From WikiPedia: The Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus), also called the sunroot or sunchoke or earth apple or topinambur, is a species of sunflower native to the eastern United States, from Maine west to North Dakota, and south to northern Florida and Texas. It is also cultivated widely across the temperate world for its tuber, which is used as a root vegetable. The tubers have a consistency much like potatoes, and in their raw form have the same taste as potatoes except with crispness and a slight powdery note. The carbohydrates give the tubers a tendency to become very soft and mushy if boiled, so it is best to steam them lightly if it is desired to preserve their texture. The inulin is not well digested by some people, leading to the misconception that sunchokes are not edible or an assumption that they cause flatulence and gastric pain. Gerard's Herbal, printed in 1621, quotes the English planter John Goodyer on Jerusalem artichokes: "which way soever they be dressed and eaten, they stir and cause a filthy loathsome stinking wind within the body, thereby causing the belly to be pained and tormented, and are a meat more fit for swine than men." Jerusalem artichokes are sold in the produce departments of many supermarkets. They are usually pre-packaged in a plastic tray labeled for specialty food sales, but some stores carry them loose in baskets or bins, where they look like kiwi-sized gnarled potatoes or ginger root. The freshest roots are plump and vibrant in appearance. If they are left too long in the open, they become wrinkled and soft and can develop a bitter taste. Fresh and steamed they have a mild, sweet and nutty flavor. From about.com: Jerusalem artichokes are not artichokes and do not come from Jerusalem. If it is not an artichoke and it is not from Jerusalem, you ask, where in the world did the name come from? One theory holds "Jerusalem" is a corruption of the Italian "girasola," meaning "turning toward the sun," a reference to the sunflower. Another theory involves another garbling of the Ter Neusen, Netherlands area where the sunchoke was originally introduced to Europe. "Artichoke" comes from the Arabic "al-khurshuf," meaning thistle, another reference to appearance of the above-ground foliation. Sir Walter Raleigh found Native Americans cultivating sunroots in what is now Virginia in 1585. When the sunchoke reached Europe in the early 1600s, thanks to Samuel de Champlain, it was known as the "Canada" or "French" potato. The French, who call it topinambour (incidentally also a term used for an uncouth, uneducated person), are credited with improving the tubers and cultivating sunchokes on a larger scale. For many years, the Jerusalem artichoke was shunned due to an old wives' tale linking it to leprosy simply because of the similarity of the tubers to the shape of deformed fingers caused by the disease. During World War II, sunchokes and rutabagas were the most prevalent vegetables, giving them the reputation as a poor man's vegetable. Over 200 varieties are now available. They are used not only in many commercial products as a fructose source, but also to make alcohol. The sunchoke has always been cultivated much more extensively in Europe than in America.