Posted by: tim
on Sep 13, 2009
by Aaron Falbel, Kitchen Garden Assistant Grower
You will never win a beauty contest.
Your photo will never grace the cover of any seed catalog.
Unlike the tomato, the melon, the winter squash,
You will never be the subject of any coffee-table book.
You will never marshal the fanaticism of, say, sweet corn.
Homely, ugly even, with gnarled roots and a pitted brownish-green exterior,
You are perhaps the most under-appreciated member of the vegetable kingdom,
Which is precisely why I like you so.
For behind your uncomely skin hides a brightness of flavor!
Grated raw with mayonnaise and mustard, you become the French celeri remoulade.
In soups, stews, gratins, purees, you come into your own.
Sautéed, steamed, broiled, roasted, deep-fried -- versatility is your middle name.
You are more than happy to share the stage with other veggies.
In fact, you are used to this, never really being the center of attention,
Relegated, as you so often are, to the back and upper shelves in the supermarket,
Tossed among horseradish, jicama, salsify, and other strange, unidentifiable rooty things.
Little do they know that you are the storage champion of all time,
Leaving even butternut squash in the dust.
Six months, eight months, ten months ... even a year is not unheard of
Under the right storage conditions.
Long after celery stalks have decomposed into a brown, gelatinous goo,
You persevere on, and on and on,
Keeping your bright celery flavor intact, lending a little, or a lot, as is desired.
You are the faithful one, the modest one,
Selfless, unassuming, patient,
You hold your delightful surprise of freshness within you.
You are ...
celeriac!
[originally published in The Greenfield Recorder, Feb. 4, 2009]
