Jerusalem Artichoke relish is an historic food in the Lowcountry, particularly in Charleston, and has been used for dressing up a serving of pork or as an all-purpose condiment for a long time. People who haven’t before encountered this crisp, refreshing condiment are often delighted by it, if a bit confused on one point: “What on earth is a Jerusalem Artichoke?”

In some ways, the Jerusalem Artichoke’s name seems designed to hide its true history and nature. The plant has no origins or affiliations with Jerusalem, and the only resemblance it bears to the artichokes with which you are likely familiar is that they are both distant members of the Daisy family.

Perhaps we can start with appearances. Replace the image in your mind of a green, spiky, layered egg with a small, yellow-petaled flower, something like a Black-Eyed Susan or a small sunflower. Now imagine at the root of that flower a tuber, similar to ginger in appearance, typically light brown with crisp white flesh inside. Now you’ve got the artichoke we’re talking about.

Let’s move on to Jerusalem, also a misnomer. In fact, Jerusalem Artichokes were cultivated extensively by Native Americans prior to the arrival of European settlers – so much so that it’s difficult to tell in which regions the plant was indigenous and in which regions it was introduced and cultivated by Native peoples. Delighted by the taste of the crop, European settlers brought Jerusalem Artichokes back to Europe by the 1600s, where it was well-suited to the climate and became quite popular, particularly in France. Originally regarded as a delicacy fit for the Queen, these tubers peaked in their European popularity in the early 1800’s, eventually becoming more common as a form of livestock feed. Meanwhile, folks in the Lowcountry continued to appreciate the crop, particularly in pickles and relishes. 

It is believed the Jerusalem Artichoke’s Italian popularity is responsible for its geographic misnomer. Italians called the plant the “Girasole” artichoke, which is properly translated as “sunflower artichoke.” However, English speakers incorrectly interpreted “Girasole” as “Jerusalem,” leading to a change in its name over time. As easily as that, a plant native to North America came to sound as though it was brought here from Israel.

Jerusalem Artichokes have gone by a number of names over time: sunroot, earth apple, lambchoke, Canada potato (and, on the other end of the culinary spectrum, Canadian truffle). In the 1960’s, Jerusalem Artichokes were renamed “sunchokes.” Although the name harkens back to the early moniker “sunflower artichoke,” the term sunchoke was actually coined by a California produce wholesaler looking to revive the crop’s popularity who believed (perhaps rightly) that people would feel a little less unsure about something called a “Jerusalem Artichoke.”

But not you, right? You know better. Long before us, Native Americans appreciated the value of this crop and ensured its proliferation throughout North America. To this day, Lowcountry residents continue to appreciate that contribution, whether eating it raw on their salads, in a jar of pickles, or – and some would argue most delectably – in a jar of artichoke relish.