The ugliest vegetable in the world

Having received a celeriac (aka “celery root” or “knob celery”) recently from a farm delivery, the obvious question arose: What in the heck to do with it? We know that our members are a curious, knowledgeable group, so two thoughts came to mind: 1) Look up celeriac recipes in both our cookbooks and online  – both easy enough to do through the EYB library, and 2) ask for advice. 

We did do a little research about celeriac. Europeans are far more likely to know and appreciate celeriac – it is the basis for the French celerie remoulade, in which the root is peeled, grated, “cooked” in lemon juice, then dressed with a mustardy mayonnaise. And while it is a cousin to stalk celery, it is a root vegetable, related to anise, carrots, parsley, and parsnips. Many people advise thinking  about it as a funky-looking potato when considering how to cook it. 

So for those of you either looking for a challenge, or lucky enough to have one fall in your lap, here are some suggestions for cooking a celeriac. And, as we mentioned, we’d love to hear any of your tested ideas:

We have over 2,000 celeriac recipes in our indexed books — here they are sorted by rating.

And for even more suggestions, our library found these recipes available online, sorted by buzz.