It's not unusual, when relocating to another part of the world, to discover new or unknown delicacies. Thus it was with us recently, when pale pink, knobbly vegetables started appearing on market stalls in this part of France. "What are they?", I asked. "They are topinambours", the man at the market replied. "You can sauté them with some garlic and parsley, or they make delicious soup. They have a slight artichoke flavour."
The last sentence should have been a give-away but we remained in the dark. What were these strange vegetables, I asked our neighbor. "Huh, they're nothing special", she replied, "but they're all the rage now, even in expensive restaurants." (They had just had a special meal at a upmarket establishment where "topinambours" had been served, 'à la nouvelle cuisine', as an accompanying vegetable.) "But we grew them as rabbit food. And now we can't get rid of them in the garden!"
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