What is is?

Celeriac is a knobbly root vegetable which comes from the celery family and as a result has a mild celery-like flavour with sweet and nutty notes. It is often shunned thanks to its somewhat ugly exterior but really shouldn’t be as it is a wonderfully versatile vegetable and actually not that difficult to prepare!

What do I do with it?

Celeriac is delicious both raw and cooked. The key to getting past the fiddly skin is to not worry about losing some of the flesh. Simply top and tail the celeriac then go around it slicing off the rest of the skin. It can then be grated, sliced or chopped depending on your recipe. As it discolours quickly, it is best to plunge your chopped celeriac into a bowl of water with a dash of lemon juice.

Keep it simple and try your celeriac blitzed into a hearty and warming soup with onion, garlic, stock and other seasonal vegetables. Or try grating and combining with fresh herbs, mayonnaise, lemon and salt to make an easy crisp coleslaw. Celeriac can also be roasted, puréed and makes a scrumptious mash. The flavour of celeriac also pairs well with Indian spices so add it to a curry or make a delicious spicy soup with coriander and cumin.

When is it in season?

September – April.