About Celeriac
What is celeriac? It's an autumn / winter root crop, which is quite pungent and can be bitter, if not cooked properly, but has a great ability to absorb flavours, for example in soups and stews.
It is related to celery, but liking celery doesn't guarantee you'll like celeriac and hating celery doesn't mean you won't like celeriac!
It is thought that celeriac didn't make it to the UK until the 18th century, but even now its a little-known veggie and most of us don't know what to do with it...
Did you know...?
Celeriac is one of the most likely veg box veggies to end up in the compost bin...
Celeriac is high in vitamin C, as well as calcium and potassium, which helps you absorb the calcium. So it's worth tucking in, if you find a recipe you like.
Cooking Celeriac
Knowing how to prepare celeriac makes all the difference to its taste.
The root should be peeled before using, but don't peel it too much, as many of the nutrients lie just below the skin. Cut it into cubes and boil for about 10 minutes, until soft. Some prefer to salt the water, first.
You can also eat the leaves. Just chop them in a salad for a gentle, celery taste.
Peel and slice it just before cooking, as it quickly discolours. Sprinkling with lemon juice can help it keep its white colour, but obviously impacts the taste!
Always add celeriac straight to boiling water and bring back to the boil, rather than adding it to cold water and heating up. This seems to make it less bitter and reduces the pungency of the flavour.
For soups, you might prefer to boil the celeriac for a few minutes and then discard the water, before adding the celeriac to the other vegetables. This can help reduce bitterness.
If you want to use celeriac "raw", shredded in a salad, it's worth putting it in boiling water for 1 minute first and then plunging into cold water, to reduce the bitterness.