The 'Ugly' Root Vegetable Gordon Ramsay Wants More People To Start Cooking With

When you think of what to make for dinner, I bet you don't immediately think of celeriac, but Gordon Ramsay might. (And given his incredible loaded English breakfast sandwich recipe, it's easy to trust what he says about food.) Celeriac is a root vegetable that's closely related to celery and as Chef Ramsay rightly notes, it's ugly as sin. It is also called celery root or knob celery and it kind of looks like a potato gone awry. The top kind of looks like shrunken celery, while the bottom (the part you aim to eat) looks a bit like a cratered alien planet that often has little rhizomes shooting off in all directions. 

Beneath its ugly exterior beats the heart of a delicious, nutritious, and versatile delight. It's often described as tasting like a mixture of celery and parsley while being earthy and a bit nutty. It's packed with vitamin C, vitamin K, and potassium and is relatively low in carbohydrates. It has the starchiness and texture of a potato, which also makes it a great substitute for the beloved, starchy tuber. For example, you can make celeriac into french fries, and it's as simple as that. In fact, you follow the exact same directions as potato french fries. If that's not your style, the late, great Anne Burrell used celeriac to elevate her mashed potatoes. 

One of the most popular uses for celeriac is in the French-style salad, celery root remoulade. Simply peel the celeriac, julienne it (cut into tiny matchsticks), and briefly soak it in cold water with lemon juice. Now, drain and dry the celeriac and toss it with mayonnaise and Dijon before leaving it to tenderize for 30 minutes. The result is something like an elevated coleslaw. Heck, you could also just make celeriac coleslaw or toss it in with the cabbage and any number of creative coleslaw ingredients. Capers and diced cornichons are optional for a briny tartness, while shredded apple and diced bacon would add a sweet and savory element.

One tried and true method of using celeriac is to make it the secret ingredient in your next batch of vegetarian gravy. Perhaps the best way to unlock the flavor of celeriac is by turning it into a soup, as Chef Ramsay mentioned in his interview. All you need to really do is peel and dice the celeriac, then sauté it along with complimentary ingredients like onion, garlic, leek, and potato. What makes celeriac soup so special is that most recipes call for the addition of cream and then have you blend the celeriac so that the soup comes out velvet smooth and luxuriously rich. Celeriac remains one of the culinary world's strangest looking but most versatile ingredients.