Celery: Stalk up now!

January/February 2008

Tips and facts to change your family's celery perceptions

By Andy Powning

Celery is of the Umbelliferae family, which includes parsley, carrots, fennel and celery root. If these plants are left to go to seed, they all form umbrella-shaped flowers. Who knew? The tiny masses of flowers they form provide food for many beneficial insects, so if you have a garden, consider planting some celery and letting it go to seed. This vegetable easily reseeds, too, so you probably won't have to buy another packet or seedling if you let one complete its life cycle. Also, you'd be providing a fine lesson for any children who happen to be in the vicinity. To whiten stalks and produce tight bunches, mound dirt around stalks as it grows. This unblanched celery has a deeper green color, is more strongly flavored and is higher in nutrition than blanched celery. If you prefer to blanched celery, place empty paper milk cartons with the bottom and top cut off over the plants. The leaves should get enough sun to keep growing.

Originally a wild plant with thin, hollow stems, native to Europe and Asia, celery favored marshy and seaside areas and was used for flavoring and as a medicinal herb. Celery was probably first cultivated in Italy in the 16th century. Now there are red, yellow, green and even "self-blanching" varieties. It is believed that Scottish travelers brought celery seed stateside in the 1850s and in short order celery became a commercial crop, grown by Dutch settlers in Michigan. Today, California is America's top celery-producing state, providing more than 90 percent of the U.S. crop.

In Asia, the cultivation took a slightly different route. Celery in Asia today is thinner, juicier and more strongly flavored. It is not blanched and is almost always cooked.

It's easy to take celery for granted, but that would be a mistake. Consider just how many of your favorite dishes are enhanced by both the crunch and distinct flavor of celery. For example, celery is one-third of the classic French mirepoix (celery, carrots and onions, which is the flavoring backbone of a host of dishes). Celery gives a pleasing punch and crunch to potato, tuna, green, Waldorf and chicken salads as well as deviled eggs and adds a subtle flavor to stuffing, tomato sauce, stock, soups and stews. Celery excels as a "delivery vehicle system" – perfect on a party platter, stuffed with your favorite soft cheese or smeared with sweet butter and sprinkled with kosher salt and paprika.

As a novel side dish, try sautéing 2 cups of celery chopped to 1/2 inch in olive oil and/or butter over medium-high heat for a couple of minutes, constantly stirring. Add 1/4 cup chicken stock or water, salt and pepper, and herb of choice (tarragon or dill are especially nice). Lower heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes or so, jiggling the pan occasionally. This should serve around four folks. Serve alongside any seafood, poultry or pork dish. Or, adjust the mix – add any combination of chopped onions, leeks, carrots or peppers.

You can also try making a celery slaw, featuring thinly sliced celery with red onions, sour cream and a lemony vinaigrette. Blanch halved bunches of celery in boiling salted water for 10 minutes or so, drain, dry, then braise, cut side down, in a buttered baking dish. Cover halfway with stock or water and a spritz of lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. Cover celery with parchment paper or buttered waxed paper and then cover the dish with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 90 minutes or until soft when pierced with a fork. It will be worth the wait! This long, slow, moist cooking transforms the celery into a lush, velvety and delicious delicacy. Serve straight up or sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and run under your broiler.

Celery factoids:

• Celery has a long history. It is mentioned in Homer's Odyssey as selinon. The Greeks and Egyptians made garlands of celery and used them at funerals. The first known written use of cultivated celery dates back to the late 1600s: "…In Italy and France the leaves and stalks are esteemed as delicacies, eaten with oil and pepper."
• Celery seed is used as a seasoning. Be judicious in its use because it is strongly flavored and carries a bitterness.
• The seed of celery is tiny. It takes more than 1 million to make up 1 pound.
• The flavor of celery and its seed comes from the essential oil of celery, apiol.
• Celery is the perfect snack or diet food; one large stalk averages only eight calories.
• Celery is a good source of sodium and potassium.
• When buying, look for fresh, firm stalks. Bunches should be heavy for their size. Bypass woody, wilted or pithy stalks.
• Store celery wrapped in plastic in the crisper of your refrigerator. While it is fairly hardy, fresher is always better.
• Trim and wash celery and place in it cold water for a couple of hours in the fridge before using in sticks or as a raw appetizer.

Andrew J. Powning is a produce specialist with GreenLeaf, a San Francisco-based produce company.