SC - Period Root Vegies

[Lenny Zimmermann]

On Mon, 18 Aug 1997, Lord Ras wrote:

[war stuff snipped]
>
>On to root vegetables:
[snip of discussion of other root veggies]

>Celery is not a root vegetable. Indeed, IMHO, celery was not eaten as a
>vegetable in Europe except on rare occasions because it was considered as a
>medicinal herb.

Platina (Venice, Italy, 1475) partially holds that out, but it seems
as though its use as an herb was not quite rare:

On Celery
"Celery is planted at the same time as mint. It is called 'Apium'
because in ancient greece the winners of contests were crowned with it
and 'Apex' signifies highest honor, or else because bees (apes) feed
with pleasure on its flowers. They say Hercules was given a crown of
celery, poplar and wild olive." (My Note: I just love the way Platina
goes into where he thinks these food names derive. It's just too
funny.) "The roots are marvelously effective against poisons and,
because it is bitter, it is more suitable as a medicine than as a
food. There are those who call this herb ambrosia."

Castelvetro (Venetian writing in England, 1614) has this on Celery:

"Celery is good at the beginning of this beautiful season." (My Note:
This is from his section on Autumn) "Its seeds, which are extremely
small, are sown in early spring in sifted ashes. When the stalks are a
foot high, they need to be planted out about seven inches apart, for
they grow quite large heads.They should be sown at sunset in good,
rich soil and watered often if the weather is dry. In early autumn the
celery plants are dug up and earthed close together in a trench about
a yard deep, with the tops showing about four fingers above the earth,
and left for fifteen to twenty days. They will then have blanched and
become good to eat." (My Note: Italians apparently loved to have their
greens, such as celery or lettuce, blanched where possible, as this
supposedly made the food crisper and, I would assume, less strong from
the flavor of chlorophyl.Just my uneducated guess.)

"To eat celery, dig up the required amount and wash it well, and serve
it raw with salt and pepper after meals. It is warm, and has a great
digestive and generative powers, and for this reason young wives often
serve celery to their elderly or impotent husbands."

Guess celery grew more favorable over the years. Not to mention why it
might be called ambrosia by some. ;-)


Honos Servio,
Lionardo Acquistapace, Barony of Bjornsborg, Ansteorra
(mka Lenny Zimmermann, San Antonio, TX)
zarlor at acm.org
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