Dahlias for food, more than Yacon

[ottawagardener]

So I read in Mother Earth News (they're still sending the occasional one to me despite no longer having a subscription) about someone who is breeding Dahlias to appear like the origianl European cultivars as well as for nice tasting tubers.

The writer, William Woys Weaver from Old House Gardens, describes some as tasting spicey, nutty, bland etc... but doesn't mention which are which.

For those who have tried hybrid Dahlia tubers, what were your favourites? Yacon frightens me because I expect it not to do well here but dahlias, more generally, can grow and some varieties produce big batches of tubers.

[castanea]

Thanks for the post. I try to investigate odd edibles but have never even heard that dahlia tubers might be edible. I found the Mother Earth article on line:

www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Edible-Dahlia-Bulbs-Recipes.aspx

[bunkie]

i haven't tried them yet, but while shopping one day, i had a potted dahlia sitting in my cart, and an elderly woman came over to me and asked me if i knew that the tubers to the dahlias could be eaten...i didn't! she said 'any' variety could be eaten...

[ottawagardener]

Maybe we should use this thread updated for those of us that taste each variety. I'm growing some dahlias this year and plan on buying a couple more to spruce up part of my perennial beds in front. I'll report back after trying some that I dig in the fall. I find them a bit tiresome to store as they suffer from moisture loss but I suppose I have been known to have to eat shrivelled parsnip and beets too so this year, I"ll try harder.

My cold storage is under our front steps and it stays cold enough but because it's by the basement, not wet enough. I really should just insulate the door so that it is more moist but then it might get too cold... okay, yes, I'll crack open the books and do some reading.

Off to buy some dahlias that look 'old fashioned.'

[orflo]

I'm trying some dahlia pinnata cultivars (old ones) this year. It seems that dahlia pinnata is used for food in parts of Mexico. I'm pretty sure crops won't be as high as yacon, and I wonder about the taste???

[canadamike]

Me tried a raw slice, me, me was not that impressed, me does not deny it could help me through a war famine, me has no war famine in sight ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[ottawagardener]

Well, they couldn't taste as nice homegrown Michel potatoes no... that would be hard to imagine. The thing is that you have to try a nibble from all your Dahlias until you find the perfect one.

Frank: I'd be interested to know how you find the taste.

The writter intrigued me and some dahlia aren't as huge and grow bundles of tubers (though not huge) so I figured, what the heck, I'll try.

[stevil]

Thanks for the info, Telsing. Very interesting to hear that Weaver is working on this (summers too cool here for seed production, otherwise I might have been at this now). WWW has written some interesting books on heritage veggies. My Helianthus strumosus is from him and I had a white Oca also from him (now lost). By the way, why are you frightened of Yacon. It grows well here in a cold greenhouse and I think you have considerably warmer summer temperatures than we do.

Concerning Dahlias, we had a discussion on the PFAF email group a couple of years ago about this. I had tried to get hold of the wild species without success and was egged on to try one of my ornamental cultivars:

groups.yahoo.com/group/pfaf/message/1714
Here's what I wrote
(I finally got round to trying one of my Dahlia tubers – from the cultivar “Bishop of Llandaff”! This was 1 hour ago and I’m still alive. The taste was not unpleasant – a bit bland, but completely free of any hint of bitterness. Not a strong taste as cooked Jerusalem Artichokes. If I ever had access to a lot of tubers I wouldn’t hesitate trying them again. I never peel potatoes or Jerusalem Artichokes. However, Dahlia skins are
rather coarse and would probably require peeling.)

Here are the cooked tubers:
www.hagepraten.no/gallery/pic.php?mode=large&pic_id=179

and Bishop of Llandaff in full flower:
www.hagepraten.no/gallery/pic.php?mode=large&pic_id=178

I should mention that I tried the tubers in April. Dahlia tubers contain the carbohydrate inulin, as do Jerusalem Artichokes, Chicory, Burdock etc. Inulin apparently changes into other carbohydrates in storage (the taste of Jerusalem Artichokes also change somewhat in storage). Therefore, my test tasting was not done at an ideal time.

Frank was kind enough to send me some seed of his D. pinnata varieties, so I am growing two of them too this year (just coming into flower) and I also have another from a Swedish seed exchange last year just named “Wild Form” (incidentally it was the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl after whom Dahlia was named!). Hope to do a new test in the autumn.

[silverseeds]

So if I understood this right, the ones with edible, but not exceptionally tasting tubers, are hybrids? is there a variety that breeds true?

[ottawagardener]

Stephen. Thanks for all that added info. Perhaps my fear of Yacon is overrated... a person nearby tried overwintering the tubers without success but hybrid dahlias seem to do fine in storage? Is this generally true?

I'll remember to taste in fall, I guess before first frost so they don't turn into mash or can I let them get mildly frosted?

[ottawagardener]

And another thing. Since dahlias have been bred for more northern climates than Yacon (from my limited understanding) has been, would a cross breeding project be a good idea (if this could be done, haven't looked into it). Sorry for writing before googling.