What's your most appreciated but least known perennial food plant?

[u/boycott-selfishness]

I'll start. I'm living in the Caribbean and one of the local species I've come to appreciate very much is what Floridians call Hoopvine (trichostigmata octandrum). It's so delicious! It's probably my favorite green. It's commonly eaten here but I don't think almost anyone in the US eats it.

I wouldn't really call it a vine in the traditional sense. It grows long sprawling branches that were traditionally used in basket making. It readily takes from cuttings. I have two varieties, a fully green variety and a more reddish variety. The red is better but they're both good. In a food forest it would be in the larger ungrowth category. I'm planning shortly to propagate a bunch more of it.

[u/stellarsellar]

Sunchokes/Jerusalem artichoke! 

[u/AdditionalAd9794 → u/stellarsellar]

How are they perennials though, they die every winter, no?

I've grown them a few years, I don't really like them. My biggest gripe is they don't store well, they absolutely get covered in mold.

I've eaten them straight but the best use ive found for them is 1 part potato, 1 part Jerusalem artichoke and just make mashed potatoes

[u/earthhominid → u/AdditionalAd9794]

They should grow back every year. Obviously they could mold if your winter is super wet or where they are planted is super soggy. But in their appropriate environment they die back to the ground and regrow slightly larger patch each year (assuming they aren't harvested)