Ingredient: Celeriac
Category: Vegetables
Season: Winter months are best
Celeriac (Apium graveolens Rapaceum Group) (also known as 'celery root,' 'turnip-rooted celery' or 'knob celery') is a specially selected cultivar group of celery, grown as a root vegetable for its large and well-developed taproot rather than for its stem and leaves. The root is used when it is about 10-12 cm in diameter, or the size of a large potato.
Celeriac may be used raw or cooked.
Celeriac has a tough, ridged, outer surface, which is usually cut off before use, because it is not smooth enough to peel.
It has the flavour of celery, so it is often used on its own or as a flavouring in soups and stews; it can also be mashed or used in casseroles, gratins and baked dishes.
The hollow stalk of the upper plant can be cut into drinking straw lengths, rinsed out, and used for tomato drinks such as the Bloody Mary. The tomato juice moving through the stalk is lightly permeated with the celery flavour
It is not as popular as some other root vegetables, perhaps because it is harder to prepare and clean: it has been described as "a vegetable octopus" or "Rastafarian turnip" in reference to the tangle of rootlets that grow at the base.
There are numerous cultivars available, especially in Europe, where root vegetables are popular.
Celeriac keeps well and should last three to four months if stored between 0 and 5 C and if not allowed to dry out.
Celeriac, at first sight, is probably the ugliest, most uninteresting-looking vegetables there is, but there is a hidden agenda here, for underneath the spiny roots and ugly skin is a soft, velvety flesh that, when mashed, has the creaminess of potato with the added subtle flavour of celery.
Celeriac is excellent roasted in the oven and also raw in a salad, cut into tiny julienne matchstick strips and served with a creamy dressing.
To prepare celeriac:
First of all, have no fear in paring off the skin really thickly. What you need to do is peel off enough to leave behind only the creamy-white flesh, with no brown bits left behind.
Because the root channels are interwoven into the base of the bulb you will need to cut all this away, so it’s always useful to remember only three-quarters of what you buy can be used.
Cut the rest into chunks, as you do so, pop them in some cold salted water to prevent discolouring.
Now you can either dry them well and roast them, or boil them and combine them with equal quantities of boiled potatoes and mash.
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