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Celery (Apium graveolens var. dulce) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There ought t'be some way t'eat celery so it wouldn't sound like you wuz
steppin' on a basket." --Kin Hubbard, The Sayings of Abe Martin By contrast,
Gertrude Stein, in Tender Buttons, inscrutably observed: "Celery tastes
tastes where in curled lashes and little bits and mostly in remains. A
green acre is so selfish and so pure and so enlivened." Native to the
Mediterranean region and cultivated there for over 3,000 years, celery
in its wild form is called smallage, and it is grown to this day for the
flavoring of its seeds. The ancient Greeks called it selinon and regarded
it as a holy plant. As such it is mentioned in Homer's Odyssey, dating
from 850 BCE. Less known is that celery leaves were worn by the winners
of the Nemean Games (just as bay leaves were worn by winning athletes
at the Olympic and Pythian games): these games began in 573 BCE and were
held every second year in the small southern city of Nemea in the Peloponnes,
where Hercules achieved one of his great labors by killing the Nemean
lion. Romans preferred eating sedano to using it ceremonially, but they
still viewed it superstitiously, believing that it could bring bad fortune
under certain circumstances. A member of the carrot family, celery is
first recorded as a plant in France in 1623 and was probably developed
either there or in Italy. Its seed was brought to Kalamazoo, Michigan,
in the 1850s from Scotland, and it became a commercial crop there, grown
by Dutch settlers. Celery consists of a bunch of petioles, or leaf stalks,
rather than a main stem. Celeriac, or celery root, is the starch-storing
lower stem of a special variety of celery and is commonly used as an esteemed
marinated julienne first course of dinner. The seeds of celery are a different
story altogether. They are the dried fruit of that wild smallage, and
they are so small that it takes some 760,000 to make just one pound. But
they make up in punch what they lack in size: they are intensely aromatic
and strongly flavored with an oil made up of the glucoside apiin, with
lemony limonene, and other bitter compounds. Celery First Used as a Medicine
Celery (Apium graveolens) is believed to be the same plant as selinon,
mentioned in Homer's Odyssey about 850 B.C. Our word "celery" comes from
the French celeri, which is derived from the ancient Greek word. The old
Roman names, as well as those in many modern languages, are derived from
the same root word and sound remarkably similar. This indicates a rather
recent wide distribution and use of celery. Smallage, a plant now cultivated
in gardens for flavoring purposes, is apparently "wild" celery, the plant
that has been known as celery in the Mediterranean countries for thousands
of years. Wild celery grows in wet places over Europe, the Mediterranean
lands, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, and southeastward toward the Himalayas.
It is believed to have originated in the Mediterranean area. Chinese writings
of the 5th century after Christ mention it. Europeans "Tamed" the Wild
Celery The oldest record of the word celeri is in a 9th-century poem written
in France or Italy, giving the medicinal uses and merits of the plant.
When its culture in gardens was begun in the 16th century in Italy and
northern Europe, it was still a primitive plant, like smallage, and was
used for medicinal purposes only. In France in 1623 use of celery as food
was first recorded. For about a hundred years thereafter its food use
was confined to flavorings. In France and Italy, by the middle of the
17th century, the little stalks and leaves were sometimes eaten with an
oil dressing. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, in Italy, France,
and England, were seen the first evidences of improvement of the wild
type. Gardeners also found that much of the too-strong flavor could be
eliminated, making the stalks better for salad use, by growing the plants
in late summer and fall, then keeping them into the winter. By the mid-18th
century in Sweden, the wealthier families were enjoying the wintertime
luxury of celery that had been stored in cellars. From that time on, its
use as we know it today spread rapidly. We do not know what group of European
colonists brought it to America, or when, but four cultivated varieties
were listed here in 1806. All through the 19th century in America, England,
and much of Europe, it was believed necessary to blanch the green edible
portion of celery to rid it of unpleasantly strong flavor and green color.
This was done by banking the plants with soil. Some kinds, like Pascal
and Utah, that remain green when ready for eating, are now considered
to be of the finest quality. Many so-called "easy-blanching" or "self-blanching"
varieties have appeared in the past 50 years. Generally, these self-blanching
sorts are inferior in quality to the best green varieties, but can be
grown successfully under less favorable conditions of soil and climate.
Celeriac, or turnip-rooted celery, is a kind that forms a greatly enlarged,
solid, more or less globular body just below the soil surface. It is not
used raw, but is especially suited for use in soups and stews. Celeriac
was developed from the same wild species as were our present improved
varieties of celery, and at about the same time. About 1600, Italian and
Swiss botanists gave the first descriptions of it. A hundred years later
it was becoming common in Europe, but was hardly known in England. It
has never become highly popular in England or the United States, but is
a common vegetable all over Europe. No one knows if it's true, as the
Dutch gynecologist Van de Velde says in his book, Ideal Marriage, that
celery is an effective aphrodisiac. Nor does anyone know if celery offers
protection from hangovers, as the Roman contended. It may be possible,
or so thought many medieval magicians, that a few celery seeds placed
in the shoes can help a person fly. True or not, rumors of celery power
have been convincing enough to win the vegetable a prominent place on
the crowns and crests of royalty. The Greeks used celery as a seasoning,
the ancient Romans made a dessert from it and sixteenth century Europeans
employed it, seeds, leaves and all, as a food, flavoring and medicine.
In this country, our ancestors ate so much of this vegetable that a French
observer noted that Americans nibble celery from the beginning to the
end of their repasts. In Denmark this vegetable is used as the base of
a rich blue-cheese soup. The famous Waldorf salad is essentially celery
and apples in equal parts. Just about any salad profits from the vibrant
crunch of celery, and soup stocks develop instant personality with the
inclusion of its frilly leaves. Despite a bland exterior, celery is rich
with potential. Because of its year-round availability, it is always easy
to serve as a side-dish vegetable, salad, or aromatic, and its presence
is always more than subtle. It may not be the kind of food that you dream
of or rhapsodize about; rather it's the stuff of long-term relationships
-- more like a pal than a paramour. Consumer and Cooking Guide Market
Selection The most common variety is Pascal. A newcomer to the green grocer's
shelf is a red celery called Violet de Tours, which turns green when cooked.
Stalks should be rigidly crisp and leaves fresh-looking. Availability
Year-round. Storage: Wrap in paper towels and store in plastic bag in
refrigerator up to 1 week. Flavor Enhancers Oregano, thyme, bay leaf,
parsley, caper. Equivalents: 1 stalk = 1 cup, sliced or chopped Nutritional
Value: Good source of Vitamins A, B, C, and E. 8 calories per cup.
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