As the season of spring arrives in Melbourne, I’m still enjoying celeriac and kohlrabi, two unusual vegetables that are still available in September and October at the Queen Victoria Market.
Celeriac and Kohlrabi: Strange-Looking but Delicious
Celeriac and kohlrabi could be described as particularly beautiful. Celeriac is knobbly, tangled and earthy; kohlrabi has a swollen round stem with leaf stalks projecting from it, but these rather inhospitable exteriors are two versatile and delicious vegetables.
The specimens in my photographs are particularly rugged. A careful grower or more selective retailer might have rejected them before they have reached this mature end of season stage.
Kohlrabi is best harvested young because large, mature plants can become tough and woody. Celeriac is more forgiving and can grow to a considerable size while remaining perfectly good to eat.
When Are Celeriac and Kohlrabi in Season?
Celeriac is very much a vegetable of the cooler months and has a long growing season. In the Northern Hemisphere it is generally harvested from autumn through winter and into early spring; in UK, for example, the main season extends roughly from October to March.In Italy kohlrabi grows during two main seasonal cycles: a spring crop from May to June and an autumn-to-winter crop from October to November.
In the southern part of Australia the seasons are reversed, making celeriac predominantly an autumn and winter vegetable, although local climate and growing conditions can extend its availability.
Kohlrabi is a member of the brassica family. It grows quickly and also prefers cool conditions. When harvested young, its swollen stem is crisp, juicy and mildly sweet, with flavours reminiscent of cabbage stem, broccoli and turnip. It can be eaten raw, steamed, sautéed, roasted, stuffed or added to soups and stews.
In Europe, successive crops can provide young kohlrabi from late spring through autumn and into early winter in milder regions. In temperate parts of the Southern Hemisphere, spring and autumn provide particularly favourable growing conditions but too much heat or dry weather can encourage older specimens to become tough and woody.
The leaves of kohlrabi are edible too and can be cooked like other leafy brassicas.
My relatives in Ragusa use them in a delicious, rather soupy pasta dish. I was always intrigued by the kohlrabi they bought there: very leafy, with relatively small swollen stems, and invariably beautifully tender. The violet varieties of kohlrabi are prominent in Italy and eventually they will also be common in Australia.
Versatility of CELERIAC and Kohlrabi
Perhaps because of their uncompromising appearance, celeriac and kohlrabi are easily overlooked, but European cooks have long recognised their value. Both can move comfortably between raw and cooked dishes and take well to strong flavours as well as simple preparations.
They are also suited to preserving. In Central and Eastern European food traditions, firm vegetables have long been preserved in vinegar, brine or through fermentation, sometimes with herbs, mustard seeds and spices. Kohlrabi and celeriac lend themselves particularly well to pickling because of their firm texture and ability to retain some crunch.
I have written about both vegetables before, with recipes and examples of how they are prepared in different parts of Italy. Use the links to see those earlier posts.
Two northern Italian recipes that demonstrate Celeriac and Kohlrabi recipes
Two distinct recipes from Northern Italy are here: a hearty Veronese minestra with celeriac, borlotti beans, sausage, and tagliatelle, and a Trentino–Alto Adige preparation of kohlrabi slowly cooked with butter and cream until tender.
Recipe: Minestra di Sedano Rapa Tagliatelle –Veronese Celeriac, Borlotti Bean and Tagliatelle Soup
This substantial minestra from Verona is made with celeriac, borlotti beans, fresh pork sausage and egg tagliatelle. The celeriac softens during the long cooking and contributes the distinctive celery-like fragrance, while the beans give the soup body and the fresh sausage adds richness.
I found this recipe in my 1990 edition of Grande Enciclopedia Illustrata della Gastronomia, where it is attributed to Giovanni Capnist’s La cucina veronese.
The accompanying text written in Italian makes an interesting distinction: although celeriac has essentially the same aroma as ordinary celery, it is not used simply as an aromatic but treated as a vegetable in its own right, both raw and cooked.
This minestra demonstrates that particularly well. Celeriac is not hiding in the background as we do with celery stalks, it is one of the substantial ingredients around which the dish is built.
Serves 6–8
Ingredients
- 400 g dried borlotti beans
- 1 celeriac, about 500–600 g before trimming
- 1 large onion
- 1 carrot
- 4 small fresh pork sausages
- 1.5 litres beef broth
- 200 g dried egg tagliatelle
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil, to serve — the original suggests olive oil from Lake Garda
METHOD
Soak the borlotti beans overnight, then drain.
Peel and trim the celeriac and cut it into small pieces. Roughly chop the onion and carrot and remove the sausage meat from its casings.
Place the beans, celeriac, onion, carrot and sausage meat in a large saucepan. Add the beef broth and bring gently to a simmer.
Cook over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally so that the ingredients do not catch on the bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper.
About 20 minutes before the end of cooking, add the dried egg tagliatelle. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente.
Remove from the heat and allow the minestra to settle and cool slightly before serving. For a thicker consistency, mash some of the tender borlotti beans against the side of the pot and stir them back through the soup.
If desired, finish each serving with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil*
An Interesting point: *The original Italian recipe finishes with:
“Servire, condendo se piace con un filo di olio d’oliva del Garda.” – If desired, serve, with a drizzle of olive oil from Grada.
That reference to Lake Garda olive oil is not an incidental detail. Verona lies just east of Lake Garda, where the moderating influence of the lake has allowed olives to be cultivated unusually far north. A final thread of local olive oil therefore gives the dish an unmistakable local, geographical connection.
Recipe: Cavolo Rapa Soffocato – An Alto Adige Way with Kohlrabi
I have found versions of this traditional Alto Adige dish in two of my cookery books. In my 1990 Grande Enciclopedia Illustrata della Gastronomia it appears as Cavolo rapa stufato, while Osteria: 1,000 Generous and Simple Recipes from Italy’s Best Local Restaurants, published by Slow Food Editore, calls it Cavolo rapa soffocato – smothered kohlrabi.
The recipes are essentially the same, but I much prefer the straightforward, simple instructions in Osteria.
What makes the recipe particularly interesting is that it treats kohlrabi quite differently from the crisp vegetable we might expect in a salad or pickle. Here there is no attempt to preserve its crunch. The kohlrabi is deliberately cooked for an hour until very tender, with butter, a little sugar and flour, before being finished with cream. The sugar encourages browning and enhances the vegetable’s natural sweetness, while the flour and cream turn the cooking juices into a light sauce.
It is rich, comforting and distinctly Alpine in character and an excellent example of what northern Italian cooks can do with this rather austere-looking vegetable. The cream and butter are also characteristic of this very northern Italian Cuisine.
The recipe in Osteria is attributed to Klaus Mayr of Renon–Ritten, in Bolzano–Bozen, Trentino–Alto Adige.
I have not made this recipe yet, but although it is a side dish, I rather like the idea of presenting it as a hot dip with warm bread. I doubt very much it the Bolzano crew would be impressed!
Cavolo Rapa Soffocato — Smothered Kohlrabi
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 4 kohlrabi, diced
- 1 tablespoon plain flour
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup cream
Method
Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar begins to caramelise.
Add the diced kohlrabi, sprinkle with the flour and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring so that it does not stick, until the kohlrabi begins to brown.
Add ½ cup cold water, cover and cook over low heat for about 1 hour. Check occasionally and add a little more water if the pan becomes too dry.
Uncover, stir in the cream and cook for a few more minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce has thickened. Serve warm.
A finishing comment: There is something very appealing about these two recipes sitting together. Celeriac and kohlrabi may be awkward-looking vegetables, but neither is treated timidly in these northern Italian dishes. In Verona, celeriac becomes part of a substantial minestra with beans, sausage and pasta; in Alto Adige, kohlrabi is slowly smothered with butter and cream. Both recipes make a convincing case for looking beyond appearances—and perhaps for giving these vegetables a little more space in our kitchens.
Other recipes on the blog:
UNVEILING KOHLRABI, a BRASSICA
KOHLRABI with pasta (Causunnedda )
Kohlrabi, Fennel, Celeriac and Daikon make a good salad (and other recipes)
A WET PASTA DISH WITH KOHLRABI
KOHLRABI and TENERUMI, shared between cultures of Sicily and Vietnam
SEDANO RAPA (Celeriac and how to eat it)
I am surprised that there is only one post about celeriac as I use it quite a bit, however you will find a number of different ways to prepare it in the above link
