Apium graveolens, exists in three forms. The original wild plant has thin, hollow green stalks and an abundantly leafy top. It looks much like any other small umbelliferous hedgerow plant, and is sometimes called ‘smallage’ (from ‘small ache’, ache being an old French name for celery). From this two main cultivated types have been bred. The ordinary stem kind (var dulce) has greatly thickened, solid, pale green or white stems. In celeriac (var rapaceum) the base of the stem is enlarged to the size of a medium turnip, while the stem itself is no larger than in the wild form.
Wild celery has always been a common plant in Europe and the temperate parts of Asia, especially near the sea, and has been used since ancient times. It is mentioned in Homer's Odyssey as selinon, from which modern names are derived. Since it has a very strong flavour and is bitter, it was used more as a flavouring than as a vegetable. It also had medical and religious uses: to both the Egyptians and the Greeks it was associated with funerals, where it was made into garlands. (There is some ambiguity in classical literature between celery and its relative parsley, the Greek name selinon and the Latin apium often being used for both.) The seeds were used as a condiment.
During the Middle Ages celery continued to be used as a medicine and flavouring. Milder varieties, probably originating in Italy, appeared in the 16th century. The practice of earthing up the growing plant dates from these times. This encourages the growth of the stems, blanches them from green to white, and improves the flavour.
The first mention of cultivated celery is by the French horticulturalist Olivier de Serres in 1623. The new plant soon came into its own as a salad vegetable. Ray (1686–1704) says: ‘Smallage transferred to culture becomes milder and less ungrateful, whence in Italy and France the leaves and stalks are esteemed as delicacies, eaten with oil and pepper.’ (Nevertheless, wild celery remained in use, and can still be bought in France, as céleri à couper. Cut up and added to soups and stews, it gives a better flavour than does cultivated celery. It is also better for use in sauces such as Italian ragù.)
Later breeding has produced ‘self-blanching’ varieties of cultivated celery which do not need to be earthed up, thus saving considerable labour. Some of these are distinctly green, but none is more than slightly bitter.
The Chinese, who had been using wild celery as early as the 5th century ad, developed cultivated varieties of celery independently. Their celery is thinner, juicier, and more strongly flavoured than the European kind. They do not blanch it, since they value the strong flavour. They always eat it cooked, usually in mixtures of vegetables.
Both wild and cultivated celery were taken to America at a date which is not known, but certainly well before the first mention of four types of cultivated celery in a catalogue of 1806. The wild plant is now common throughout the USA; and cultivated celery is highly popular as a salad vegetable; indeed, the English-speaking nations are now the main consumers of stem celery.
Celeriac has quite a long history. Wild celery has a small but edible root which, like any part of the plant excluded from light, is of comparatively mild flavour. In 1536 the botanical writer Ruellius mentioned that the root of smallage was eaten, both cooked and raw; and in 1575 another writer, Rauwolf, said that it was considered a delicacy in the Arab world. Thus the idea of developing a variety with really large roots arose naturally enough, and such a variety was mentioned in J. Bauhin's posthumous Historia Plantarum (1613). Celeriac became popular on the mainland of Europe, but for some reason has never made much headway in English-speaking countries.
Uses of the two varieties are quite different. Cultivated celery is often eaten raw as a salad vegetable. It keeps very well if stood upright in a jug containing a little water, and refrigerated. It also makes a fine cooked vegetable.
Celeriac has a milder, sweeter taste than celery and is equally good cooked or grated raw in salads or cut en julienne and served as céleri en rémoulade. It can be served as a purée.
Celery seed, often used as a flavouring, has a strong celery fragrance (due to the essential oil of celery, apiol) but is bitter, so must be used with discretion. A hint of celery flavour may be imparted to meat dishes by using ready-made celery salt.
Substitutes for celery which have been used in the past are alexanders (often wrongly called ‘wild celery’) and lovage.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
