In front of Smokey: just-harvested jerusalem artichokes. More about these meaningful root vegetables in today's story.
TODAY'S WORD: le topinambour
: jerusalem artichoke, sunchoke
ECOUTER/LISTEN – hear Jean-Marc pronounce the example sentence, with topinambour, below: Download MP3 or Download Wav file
Sa diffusion en Europe se développe rapidement grâce à sa culture facile, sa rusticité et sa forte multiplication végétative, même dans des sols pauvres. Il est appelé poire de terre dans le Traité des aliments de Louis Lémery en 1723. Lors de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, sa consommation en tant que légume de rationnement, souvent mal cuit et cuisiné sans matière grasse, a laissé dans certains pays d'Europe de mauvais souvenirs. En effet, le topinambour, tout comme le rutabaga (Brassica napus subsp. rapifera), a vu sa consommation augmenter, car il n'était pas, comme la pomme de terre, réquisitionné au titre des indemnités de guerre versées à l'Allemagne. -From French Wikipedia
Its spread in Europe developed quickly, thanks to its easiness to grow, its hardiness and its ability to populate, even in poor soil. It is called the "pear of the earth" in the Louis Lémery's Treatise of Foods in 1723. During the Second World War, its consumption as a rationing vegetable, often badly cooked and cooked without fats, left bad memories in certain European countries. In effect, the Jerusalem artichoke, like the rutabaga, saw its consumption augmenting, as it was not, like the potato, requisitionned by title of war indemnities paid to Germany.
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A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE…
I was so disappointed to have missed the chance to honor veterans this year, here in this French word journal. And then, by chance, I overheard a French woman say that Wednesday was férié! I checked my calendar and realized that le onze novembre had not yet passed–and it was indeed Remembrance Day!
Next, I went through my French vocabulary archives and, stumbling onto the word topinambour, reread the accompanying story…. But what does "jerusalem artichoke" have to do with Veterans Day, you may be wondering? I might have wondered the same, if I hadn't been sitting in our vineyard, last spring, listening to a planter tell of how this modest root vegetable helped save the French from wartime famine (read to the end of this story).
Then while admiring a pile of just-picked topinambours, it hit me the serendipity of it all. Those symbolic sunchokes were ready for harvesting on this sentimental day: Le Jour du Souvenir! And while I had picked those topinambours two days before, I will now mark my calendar to, dorénavant, or from this day forward, on November 11th harvest this legume also known at le soleil vivace. Yes, this "lively sun" – for the life these brave soldiers gave to everyone!
Share your thoughts on Veterans Day here in the comments box. I'm on my way outside now, to harvest more topinambours, a little more mindfully than the last time.
COMMENTS
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FRENCH VOCABULARY
férié = holiday
le 11 novembre = l'Armistice, Armistic Day or le Jour du Souvenir
Smokey and me, about to harvest more sunchokes. Share your Jerusalem artichoke recipes in the comments. Photo by Tessa Baker
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While driving home with my daughter, we passed Sanary-sur-Mer, and this breathtaking sunset or couché du soleil. For more daily life photos (mostly of my French permaculture garden!) join me here at Instagram
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Dear Kristie,
I sit and remember Veteran’s Day, just a couole years ago, when I walked on the beaches of Normandy with you and Jean-Marc. That was one of the most powerful and moving days I ever spent. Peace, and prayers for all those we lost, and for the freedom gained.
Nan
I will call my father today and thank him for the freedom we have.. He was in WWII…yes. In the Pacific. And today at 91 he is still quite spry playing golf a couple times a week and shooting his age or better 50% of the time.
Hello, Nan. Good to see your note and to have shared this moment with you, too.
Joie, wonderful to read about your father.
Apart from the obvious soup, the best way I’ve found to cook these ‘sun chokes’ is to peel, cut into matchsticks, toss in seasoned flour and deep fry. The tastiest chips in the world!
Salut Kristin,
Here’s a poem about placing coins on a veteran’s gravestone. Wonder if the tradition exists in France.
http://herms-rhyme-thyme.blogspot.com/2014/06/coins-of-memorial.html
Herm
Since I was born 17 November 1942 I do not remember my father coming home from the war.
He was sent to the Phillipines as a dentist. I have photos of him there. He has been gone a long time. I do know that even not have been at ” the front ” he was not the same after his return home and his marriage to my mother did not last.
Wonderful day to those who served and are still with us.
My favorite veteran is my late father. He grew up as the baby in a large family in a small town in Alabama. I don’t think he had ever left the state before the war. In 1941, he was 25 and joined the Navy after Pearl Harbor. He ended up serving in the Pacific as the commander on a supply ship. He told me that his crew called him “the old man” – in his late 20’s! That story made me realize how young many of the soldiers and sailors were and how much they all had to grow and adapt during that long conflict.
My father was a veteran, my son has been in both Afghanistan and Iraq…my French naval husband took me to the American Cemetery in Normandy on one of our first dates and walking through the headstones was one of the most meaningful things of my life…the sacrifice and the country that I had come to love. The first time I ever saw a Jerusalem artichoke, it came as a gift from my neighbor. I was a young wife and he was an old man, it did not look like any “artichoke” that I had ever seen..and I had no idea what to do with it, and sadly I was too young to admit my ignorance..they were never eaten.
Hi Kristin,
I enjoyed your post today and clicked back to the post from last year about the Jerusalem Artichoke. They have such a lovely flower. I was wondering the best way to cook them. I have never tried one.
THANK YOU to all the men and women all around the world who serve our countries! I remember receiving a Bleuet de France pin when we visited Normandy.
To all whose relatives are veterans, please thank them for us. We are thinking of them today especially but thru out the years as well. May we all be forever grateful for their ultimate sacrifice.
Thank you for this very nice way to remember our veterans today. My father was in the Philippines (Luzon) during part of WWII. I still have the small outrigger canoe carved from wood which he brought back to me … no doubt wrapped in a shirt in his duffle bag to make the long trip home.
I hope the Jerusalem artichokes make a delicious part of your dinner tonight. Best wishes for all.
Thank you Kristin for this lovely reminiscence! My father was a veteran in your adopted land–that is he was one of America’s first pilots in WWI–and he spent most of that period in France. He never shared any of the scary parts with my mother or me, but he joked about how they had to find parts of uniforms so that they could be presentable and go into town. I guess they’d get banged up and torn apart, and lose parts of their clothing in the process. My father had finished a year of school at Georgetown Law School when he decided he had to get involved. He worked part time for the Secy of the Navy, but wanted to join the Army Air Corps, and so he did. I’m grateful that he came through unscathed or I would not have been born to him decades later.
They’re also good raw: peeled and sliced into a salad with lemon juice, oil, and salt–and whatever else you prefer.
My husband is a veteran of both WWII and Korea. He was one of the lucky ones who came home safe.
I used to take my students to Normandy and asked them to make a list of five names on the gravestones and the age of these brave soldiers to make the kids realize that these men and women were their age or just a little bit older than them. It was a great history lesson. Thank you for remembering all who fought so that we could enjoy our freedom.
Amities, Janine
Remembering my late father on this first Veteran’s Day without him. He was a WWII navy gunner on a Liberty Ship who was so proud to serve his country. My husband, a Vietnam Vet who returned to home to hostility after answering the call to duty. Thankfully, that attitude has finally changed. Thanks and gratitude to all of our vets today. So nice to read the wonderful posts and stories about the greatest men of our time. Thank you Kristin!
What a great idea, Janine. And deepest thanks and appreciation go out to your husband – and to all who risked their life for our freedom!
Yes, even those of us without veterans in our lives past or present appreciate the reminder of what these brave men and women experienced and suffered for our freedom. And just as I am pushing myself to try more foods I am not very familiar with you nudge me to try Jerusalem artichokes — thanks for all your great ideas, Kristi!
Takes me back to an American Thanksgiving Day in the late 90s, when we trekked from Cannes to La Bastide de Moustiers, a small restaurant of Alain Ducasse.
There were only a few of us at lunch; an elderly couple at a nearby table was outraged when they heard that the first course was a soup of topinambour.
“You mean we came all this way for this? During the war we had nothing else to eat!”
The soup was in fact a little plain, which was perhaps the point. A pumpkin risotto and roast veal more than made up for it.
Unfortunately for the couple it was a fixed menu, so they had to skip the first part.
Thank you for this post. My father Don Vandenberg served in the Army Air Corps as a flight instructor during WW !!. Years later he taught me to drive – I remember him telling me to pay attention to how the wheel felt in my hands, keep my eyes rotating, anticipate, feel the car. Never put these things together until now – but he must have said similar things to his flight students. He was a very good teacher and all of his children are good drivers. We all miss him. He carried, in his wallet, a folded Army Air Corps pilots identification for the rest of his life. His brother, Lee, returned home after fighting on the ground in Italy. I am thankful everyday for the millions of men and women who fought for our freedoms. Plan to try JA next trip to grocery.
Thank you for the little bit of history of the artichoke and its role in the WW. and thanks for giving the scientific names of the plants you talk about in your blog, my husband’s ears perk up when I read them out loud for him. He majored in Botany😊
Sh’reeen…..I was also born Nov.17, but in1943. My father also served in the Philippines, New Calidonia and others. He was a radio operator and while he was not in actual combat did serve at the front lines. I also do not remember him coming home and apparently didn’t like this intruder. Even when asked about the war, he doesn’t talk about it much. All veterans who fought for Peace should be honored.
In Australia we traditionally have a minute’s silence at 11am on 11 November in honour of all those brave souls who served in the world wars. The poppy is a strong symbol of this remembrance and now that I live in France I love to see them abundant in the countryside on April 25 when there is a holiday in Australia and New Zealand, Anzac Day, to remember our countrymen who served in all the wars.
I recently read The Nightengale by Kristin Hannah. Your post today reminds me of the sacrifices of the French women left at home when the men went to war. I highly recommend this book to you and all your readers.
Enjoy, Karen
Westlake Village, CA
Kristin:
I awoke to the sound of drums as our street is a staging area for the local Veteran’s Day Parade. It’s a lovely Fall day here and time to take a moment as the parade winds its’ way through the streets of Savannah to remember those men and woman who gave so much for our Freedom.
Edie from Savannah
Our dear Kristi,
These beautiful pictures brought a smile to my heart,and your beautiful words brought tears to my eyes in rememberance of my own dear dad.(he was one of Murrow’s boys and made the first eyewitness radio broadcast from the Normany Beach invasion).
He disliked speaking about himself,or the consequences of war,of so many deaths and sufferings.
I honor him and all the brave men who gave so much for our freedom.
The only thing that makes me sad and also ashamed is the present day treatment of so many of our vets.
A very sobering reality.
Love
Natalia. xo
My husband’s uncle Francis was a French interpreter with the US 3rd Army and was in the Battle of the Buldge. He grew up in New Orleans with a mother and grandmother and priest who spoke fluent Belgium French. Between us, my husband and I had two uncles who fought in Europe, an uncle who served on a naval destroyer and and aunt who served as a nurse in the Pacific where she earned a bronze star. My husbands father served in the Navy. His grandfather served in WWI. We lost a nephew who was in the Navy but assigned to an Army unit in Afghanistan. He died at 22 from treatment related to PTSD.
Lanier, I am so sorry about your nephew.
Today I went to a town observance of Veterans’ Day, at which some current service people spoke. They recalled not only the sacrifices of past veterans, but those of today’s soldiers and others in uniform – since there is no draft any more, only about 1% of Americans serve in the military.
My grandfather was in World War I, although I never learned any details. His sons, my father and uncle, were in WWII, and my father spent part of his wartime service in France. I never heard much about that, either, except he said that since they didn’t always have a place to stay, apparently not even a tent, they found packing cases (one was from a piano) and slept in them. Another uncle was briefly in a POW camp.
I am impressed by today’s young veterans, and grateful to all, past and present, who are doing all they can to keep our country safe and preserve our freedoms.
If I ever get back to France, I plan to visit Normandy.
Parce que mon père n’a pas participé à la militaire de la Guerre Mondiale II, à cause d’une mauvaise vue (ses yeux), il est devenu membre de la Défense Civile à New York. J’ai sa carte d’identification. L’année passé, Le Musée de la Société Historique de Morristown, NJ, a fait une exposition au sujet de la Guerre Mondiale II. J’ai offert pour être en vue cette carte, qui était pour notre famille intime l’un de peu de souvenirs non militaire de la Guerre. Mon oncle maternel est retourné de la Guerre. Il était pilote (volant de Wisconsin) pour livrer les réserves au théâtre du Pacifique, Au musée, j’ai offert ses choses: une paire des bottes, un casque, une couverture à laine marron, un hamac à toile (pour dormir), et, de horreur, mais très important, potentiellement, un masque à gaz, et aussi, pour le bon, la gamelle (pour la nourriture préparées). Pensons aux hommes et aux dames qui ont fabriqué dans notre pays les choses, les instruments, les véhicules, les boîtes de conserve, le lainage, tous pour supporter la militaire et les citoyens. Pour eux, nous devions honorer leur service. Je le fait. Pour plus d’information au sujet de La Défense Civile des Etats-Unis–lisez surtout “Volunteers”–voyez: http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/civil_defense.aspx
Amitiés
Le topinambour, that is almost as much fun to say as ratatouille. I have eaten the latter, even making it as you call it, au pif, from the what grew in my garden at the moment. I never have tried un topinambour, must be time to eat one. Saute in olive oil?
It is so hard to imagine the war in Europe, so much destroyed, and daily survival so very challenging. My father, his brother and my mother’s brother all were in that WWII, and all came home. But here, life was not hard, it was better, economically, with factories making weapons, vehicles, and farmers growing food, pulling the US out of the Great Depression. The sad part was the men gone away, but not those worries of personal safety or survival, or for some smaller nations, choosing the right side, guessing who might win so as to survive after the war. Part of me is French, to be sure, but another part is Slovenian, and only lately have I begun to understand the troubles for those people in WWII, between the fascists of Italy, the Nazis of Germany, and two different groups among themselves trying to survive, then Tito come in. Their troubles kept on after the war was supposed to be over, from having chosen the right side or wrong side. The US got another wave of immigration at that time, from there. And a man executed there in 1945 was just a few days ago, 70 years later, found not to have violated the laws of that time, a relief to his descendants, for the honor of their ancestor.
That Europe has healed so much from that war and then from the Cold War is so impressive to me. Must be the nutrition in le topinambour.
Hello Kirstie. Being in France on November 11 always is moving for me. The past is present at all times. We think we know where the pic of Sanary was taken….
Ali
Interesting
Interesting
With a Father who was a Navy Quartermaster in the Pacific during WWII and 3 uncles (his brothers) also Navy veterans, Nov. 11 is indeed a special day for our family. We have the dubious distinction of having the only family grave in the cemetery displaying 4 American flags. My Dad and 2 of his brothers returned from the war, but my uncle, just 21 yrs old did not survive the Bataan Death March. Veterans Day is always bittersweet; I think often of the young man whose life ended so sadly in the Philippines.
I love topinambours, with their slight artichoke taste. I used to steam them, then squeeze out the white flesh (while they are warm) and eat them like mashed potatoes, with butter, salt and pepper. This is a little time consuming. My husband discovered that he could slice them across, thin, then sauté them in butter. The skin is so thin that one doesn’t need to peel them this way.
Dear Kristine I hope your family and friends are safe shocking news – our hearts are with you.
This is the only way I know to message you at the moment. Xx
My father was in WW2 in the Army Air Force intelligence, 2 brothers and a husband in the armed services. One had just graduated from Yale in 1950 from their ROTC program and was sent straight away to Korea to lead a platoon of tanks in which he lost 1/2 his platoon. He just celebrated his 87 Birthday ( God Bless him) and is now on Hospice Care.
Other brother still alive as an Army Vet. Husband is deceased but flew 86 H’s in the Air Force during time of Korea.
I went to Normandy to sing in my Church choir celebrating D -Day. Thank you Kristie for your always inspiring words. Mary-Audrey, Scottsdale, AZ
We owe so much to those who protected us and the world. They will always live in my heart and mind. I am truly grateful for my 82 years of living. By the way I was born at the American Hospital in Neully but family moved to New York shortly after. Thank you Kriste for you inspiring letters. Mary-Audrey, Scottsdale, AZ.