Celeriac (Knollecellerie)
$2.00 Seed Packet
Available
Celeriac, or "Root Celery," is still a popular vegetable in Europe and has enjoyed increasing popularity in the U.S. as well. It is a celery that is grown not for its stalks, but for its bulbous root, which has a mild, pleasing celery flavor and is used raw in salads or cooked in soups. The stalks are small, strong-tasting, stringy, and generally unpalatable. If finely chopped, they may be used to flavor soups and other dishes.
Culture is slightly different from regular celery, in that some effort must be put forth in order to harvest a reasonably large bulb in the fall. Plants must be kept well-watered, especially during dry summers. Outer stalks are removed periodically in order to encourage large bulb formation. Bulbs store well after harvested, a definite advantage for pre-1932 communal kitchen cooks. (Plants usually do not produce seeds the first year and are not winter hardy in Iowa, so new seed must be purchased each year. “Large Smooth Prague” is generally the variety of choice.)
