Market Trend: Fantastic Growth in Celery Stalks

Wild celery has thin, hollow stalks. You can get an idea of what they look like by checking out a celery root (celeriac). At the top of it you’ll see the little round beginnings of stalks that have been trimmed off.

In the wild ancestral plant, those stalks are not only insubstantial, they’re too bitter to eat. This is why celery was long grown only for its aromatic leaves and seeds.

But in the 16th century, around the time that some European farmers were breeding the big-rooted celery varieties that would develop into celeriac, others started producing fleshy, edible celery stalks by covering them up with dirt as they grew. In the absence of sunlight, the stalks didn’t turn green and bitter. It was pretty much the same process that produces the white Belgian endive today.

Eventually celery became an everyday addition to stew or vegetable soup, but in the beginning, the additional labor meant it was expensive. Even after 18th century farmers bred “self-branching” varieties that didn’t have to be “ramped” with dirt to produce thick, sweet stalks, celery retained a luxury-food aura. It was very common to savor celery by itself, braised in cream sauce, batter-fried or raw with salt and olive oil.

In the 19th century, Americans liked to serve a whole raw head of celery as a special appetizer. They’d soak it in cold water until serving time to get it as crisp as possible, then display it on the table in a special “celery glass.” Diners would dip pieces of stalk in salt and eat them as a delicacy.

On one hand, this evolved into the use of celery in the early 20th century restaurant relish tray (which it shared with carrots, olives and radishes). On the other hand, it led to stuffed celery. Careful celery stuffers still soak the stalks in ice-cold water before putting on the cheese filling.