Foodstuff: Celeriac Root – Sybaritica

When I saw this knobby looking root vegetable at one of our local stores the other day, I bought it, thinking I was going to get to try a brand new foodstuff. It wasn’t until I got it home that I remembered having bought and eaten one some ten years earlier. Beyond that, I don’t recall very much about it other than my wife and I both enjoyed it…

Celeriac is fairly widely cultivated these days but originates from the Mediterranean region. Although the one I purchased consisted of only the root (properly called the hypocotyl), I have seen some pictures of the whole plant and the part that grows above ground looks remarkably like celery. The bulbous portion, in fact, is often inaccurately called ‘celery root’ by some.  I have since been informed that the roots and stems/leaves actually do come from the very same plant… see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celery

The inside of the vegetable is somewhat whitish and a cross-section slice has an appearance very like the cut surface of a large parsnip. The smell is also somewhat similar, although it doesn’t have the same sweetish notes, and is thus probably closer to a turnip as far as the aroma goes. Many people describe the taste as being like celery but I don’t agree. When you bit into a slice of the raw flesh it is quite firm, again like turnip, and the taste, I would say is like a cross between a very peppery parsnip and a slightly bitter turnip or mild radish. There is a hint of celery about it, but it is more the pungent bite of celery seed rather than the stems or leaves of the plant.

The culinary uses of the vegetable are very diverse and can be put to all the same uses as a potato with the added benefit that it can be enjoyed raw. It features in many salads, especially the well-known ‘Celeriac Remoulade’, and is cooked in soups, stews and stir-fries. Another common way it is prepared is mashed, either alone or with potato, carrots, or other vegetables, where it can be eaten alone, as a ‘side’ or as a ‘bed’ on which other items may be served.

I very much want to try cooking Celeriac but the one I purchased for this post is quite small and I want to do a salad first. I seem to recall that the first time I prepared this vegetable ten years ago, I tried a Remoulade and I think that, for my experiment with this one, I might try something along the same lines…

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