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Looks like a potato and tastes a bit like a cross between a water chestnut and a pear! Originally from South America, and distantly related to sunflowers, the yacon is a perennial plant producing huge, fuzzy green leaves and attractive yellow flowers. It grows a bit like a Jerusalem artichoke, producing a good crop of very sweet, crunchy, but also nicely juicy tubers. Try them raw in salads or instead of water chestnuts in stir fries. What's more the yacon's sweetness comes from inulin which is an indigestible sugar, so despite the sweetness it has almost no calories! And the leaves can be used in cooking as wraps, like you would vine leaves. Pale skinned varieties are available, but we've selected this purple skinned one, which has improved cold tolerance. Well worth a try!
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