Celery

Summary

Celery is a plant species in the Apiaceae family. The vegetable has been domesticated only in the last 200-300 years. The stalk is the part consumed.

Contents

Celery leaves were part of the garlands found in the tomb of Tutankhamun, pharaoh of ancient Egypt.Another archeological find dating to the 9th century BC, provides evidence of the use of celery in ancient Greece. In Homer's Iliad, the horses of Myrmidons graze on wild celery that grows in the marshes of Troy, and in Odyssey there is mention of the meadows of violet and wild celery surrounding the cave of Calypso.

Apium graveolens is used around the world as a vegetable, either for the crisp petiole (leaf stalk) or fleshy taproot.<br /><br />In temperate countries, celery is also grown for its seeds. Celery seeds can be used as flavouring or spice either as whole seeds or, ground and mixed with salt, as celery salt. Celery salt can also be made from an extract of the roots. Celery Salt is used as a seasoning, in cocktails (notably to enhance the flavour of Bloody Mary cocktails<br /><br />Celery is one of the three vegetables (together with onions and carrots) that constitute the French mirepoix, which is often used as a base for sauces and soups. It is a staple in Chicken Noodle Soup.

Celery is valuable in diets, where it provides low-calorie fiber bulk. Celery contains androstenone, not androsterone. Bergapten in the seeds can increase photosensitivity, so the use of essential oil externally in bright sunshine should be avoided. The oil and large doses of seeds should be avoided during pregnancy: they can act as a uterine stimulant. Seeds intended for cultivation are not suitable for eating as they are often treated with fungicides. There is a common belief that celery is so difficult for humans to digest, that it has negative calories because human digestion burns more calories than can be extracted.

In North America, commercial production of celery is dominated by a variety called Pascal celery. Gardeners can grow a range of cultivars, many of which differ little from the wild species, mainly in having stouter leaf stems. They are ranged under two classes, white and red; the white cultivars being generally the best flavoured, and the most crisp and tender.<br /><br />The plants are raised from seed, sown either in a hot bed or in the open garden according to the season of the year, and after one or two thinnings out and transplantings they are, on attaining a height of 15-20 cm, planted out in deep trenches for convenience of blanching, which is affected by earthing up to exclude light from the stems.<br /><br />In the past, celery was grown as a vegetable for winter and early spring; because of its antitoxic properties, it was perceived as a cleansing tonic.

1. The Food Encyclopedia: Over 8,000 Ingredients, Tools, Techniques and People by Jacques L. Rolland
2. The Celery Stalks At Midnight by James Howe
3. Pass the Celery, Ellery! by James Fisher

1. http://www.foodreference.com/html/celery-history.html
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celery