Skip to content

Root Down: The Crosne

November 21, 2009
by Owen Lightly

Also known as the Chinese Artichoke, or Chorogi……or the knotroot.

Like little michelin-men. Or some crazy animal turd.

This edible tuber of a shrub from the mint family, came to France from China in the late nineteenth century. The man responsible for spreading its seed in France was from the small village of Crosne, and he saw to it that the name of his small little hamlet would travel far and wide as the vegetable did. Within  five years it was seen in market stalls all over France , and is still fairly popular there. I’m not quite sure how the vegetable made its way to North America, but I do know that Jordan Sturdy of North Arm Farms grows some really nice ones.

Though not related to the Jerusalem or globe artichoke, it does have a similar texture to the Jerusalem artichoke. Usually quite dirty from its long stay underground, it needs a good wash before it can be cooked (or eaten raw!). A restaurant trick I learned  is to par cook them in salted water with a tablespoon of baking soda, which magically loosens the skins. When the tuber is tender, run cold water over, and vigorously agitate them in the a strainer. The skins should just slip off. Then Roast them in butter, pickle them……whatever your heart desires.

2 Comments leave one →
  1. November 22, 2009 10:54 pm

    I remember having to clean a 1/6th of these every day during… what was it? Dine Out something something. Frigging great vegetable though. I like fun food facts like these.

  2. November 25, 2009 6:30 pm

    cleaning crosnes while in the shit=good times!

Leave a Reply

Note: You can use basic XHTML in your comments.

Subscribe to this comment feed via RSS