Jerusalem artichoke
Jerusalem artichokes were first cultivated by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, this extensive cultivation obscures the exact native range of the species. The French explorer Samuel de Champlain discovered that the native people of Nauset Harbor in Massachusetts had cultivated roots that tasted like artichoke. The following year, Champlain returned to the same area to discover that the roots had a flavour similar to chard and was responsible for bringing the plant back to France. Some time later, Petrus Hondius, a Dutch botanist, planted a shrivelled Jerusalem artichoke tuber in his garden at Terneuzen and was surprised to see the plant proliferate. Jerusalem artichokes are so well suited for the European climate and soil that the plant multiplies quickly. By the mid-1600s, the Jerusalem artichoke had become a very common vegetable for human consumption in Europe and the Americas, and was also used for livestock feed in Europe and colonial America. The French in particular were especially fond of the vegetable, which reached its peak popularity at the turn of the 19th century. The Jerusalem artichoke was titled 'best soup vegetable' in the 2002 Nice Festival for the Heritage of the French Cuisine.