Time To Celerybrate

Last time on Name This Food  I posed the question... what's this then, eh??

Many of you will have correctly surmised that it is indeed

CELERY!

So... what's so great about celery?

Loads of people cannot stand it. Even I have occasional issues with it. If it's especially stringy. Ew.

In North America, commercial production of celery is dominated by the varieties called Pascal celery. Gardeners can grow a range of cultivars, many of which differ little from the wild species, mainly in having stouter leaf stems. They are ranged under two classes, white and red. The stalks grow in tight, straight, parallel bunches, and are typically marketed fresh that way, without roots and just a little green leaf remaining.

In Europe the dominant variety of celery most commonly available in trade is Celeriac (Apium graveolens var. rapaceum) grown for its hypocotyl forming a large bulb (commonly but incorrectly called celery root). The leaves are used as seasoning, and the stalks find only marginal use.

The wild form of celery is known as "smallage". It has a furrowed stalk with wedge-shaped leaves, the whole plant having a coarse, earthy taste, and a distinctive smell. The stalks are not usually eaten (except in soups or stews in French cuisine), but the leaves may be used in salads, and its seeds are those sold as a spice. With cultivation and blanching, the stalks lose their acidic qualities and assume the mild, sweetish, aromatic taste particular to celery as a salad plant.

Celery, onions, and bell peppers are the "holy trinity" of Louisiana Creole and Cajun cuisine. Celery, onions, and carrots make up the French mirepoix, often used as a base for sauces and soups. Celery is a staple in many soups, such as chicken noodle soup.

Let's have a recipe.

In fact, let's have a whole page of them. There are a slew of great celery recipes on here and they'll all make you sit up and think "have I got some celery? I need celery!" Click the link.
huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/07/celery-recipe-raw-braised_n_2536087.html

Aaaand...

Name This Food!