CELERY
Celery (Apium graveolens) is closely related to a thinner version of the Asian smallage, but it is much milder. It has a distinctive appreciated flavor, containing tints of walnuts, citrus, and the typical celery flavor that can also be found in celeriac. The present form of celery has been cultivated and inbred about 500 years ago in Europe, and it remains a popular and widely used vegetable. The use of celery in stocks, stews, and in other dishes, is nothing new. Celery provides a lot of special and mild but still characteristic flavor in a dish. It can also be eaten raw, and made more crispy by soaking it in cold water. In short, celery is one of the most commonly used vegetables in our kitchens, along onions, carrots, and potatoes. The best quality celery is available during summer, although you can find it in the shops throughout the year.
Celery is essentially a combination of big stalks topped with leaves, and joined together at the bottom. It is a biennial vegetable (two years life cycle) and belongs to the same family as carrots, fennel, or dill. That's one reason they work so well together. A celery stalk can be quite long, as high as 15 inches.
When buying celery, look for the stalks that look fresh, green, and are firm to the touch. Don't buy the stalks that look slimy, watery, and are dried at the top. Also avoid any green moulds, or other discoloration spots that look like a bad lesion. You want a celery that is firm and crispy, and when you bend it it should snap in two parts, and not bend like a wilted plant. Sometimes, celery can become infected and develop a disease called blackheart. To detect it, look in between the stalks to examine the hidden inner parts of the stalks. Look for brown or black spots - these are probably blackhearts - and if you find them, discard the celery.
Storage of celery is simple - just put it into a loose plastic bag and put in the refrigerator. When you prepare the celery, wash each stalk with cold water thoroughly to remove all the sand and dirt. Before you chop it, remove the base and the leaves. If you only use the celery as an aromatic base in a stock or similar (that is, you are not going to actually eat a big piece of celery) then proceed with chopping. However, if you want to eat bigger or smaller pieces of celery, then it is proper to shave off the thread parts that run along the outer part of the stalk - they bulge out of the stalk, and are clearly visible. Remove them with a peeler.
Celery can be used in salads (raw), both the stalk and the leaves. Celery is also one main ingredient in Waldorf salad, mainly because it works so well with walnuts. The reason is that both celery and walnuts share the same flavor molecules, and they also carry their individual flavor. In most of the cases however, celery is used as an aromatic base in stews or stocks, soups or casseroles, and in many other kinds of food.
The best season for celery is summer, as opposed to the celery root (or celeriac) that is best in winter. It goes well with butter and butter sauces, cream, cheese, and herbs. It is not so common that it is served as a main ingredient in a dish though.
Celery also contains a good amount of vitamin K and C, and also provides lots of fibers and minerals. It is therefore a good health-promoting vegetable, and helps in prevention of many Western civilization diseases, including cancer. In other words, use celery as much as you can!