The Ugly Vegetable
They lie on the farmer’s table, sad and lonely at the close of market. Not as colorful as carrots, this blob of a root vegetable hasn’t the beauty of beets or the snappy zest of radishes. Celeriac is also called celery root or knob celery, but it’s not the celery we think of when making chicken salad, soups, stuffing, and ants-on-a-log. Technically, it’s not even a root vegetable, but a bulbous hypocotyl which begs the next question—what the heck is a hypocotyl?
In plantspeak, a hypocotyl the part of the stem of an embryo plant beneath the stalks of the seed leaves called cotyledons and directly above the root. Celeriac appears as a beige blob with squiggly rootlets evoking thought of Star Wars characters with tentacles on their faces.
Despite it’s unusual appearance, celeriac is a winter staple in many cultures throughout the world from Northern Europe to South America. A versatile vegetable, it can be eaten raw or cooked. It’s most often used in soups and stews or mashed. Bland in appearance, celeriac packs a concentrated flavor with a cross between celery and hazelnuts.
The vegetable’s real superpower is its length of storage after harvesting. The hypocotyls can be kept for up to eight months if stored in cold conditions and not allowed to dry out.
As low-carb diets have become all the rage, celeriac has become one of the alternatives to white potatoes. It can be roasted and mashed, delivering approximately 15 grams of carbohydrate per cup. There are also health benefits to celeriac as it contains antioxidants that help combat inflammation. It’s also a good source of vitamin B-complex, vitamin C and vitamin K. What's more, it has high amounts of dietary fiber, which help promote gut and heart health. Plus, it's got essential minerals such as magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium.
Celeriac is often confused with rutabaga. Not quite as ugly as celeriac, rutabaga is a true root vegetable, similar to turnips.
Preparing celeriac is simple, but keep in mind that like potatoes it discolors quickly when exposed to air when peeled and cut. If your plans are to serve it raw, rinse the raw vegetable in water with either lemon juice or citric acid. I like to shred it for a slaw along with radishes. If you’re going to be cooking it, just give the whole thing a good scrubbing and cook with the skin on. One of my favorite recipes is to thinly slice celeriac with a mandolin (watch your fingers!) and layer with Gruyere and cream sprinkled with fresh nutmeg and then baked until golden.
There are numerous ways to prepare it, but best of all it’s one of those things you can leave in your refrigerator for months at a time until the mood strikes. They’re in season right now so pick up one this Sunday and give it a try.