Monday 7 November 2011

Beauty and the Beast

Number Five of my six Celeriac plants was harvested this week. As always, the veg looked a little bit daunting (rather unappetisingly dull and knobbly) before preparation:

The "Beast"


But the hands of a skillful chef (Jane) transformed this into a fantastic salad dish - Celeriac and Carrot Remoulade. This is made according to a recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who calls it "Two Root Slaw".

The "Beauty"

 Apart from the obvious grated carrots and celeriac, it includes a mustard mayonnaise to bind the dish together, and a little lemon juice to liven it up even further. Actually, unless you look closely (or, of course taste it!) it looks just like Coleslaw.



Wow! Does it taste good! The intense savouriness of the celeriac is nicely balanced by the sweetness of the carrot and given a real zing by the mustard. Likewise the crunchy texture of the vegetables is mellowed by the creaminess of the mayonnaise. This is a perfect accompaniment to some home-cooked Gammon Ham.

I think you will agree that it is a dramatic transformation.

18 comments:

  1. Ah I love celeriac remoulade. Haven't made any yet this year, but last year I made it several times from shop bought celeriac with home made mayonnaise. Look forward to trying it soon with our little roots from the garden!
    Yours looks lovely, may have to try that recipe too...

    ReplyDelete
  2. An most amazing transformation. I might have to give celeriac another go next year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That looks tasty. I really must try celeriac.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It does look good Mark - a grind of black pepper and I'm sold!

    ReplyDelete
  5. It definitely looks good. I always wondered how this vegetable was used.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for the recipe. I bought some celeriac seeds on the weekend. Had no idea it as such an ugly vegetable though!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hello Mark,
    The celeriac I brought home from the Heritage Vegetable Garden on Thursday was flowering, check out my blog to see what the inside looks like.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Tasty! I never quite know what to do with celeriac - so don't grow it, but now I am thinking I ought to!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I want to eat that now!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nice sounding recipe, Mark. I may join the bandwagon and put some celeriac in too.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sounds really delicious I wonder if celery would work instead of celeriac - not grated of course.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hmmm...I don't think this veggie will grow well in our summer here. I have to wait for fall to try growing this beastly veggie. Thats mean I have to wait for almost a year to taste my first celeriac.

    ReplyDelete
  13. AHAHAHAHAHAHA nicely titled! You know I have never grown nor cooked with celeriac...

    ReplyDelete
  14. Mark, as usual your post made me smile! Last year a friend of mine gave me some of this stuff and I didn't know whether to bury it, throw it away or offer it to the local Sangoma (medicine man) as a sacrifice! Now at least I know I can make good slaw!!! Thanks so much ... x

    ReplyDelete
  15. Looks delicious. It is a weird looking vegetable before it's prepared.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Celeriac is a space monster vegetable.

    Soup made from it is one of my favourites.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ah well, maybe next year. I know I could buy some celeriac and make this (it comes from one of my fav cookery books) but somehow that feels wrong! Congrats on the celeraic harvest Mark.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking time to leave me a comment! Please note that Comment Moderation is enabled for older posts.