FoodFood InformationVegetables
Celery is available twelve months of the year. Our largest and best source
is California, but it is also a major cash crop in Florida, New York, Michigan,
and Ohio. California ships year-round; Florida doesn't ship in the summer
months, when both New York and the Midwest do. The poorest time of year
for celery is late spring. That is when the California crop starts to go
to seed. The tender hearts (the best part of the celery) start to solidify
and will eat woody.
While there are many varieties of celery, there are two basic types and
they can be identified by color. The all-green celery is called Pascal and
the yellow or white varieties are called Golden. Nearly all the celery sold
today is of the Pascal variety, yet fifty years ago it was the other way
around.
The Pascal celery is thick-ribbed and almost string-free, and has
a sweet flavor and a fairly long shelf life. Thanks to these virtues it
has captured a 99 percent share of the market. The Golden, or white, celery
has thinner ribs and a sharper flavor, is more stringy, and gets limp in
a few days, which explains its demise.
Select crisp, clear-stalked bunches; avoid those that are limp or scarred.
(Limp celery may be brought back to life if immersed in ice cold water for
a few hours.) Celery must be stored under refrigeration.
Deamer 5/97