Although the celery pedigree originates in the Mediterranean, the culture has quite confidently gained popularity in more northern regions, including Russia and Ukraine. It is known that all parts of the plant are suitable for eating - from the root to the stems and greens, but not everyone knows how to clean celery and whether it is necessary to do it at all.
Product properties
Celery is composed of the widest complex of vitamins and minerals, and also has a very low calorie (about 16 kcal / 100 g). The combination of the beneficial properties of the plant makes it a truly unique food, one might say, an ideal vegetable for a healthy lifestyle. On the content of vitamins and mineral substances vegetable almost no competitors.
Important! Eating celery, you lose weight even without additional physical exertion. This is due to the fact that to digest 100 g of a product rich in hard fiber, it takes more than 25 kcal, while the energy value of the same 100 g of celery does not exceed 16 kcal.
Benefit
Culture has a mass of beneficial qualities, and this applies to all parts of the plant.
Among the main useful properties of vegetables should be said about these:
- interferes with degenerative and gerontological changes in the body, regular use reduces the risk of developing and the effects of Alzheimer's disease;
- regulates the water-salt balance in the body;
- It has a beneficial effect on the state of the walls of blood vessels, their elasticity, as a result of which it normalizes blood pressure;
- has a mild sedative and sedative effect, due to the full complex of B vitamins, normalizes the central nervous system, stimulates brain function;
- boosts immunity, leads the body to tone;
- improves the appearance, especially the condition of hair, skin, nails;
- has a slight laxative and diuretic effect;
- useful for diabetes: reducing blood sugar levels, has a positive effect on the patient's condition;
- useful for men as a light natural aphrodisiac;
- normalizes the activity of the digestive system, eliminates flatulence, increases the acidity of gastric juice.
Possible harm
The product has a number of contraindications, special attention should be paid to such of them:
- should not be taken by people suffering from urolithiasis;
- with problems with blood vessels;
- during pregnancy at least you should not eat in the II and III trimesters;
- gastritis and gastric ulcer (intestine);
- children up to three years;
- people with individual intolerance and allergies to vegetables.
Did you know? Homer, the great ancient Greek poet, twice mentions celery in his imperishable writings. In the Iliad, the Mirmidons (a tribe whose leader was Achilles) grazed their horses in the meadows dotted with cornflowers and celery. According to the Odyssey, celery fields spread around the grotto where the nymph Calypso lived.
Proper preparation
In order to prepare celery for further processing or for human consumption, it is enough to wash it and clean those parts of the plant that need it. For these purposes we need only a knife or a potato peeler and water, preferably flowing. And, of course, you need theoretical training, which will be discussed later.
How to clean the root
Celery root is used to cook the first dishes, subjecting to heat treatment. And you can eat it raw in the composition of various salads and snacks. In any case, the root must be pre-cleaned.
The root of the root is very poorly digested, there is no useful juice in it, but its surface accumulates dirt on itself. Before use, the root crop is washed in warm water, and then cleaned.
To make the cleaning process easier, choose the youngest root vegetable in retail outlets. The degree of freshness of a vegetable can be recognized by how dry the stalk slices look.
The top layer (peel) is removed with a knife, it is quite convenient to use a potato peeler. In the event that you need a small piece of the root, divide it into several parts (crosswise into four), or cut the desired size. This piece needs to be cleaned, and leave the rest unpeeled, so the rhizome is better kept.
Video: How to peel celery root
If you look at the cut off part of the root, you will clearly see at the cut the boundary between the outer layer and the pulp. When removing the peel, leave only the flesh, it is lighter and has a slightly different structure.
Although there is no juice in the peel and very few nutrients, there is a lot of fiber in it, and it is suitable for those cases when your digestive tract needs a given polysaccharide (for example, for constipation). In the event that your stomach is sensitive enough, the root of a root vegetable should not be eaten.
Important! Celery has a rather sharp and peculiar taste, which after the heat treatment becomes much softer, gets nutty notes.
When you remove the peel and you will only have a piece of pulp, with the tip of the knife from it should be removed the black dots, broken and tainted areas. Now you can use the product as intended.
How to clean the stem
Stem celery or petioles are succulent plant stems, the lower part of which, together with the rhizome, forms a root crop, and the upper one turns into leaves. Petioles are used in any form: raw, after heat treatment, squeezed out of them juice, which in its useful qualities exceeds most of the well-known popular juices.
To begin, the stems should be thoroughly rinsed under running water. It is advisable to use warm and cold water alternately. If the stalks are tied with a bundle, before washing, separate them. Then it is necessary to cut off the dried ends of the stalks (they may contain bitterness, and such edges do not look aesthetically pleasing), rough streaks and protective chaff.
The petioles are covered with a film, which with age of the plant acquires a more rigid structure. It is quite possible to eat the spit of young stalks, but it is better to clean the mature cuttings. In addition, the degree of stiffness of the film depends on which part of the beam there was a specific stem: usually the petioles that were inside the ligament had a more tender film than the outer ones. To remove the protective chaff, you simply need to separate with the help of a knife any large core from the body of the stem, pull it and remove the film.
Video: How to peel celery stalks
How to clean greens
Celery greens are not cleaned, only washed, and after that it is ready to eat. Depending on how you plan to use the leaves of the plant, you can cut them off whole or finely chop. Whole leaves are used to decorate salads, canapes, hot and cold snacks, chopped greens are added to the first and second dishes, side dishes, mashed potatoes.
The aroma of whole leaves is more subtle, they are to some extent elements of decor, exuding a light, subtle scent. But the chopped greens due to the essential oils and the high temperature of the hot dish immediately emit a sharp, but pleasant smell and have a savory taste that gives the original notes to the food.
We advise you to read how to save celery for the winter.
Does celery need to be cleaned before consumption?
If you purchased celery from a trusted supplier, you do not need to clean the ground part of the vegetable (petioles and greens), it is good enough to wash it, especially if the vegetable is young.
The root crop will have to be cleaned in any case, since due to the unevenness of the skin, even the most thorough washing will not help remove dirt from the surface. The need for cleansing is influenced by the age factor of the plant: young celery has a more delicate stem film, it is not necessary to clean it, especially if the vegetable is grown by you personally.
If the root crop is used for weight loss, it is necessary to remove as little as possible of the peel from the skin, but it must be remembered that it contains most of the coarse fiber, which not every stomach can handle.
Useful tips for cooking celery
The root is used in the preparation of soups, salads, sauces, added to the side dishes, mashed. Most often, the root vegetable is rubbed on a grater or ground using a blender. But to cut it into cubes or cubes is not recommended because of the rather sharp aroma and rigid structure.
As part of salads or cold appetizers such as Korean kimchi, the root looks very nice in the form of a thin straw. But it is unlikely to be cut in such a way, for this purpose you need to use a special carrot grater in Korean.
If you plan to heat treat celery, remember that the more crushed the vegetable is, the more flavor it exudes. The stems are eaten raw, added to meat and vegetable stews, used in marinated snacks and salads.
Did you know? The three main vegetables of French cuisine are onions, carrots and celery, which are the basis of a huge number of local dishes. Later, the same company of vegetables, with only paprika instead of carrots, received a similar status (the main vegetable trinity) in Louisiana, the majority of whose population is just the French.
Fresh greens are an indispensable element in the preparation of salads, soups, perfectly complements the various dishes of legumes, potatoes, eggplant. Dried greens are added to sauces, sprinkled with meat, fish and vegetables cooked over an open fire, it goes well with eggs in any form.
From the petioles they squeeze out the juice, unique in its therapeutic and dietary qualities, which helps to get rid of many diseases, improves the appearance. However, it must be remembered that the juice should be used as carefully as possible in case of gastrointestinal problems.
Celery is a part of the large umbrella family and is the closest relative of carrots, parsley, cumin, parsnip, coriander, etc. The combination of culture with these vegetables and herbs is the most harmonious. 
In order to maximize the benefit of celery root when cooking, it should be put in boiling water and cook under a closed lid.
Apart from the fact that celery is a wonderful spice used in cooking, it is a real natural pantry of vitamins and minerals. The plant has long been used in traditional medicine, it is easy to grow in its own garden, and in addition, fresh celery throughout the year can be purchased at retail outlets at affordable prices.
