5 ms·

Celery is one of the main vegetables in mirepoix (an essential part of French and French-influenced cooking), soffritto (an essential part of Italian cooking us

Celery is one of the main vegetables in mirepoix (an essential part of French and French-influenced cooking), soffritto (an essential part of Italian cooking used for most sauces), and is also used in many soups, stocks, and stews. I think you like it a lot more than you realize; you're just only thinking of eating it whole, raw.

bitshiftfaced 3y ago
Right, it's an "aromatic," and many dishes wouldn't taste right without it. Or, if you only ever eat dishes that don't call for it, I feel sorry for you.
- angiosperm 3y ago
  Yet, all dishes taste bad with it.
  - tetromino_ 3y ago
    Do you like soup? Most European soups taste better with some sautéed celery in them. (Or taste worse if the cook neglects their celery.) Of course I'm assuming you are getting decent, flavorful celery, not water-logged cardstock.
    - nsvd 3y ago
      To me, all dishes with celery taste worse. I can't stand the flavor or smell of it. When I'm cooking, I always omit it. I'm not a picky eater otherwise.
EA-3167 3y ago
Even raw it can be lovely, very finely diced into something like egg or chicken salad. It adds a bit of savory crunch, a lightness and some of that aromatic zip. Finely diced pickle can do the same thing though, for people who really hate celery.
- supertofu 3y ago
  Perhaps there is a generic situation at play? Cilantro to me tastes like soap, and celery to me tastes like grass mixed with paint thinner. I can't tolerate it in any form. But I love to cook and adore every other vegetable. Just celery and cilantro are abhorrent to my palate.
  - EA-3167 3y ago
    Hey fellow cilantro-sufferer, I also have that reaction to it. I love so much of the food it's in though, and cooks often struggle to understand that it isn't pickiness, it's vile to me. I... also find large amounts of raw celery to be unpleasant, although I like it well chopped into a rich mayo-based salad. Still you can barely taste in in there. I think you might be on to something.
    - kjellsbells 3y ago
      Well, carrot, celery, and cilantro (coriander) all share a common ancestor and it's not too fanciful to suppose that they might contain the same compounds that trigger people who have the aldehyde-detecting gene (ORA62) that is responsible for the dislike of cilantro. There was a study written up here where the authors sequenced the cilantro genome and compared it to other plants, if you want to go down this rabbit hole. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7206992/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7206992/
      - EA-3167 3y ago
        I love a good rabbit hole, and I didn't know about the common ancestry. Thanks!
      - supertofu 3y ago
        Wow! Well this explains why carrot tastes like soap to me too, but no one ever talks about soapy carrot flavor!
  - username135 3y ago
angiosperm 3y ago
No, it fouls soups. I always know if there is a trace of it. As the other commenter remarked, lighter fluid. Or turpentine. It gets worse cooked.
- jaredhallen 3y ago
  I've heard there's a gene that makes cilantro taste like soap to people who have it. Being that celery and cilantro are related, I wonder if there's something similar going on? Celery certainly doesn't taste anything remotely like lighter fluid or turpentine to me. Maybe even the same gene?
rpmisms 3y ago
Celery has nice texture, not nice flavor.
- rabbits_2002 3y ago
  thats entirely subjective, I love the flavor of celery

bitshiftfaced 3y ago

Right, it's an "aromatic," and many dishes wouldn't taste right without it. Or, if you only ever eat dishes that don't call for it, I feel sorry for you.

angiosperm 3y ago
Yet, all dishes taste bad with it.
- tetromino_ 3y ago
  Do you like soup? Most European soups taste better with some sautéed celery in them. (Or taste worse if the cook neglects their celery.) Of course I'm assuming you are getting decent, flavorful celery, not water-logged cardstock.
  - nsvd 3y ago
    To me, all dishes with celery taste worse. I can't stand the flavor or smell of it. When I'm cooking, I always omit it. I'm not a picky eater otherwise.

EA-3167 3y ago

Even raw it can be lovely, very finely diced into something like egg or chicken salad. It adds a bit of savory crunch, a lightness and some of that aromatic zip. Finely diced pickle can do the same thing though, for people who really hate celery.

supertofu 3y ago
Perhaps there is a generic situation at play? Cilantro to me tastes like soap, and celery to me tastes like grass mixed with paint thinner. I can't tolerate it in any form. But I love to cook and adore every other vegetable. Just celery and cilantro are abhorrent to my palate.
- EA-3167 3y ago
  Hey fellow cilantro-sufferer, I also have that reaction to it. I love so much of the food it's in though, and cooks often struggle to understand that it isn't pickiness, it's vile to me. I... also find large amounts of raw celery to be unpleasant, although I like it well chopped into a rich mayo-based salad. Still you can barely taste in in there. I think you might be on to something.
  - kjellsbells 3y ago
    Well, carrot, celery, and cilantro (coriander) all share a common ancestor and it's not too fanciful to suppose that they might contain the same compounds that trigger people who have the aldehyde-detecting gene (ORA62) that is responsible for the dislike of cilantro. There was a study written up here where the authors sequenced the cilantro genome and compared it to other plants, if you want to go down this rabbit hole. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7206992/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7206992/
    - EA-3167 3y ago
      I love a good rabbit hole, and I didn't know about the common ancestry. Thanks!
    - supertofu 3y ago
      Wow! Well this explains why carrot tastes like soap to me too, but no one ever talks about soapy carrot flavor!
- username135 3y ago

angiosperm 3y ago

No, it fouls soups. I always know if there is a trace of it. As the other commenter remarked, lighter fluid. Or turpentine. It gets worse cooked.

jaredhallen 3y ago
I've heard there's a gene that makes cilantro taste like soap to people who have it. Being that celery and cilantro are related, I wonder if there's something similar going on? Celery certainly doesn't taste anything remotely like lighter fluid or turpentine to me. Maybe even the same gene?

rpmisms 3y ago

Celery has nice texture, not nice flavor.

rabbits_2002 3y ago
thats entirely subjective, I love the flavor of celery