Day 26: Celeriac (aka "Celery Root")

Celeriac is something that I have seen so many times at Loblaw, and was curious about. It's this knobbly looking vegetable, lots of dirt on it, and pretty scary looking. When you cut it, it really does smell like celery.

Melody made a soup out of it - basically, celeriac, celery, chicken stock, and whipping cream and a bit of salt and water. To prepare the celeriac, cut off the roots, and then peel it like you would a potato. It was nice... basically it's like a potato with celery flavour!

On Celeriac:

Celeriac is also known as celery root, turnip-rooted celery or knob celery. It is a kind of celery, grown as a root vegetable for its large and bulbous hypocotyl rather than for its stem and leaves.

Celeriac may be used raw or cooked.Celeriac has a celery flavour, and is often used as a flavouring in soups and stews; it can also be used on its own, usually mashed, or used in casseroles, gratins and baked dishes. It can be roasted like a potato, giving it a crispy edge.

Celeriac is not as widely used as some other root vegetables, perhaps because it is harder to prepare and clean. Like other root vegetables celeriac is pretty good at taking on the flavors of the dishes in which it is used as an ingredient. For example it can be hard to discern from a potato or a parsnip in a dish such as osso bucco.