This is the story of the smallest Celeriac in the world...probably
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| Not handsome by any standard! |
Fact: we love Celeriac. Ergo: I had to try to grow some. Actually, it is much more readily available here in the UK than it used to be, though still not
reliably available when you want it. I suppose that if I were honest with myself I would conclude that it's not really worth growing it myself, because you can buy a decent-sized Celeriac bulb in the shops for about £1.25 or £1.50 at the right time of year. BUT, I
wanted to grow some, just for the love of it, the
challenge.
I have described growing Celeriac in one of my earlier blogposts (17 August 2010), so I'm not going to say much about it here. I just want to tell you about the results. This is only the second year I have grown Celeriac. The first time it was more or less a complete failure. There was plenty of foliage, but the bulbs didn't swell. I put this down to overcrowding, and this year I grew fewer, but at wider spacings. They have performed a bit better, but the size of the bulbs is still disappointingly small. In retrospect I have realised that the plants were in the same bed as the previous year, and it could be that the soil in that one doesn't suit them. It is actually my most recent raised bed, and contains mostly imported topsoil. The older beds have had the benefit of several years of my home-made compost, so if I try Celeriac again I shall grow it in a different bed.
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| Moments before harvesting |
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| Harvested. What a mass of tangled roots... |
The next picture shows the bulb after being trimmed. Not exactly huge... the coin in the picture is a 50p.
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| Trimmed |
We decided to use the Celeriac in a "remoulade" -- it's a bit like coleslaw, made with celeriac, carrot, mayonnaise, mustard and lemon juice. The recipe is actually one of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's. It appears in his book called "River Cottage Everyday". He calls it "Two Root Slaw". Peeling the Celeriac was no mean feat -- since it's so knobbly you have to take a lot of care (and this one of mine was so small I didn't want to waste any of it!)
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| Peeled |
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| Grated... |
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| Combined with the other ingredients... Finished |
I'm not normally a fan of coleslaw-type stuff, but this Celeriac remoulade is "to die for" as they say! Ours went really well with cold boiled eggs and some French-style sausage.
I found this very interesting as I had never (in my many years) heard of celeriac! It certainly looked much better grated than in the bulb! In fact the finished product looks quite delicious!I have never seen it for sale here in the states, at least not in Florida.
ReplyDeleteEgretta, in the USA I think Celeriac is sometimes referred to as Celery Root, isn't it? I'm going to make some Celeriac mash tonight -- about 60% potato and 40% Celeriac. It certainly gives the potato a lift. It's going to be served with a mixed Game casserole...
ReplyDeleteYum! Better luck with the celeriac next year, it really is a great veg, I love it in stews, but will have to try out HFW's recipe.
ReplyDeleteYour Celeriac looks great! I think it will taste you the best because it comes from your garden.
ReplyDeletePs: Thanks for visiting my blog