The name gives this distinctively flavoured vegetable its provenance; this is no more (and no less) than a member of the celery family -- but one where you eat the root instead of the above ground growth. As such, it's a perfect candidate for our 'Fen Foods' section: both the above organic specimens on sale in Downham Market were local produce. In fact, celeriac is derived from wild celery, which has been used as a vegetable for so long that it warrants a mention in Homer's Odyssey! It's a winter vegetable, and should be available from local growth from October through to March.

It's undeniably one of the uglier vegetables that you'll come across, but if you haven't tried it yet, don't let that put you off. Once peeled, you have a wide range of options for the firm flesh: grate it cold into a salad and savour the crispy taste, reminiscent of celery and parsley, but with a slight nutty character; roast it in the oven; add it to stews; mash it with potatoes and garlic in what is, for many people, the classic dish celeriac remoulade. It's also excellent as the basis for a distinctive soup, and we know of at least one (well precisely one) recipe for celeriac wine!

You can keep it, in the refrigerator, for 2 to 3 weeks. You're going to lose about a quarter of it when trimming it, so make sure that you buy at the least a medium-sized one. Peeled celeriac tends to discolour when exposed to the air, so if you want it to keep its clean appearance until served, drop it into a bowl of cold water, with perhaps a drop or two of lemon juice.

We always try a search on the Internet when writing up these 'fruit & vegetable' pieces, to see if we can discover any interesting facts (well, you think we knew Homer that well?). Celeriac definitely wins some sort of award here: go to www.starfruitwars.co.uk for a comic strip (appearing regularly in a produce trade magazine) that features a variety of fruit and vegetables battling with the evil celeriac!

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