celery

celery, (Apium graveolens), herbaceous plant of the parsley family (Apiaceae). Celery is usually eaten cooked as a vegetable or as a delicate flavoring in a variety of stocks, casseroles, and soups. In the United States raw celery is also served by itself or with spreads or dips as an appetizer and in salads. The tiny seedlike fruits, known as celery seed, resemble the plant itself in taste and aroma and are used as a seasoning, particularly in soups and pickles.

Physical description

Celery typically grows up to 60–120 cm (2–4 feet) tall, with green pinnately compound leaves and thick stalks (petioles) that are the edible part​. Small white umbels—flower clusters with stalks from a single point—appear in the second year followed by schizocarps, dry fruits that split into mericarps, each containing a seed. The ancient forms of the plant resembled smallage, or wild celery, which had thin, hollow stalks and a bitter flavor. There are three main cultivated varieties today: stalk celery (Apium graveolens variety dulce), grown for its fleshy leaf stalks; celeriac (Apium graveolens variety rapaceum), grown for its large bulbous root; and leaf celery (Apium graveolens variety secalinum), grown for its flavorful leaves and seeds​.

History

Celery is native to the Mediterranean region, with wild populations found in the marshes of Europe and North Africa and mountainous areas of southern Asia. Although the precise origin of celery’s domestication remains uncertain, the eastern Mediterranean is considered the most likely center. In ancient civilizations wild celery held symbolic and ritualistic significance. In Egypt wild celery leaves were found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun as part of funerary garlands. The ancient Greeks crowned winners of the Nemean and Isthmian games with wreaths made of wild celery leaves. They also used wild celery as a culinary herb.

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Cultivated celery with milder, fleshy stalks was probably not developed until the Middle Ages. The use of cultivated celery as food was first recorded in France in 1623. Though it primarily remained a flavoring herb for about a century, stalks and leaves were occasionally eaten raw with oil. Systematic cultivation is believed to have begun in Italy and gradually spread to France and England. Selection efforts were also made to reduce bitterness and strengthen the plant’s structure. From Europe, celery was thought to have been introduced to the United States, where four cultivated varieties were recorded in 1806. In the 18th and 19th centuries celery became a prized vegetable in Europe and North America, often served raw and displayed as a table centerpiece.

Uses

Celery stalks are eaten raw as a low-calorie snack or used as an ingredient in salads, soups, and stews. Celery is an aromatic in such flavor bases as the French mirepoix (with onion and carrot) and the Cajun “holy trinity” (with bell pepper and onion). Celery seeds are harvested as a spice and contain an essential oil rich in phthalides and terpenes, which contribute to celery’s aroma. In herbal medicine celery seed has traditionally been used as a diuretic and an anti-inflammatory remedy for such ailments as rheumatism or gout.