It's winter so I find myself eating more soups and stews. They can be so good on a cold day.

But IMO celery tastes horrible and only subtracts from the flavor of soup by covering up other flavors. Why is it such a common ingredient? Do people actually like enjoy or is it serving some other purpose?

(Yes I avoid it in other foods too. Not to go off topic but water chestnuts are a fantastic substitute if you like the crunch. Try them instead of celery next time you make stuffing.)

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 94 points 10 months ago (24 children)

If the celery in soup is crunchy or even detectible as celery, the soup is being made wrong. It should melt into the dish along with the onions and garlic. The only part of the mirepoix/trinity that should possibly be detectable should be the bell pepper or carrot, and even then they should be very broken down and no longer have a distinct flavor by themselves.

  • source
  • hideshow 24 child comments
  • [–] 16 points 10 months ago (4 children)

    And if it is done right it can add a dimension of flavor. Carrot and onion develop a bit of sweetness when cooked a while. Nothing inherently wrong with that, but it's not exactly what you're looking for in a bowl of chicken noodle. Celery, being disgusting when raw, doesn't do that and helps break that pattern up.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 9 points 10 months ago (7 children)

    This post has nothing to do with texture. OP is complaining about the flavor of celery.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 7 child comments
  • [–] [S] 1 point 10 months ago (3 children)

    Thanks. I think my side note about water chestnuts is throwing people off? Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 6 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    Water chestnuts are delicious though...so crunchy too

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 12 points 10 months ago (6 children)

    That's interesting... I like getting chunks of carrot and celery in my soups. I deliberately cut them large, about as large as you can get whilst fitting on a spoon, for that reason.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 6 child comments
  • [–] 0 points 10 months ago

    Which part of the celery? Only North America sticks to using the stalk only like it's some miracle growth. Most European cuisine discarded stalk for centuries, using only the root for soups and stews as a staple. It wasn't until fairly recently when celery stalk started seeing use in salads in Europe.

  • source
  • parent