjoyed
as a staple by Native Americans and pilgrim settlers.
The
more realistic and appealing name for the tubers, Sunchokes
finally came full circle in the late 1980’s when
growers were looking to re-popularize their crop as an
older more acquainted generation faded and a younger generation
ignorant. |
The resurgence of Sunchokes also came about by an up and
coming slew of young chefs and clever marketing practices.
The flavor of Sunchokes does resemble that of an artichoke
heart along with an earthy, sweet and nutty taste.
The texture is crisp when eaten raw and tender when
cooked.
Sunchokes
can be deep fried, steamed, diced and sautéed,
slivered into salads, baked, sliced and thrown into
a stir-fry.
Although Sunchokes are available pretty much year round,
the prominent season is November through March. Sunchokes
are grown in cool climates along the eastern United States,
Central California, Washington and Minnesota. The Sunflower
plant that produces them has several branches and is very
leafy with many little sunflowers on the same plant. Two
varieties exist that are commercially grown; red, long and
knobby and brown, round and knobby. Both are the same inside.
When selecting Sunchokes in the store look for firm
full colored tubers, keep away from green, sprouting,
slimy
or flabby, wrinkled roots. Uneven and knobby roots
are normal.
At home scrub them with a vegetable brush to remove
any soil, remember, they are roots. Packaged Sunchokes
are
usually
nice and clean and that is what I see today at the
wholesale market. I’ll buy the nice clean packaged
Sunchokes and cut open the bags.
That’s my last item on the list today. “Hey
guys, let’s get these Sunchokes on my truck so I
can get out of here!” As my truck is loaded I look
at the early morning sky, dawn is breaking over the wholesale
market. The bustling is getting heavier and all the fruit
and vegetable boxes and crates are dwindling until tomorrow
morning. “It’s beautiful,” I think to
myself, and I love it. I’m happy to have gotten
back into the game.
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