Celery root/celeriac (don't judge a root vegetable by its covering)

You might not have ever had celery root. It's not that popular in North America and in the UK. Usually, it seems people blame its lack of popularity on the fact it's hard to clean. I don't buy it. Most people don't even get far enough to clean it.

It's an ugly looking veg. It's got wrinkles, hair, and tough skin. When I was picking some up for the first time, my husband advised me to get the smallest one, a total case of lookism.

We got our first celery root from Sainsbury's. The top was already chopped off, as were most of the roots. It was shrink wrapped in a plastic wrapping (probably to keep the exposed areas from browning the vegetable). It sat on our food shelf a week before I got up the courage to cook it. I was afraid that it might taste like turnip or parsnips.

Cleaning and peeling it wasn't that big of a deal. After scrubbing it under water, I had to use a knife rather than a peeler. I found it a little difficult to slice the thing. Overall, I found it easier than preparing potatoes. I hate peeling potatoes, and I am thankful to Dr. Atkins for saving me from that drudgery. Upon peeling, I noticed the nice yummy celery smell. As soon as I sliced it, I plopped the slices into salted, boiling water (that also contained the juice of half a lemon). It didn't take long for slices to soften, but despite boiling for 20 minutes or so, they didn't really get that soft. Next time I boil celeriac, I am going to try to boil it longer, because later experiments have lead me to believe that it does soften. The flavour of boiled celeriac was nice. Not that unlike other root vegetables, but more complex and lighter.

This week I bought another to make chips (American: French Fries). Again, cleaning was easy. I didn't bother with lemon juice as I figured that I wanted them to brown anyway. I fried them in a heavy, deep skillet with salt and freshly ground pepper (and generous oil).

They turned out incredible. I am not a huge fan of chips or fries, but I adore celeriac chips. The starch broke down nicely during frying, and the consistency was almost identical to chips made from potatoes. The light celery taste was complimentary. It was something that would be an improvement on regular chips, so in a way, I don't see these as "mock chips", but a superior dish on its own.

I fried them on a relatively low heat, and I found that you have to be careful to cook them evenly. They were great with or without vinegar, and even my non-low carbing brother-in-law liked them.

Look for future posts on celeriac. I plan on making oven roasted celeriac and a cream of celeriac soup, as well as figuring out improvements on celeriac chips.

Definitely look out for this vegetable or ask your produce manager to order you some. They keep well, so the risk for them should be low in the special order. I am almost positive, you will come back for more and buy out their supply before it goes bad.

Nutrition
According to the USDA (I know, I know) this is the breakdown for a cup of raw celeriac.

Photo CC licence Attribution-non commercial-No Derivative 2.0 by Flickr user rachel is coconut and lime