My celery-hating friend enjoyed eating at restaurants, and
many of them were undoubtedly flavoring any number of
sauces, stews, salads, soups, and braises with the vegetable.
Combined with pungent onions and sweet, earthy carrots,
celery, with its slight bitter edge, forms the backbone of half
the dishes in the Western repertoire. Potato salad or a lobster
roll wouldn’t be the same without its distinctive crunch and
fresh flavor, and the Chinese learned long ago that celery is
particularly good in a spicy stir-fry. Even the leaves can be
used as a flavorful garnish.
This guide will help teach you to cut celery into all of the
major shapes and sizes.
Shopping and Storage
When buying celery, look for heads with tightly bundled
stalks still attached at the root and a bright green to
yellowish-green color. Skip any that have bruised brown
spots or look overly fibrous. Avoid those in sealed packs,
which can often hide blemishes. A good grocery store will
keep its celery stalks lightly misted with water to keep them
fresh and crisp.
Once at home, celery can wilt in a matter of days. It’s best
to store it in a slightly open plastic bag or a perforated
plastic bag to help it retain moisture but still give it room to
breathe. Use the vegetable crisper drawer if you’ve got one.
Properly stored, celery should last up to a week and a half.
Stalks that have started to go limp can be revived by cutting
them off and standing them cut end down in a cup of water
in the fridge.
If you want to use the leaves as garnish, pick the pale