Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Kohlrabi for the uninitiated

Being such a startling purple, I had to buy it. Sitting perkily on the organic stall’s shelf next to the celeriac they struck me as a pair, like a bride and groom at some kind of vegetable wedding. It was something to do with their ‘head gear’, royal purple tentacles coming off one and an erect green sprout topping the other. In the end I couldn’t part them up and for the first time ever, kohlrabi came home with me, nestled in the trolley next to the more familiar celeriac.


The SE had a flash camera to play with so I sent him off to take a photo of the pair, now wilting slightly from a couple of the days in the fridge. I should have checked it first, before I started chopping! Sorry no after pics, it is dark at dinner time now!

It is two years since I extended my acquaintance with the not-so-ugly celeriac. Now, it was kohlrabi’s turn.

First I had to taste it. As I peeled off her finery to get to the crisp flesh, I felt a little saddened to be loosing the vibrant coat but was rewarded with a slice of surprisingly sweet, slightly cabbage flavoured goodness. Kohlrabi is almost apple-like in both consistency and flavour. The pigeon pairing on the shelf made me want to keep celeriac in the mix somewhere and a remoulade-style dish was the obvious place to start.

Well lets not get fancy here, it evolved to more of a slaw.

But first a confession. I know how to make mayonnaise and it is not solely laziness that prevented me to make it from scratch - rather health. I get overwhelmed by the vast quantity of oil that goes into making mayonnaise and as you can’t just make a teeny bit of the stuff it means in a short period of time you find excuses to hoe your way through a couple of cups of very nice vegetable oil. Not today thank you. But please feel free to whip up your finest

Kohlrabi and celeriac slaw

1 kohlrabi, peeled
1 celeriac, peeled
1 lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon of good quality mayonnaise (preferably homemade but I cheat with Thomy)
1 tsp fennel seeds

Grate the vegetables, and then mix in a bowl with the lemon juice followed by the mayonnaise and fennel seeds.

Result: A tasty side dish to celebrate the marriage of celeriac and kohlrabi. A little grated apple next time could be a good variation.

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2 Comments:

Blogger Lucy said...

Every time I see that cup of oil on the bench I think, 'do I really want to eat this mayo?'

Sadly, it does not stop me.

Apple would be a grand addition, but the fennel seeds are inspired. Lovely.

9:04 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My mum used to grow KR when I was a child. As well as eating the root portion, you can eat the top like spinach (although the tops of the ones at the veg shop may not be in as good nick as the ones from the garden). If you were making a vegetable soup or one-dish meal, you could use both together.

11:26 am  

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