Food

Food Information

Vegetables

CELERY

Celery is available twelve months of the year. Our largest and best sourceis 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 summermonths, when both New York and the Midwest do. The poorest time of yearfor celery is late spring. That is when the California crop starts to goto seed. The tender hearts (the best part of the celery) start to solidifyand will eat woody.

While there are many varieties of celery, there are two basic types andthey can be identified by color. The all-green celery is called Pascal andthe yellow or white varieties are called Golden. Nearly all the celery soldtoday is of the Pascal variety, yet fifty years ago it was the other wayaround.

The Pascal celery is thick-ribbed and almost string-free, and hasa sweet flavor and a fairly long shelf life. Thanks to these virtues ithas captured a 99 percent share of the market. The Golden, or white, celeryhas thinner ribs and a sharper flavor, is more stringy, and gets limp ina 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 fora few hours.) Celery must be stored under refrigeration.

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