VEGETABLES FOR ENTREMETS OR SECOND COURSE SIDE-DISHES. History and Use of Celery. Ciu.Eity is used in England mainly in two forms — firstly, in the shape of young green leaves for flavouring soups ; and secondly, and mainly, in the shape of greatly-developed, etiolated, blanched leafstalks, which are eaten raw with cheese or salt, and also cooked in soups, ragouts, stews, and stewed by themselves. On the Continent, however, besides the young green leaves, the modification called celeriac, the greatly enlarged pole-rooi of the plant, is mainly used. This furnishes one of the most agreeable vegetable materials for various preparations : (a) The roots are boiled in broth, and eaten sliced in the soup ; (b) they are eaten as a vegetable with white sauce, either being boiled in broth first and subsequently dressed, or being stewed and braised at once in a sliced state ; (c) they yield an excellent salad boiled in broth or salt water, sliced fine, salted and spiced, covered with oil and a little vinegar. They may be mixed with other ingredients, or form a top- dressing to other more voluminous salads. An entire celery i)lant, of the kind which forms the en- larged and tuberculated pole-root, consists of about 61 per cent, of root, 18 per cent, of leaf-stalks, and 20 per cent, of leaves ; a root may weigh from 140 to 150 grammes, or from 4| to near 5 ounces. The root contains about 84 per cent, of water, 1'5 per cent, of nitrogenized substance, 0‘4 per cent, of fat, 0-8 per cent, of sugar, 11 per cent, of matters free from nitrogen (in this some starch), 1-5 per cent, of woody fibre, and above 0’8 per cent, of ash. The CELERY AND CELERIAC 317 leaves and stalks contain the following quantities of con- stituents : Water. Xitrogeni/.ed Mutter. Fat. other Noii- Sugar. nitrogeni^ed Lignhi. flatter. Ash. Leaves Leaf-stalks... 81 -.7 89-5 4-6 08 '0-8 0-3 1-3 7'9 1-4 0-6 .'>■9 1-2 2-5 1-4 From this it appears that the stalks are the most succulent or watery parts of the plant ; the etiolated stalks are prob- ably much more so than were the green ones subjected to the analysis stated in the foregoing. The flavour of celery resides in an essential oil, which can be obtained by distillation with water of seeds and herb ; it is transparent, colourless or little coloured, and has a pungent, sweetish odour. On account of the volatility of the oil with water-vapour, dishes containing celery should not be boiled longer than is necessary for the cooking of the vegetable, or the vegetable should be added at the latest possible period. Another of the characteristic ingredients of celery {Apiuin (jravcolens) is apiin, originally discovered in parsley, in which it is present in larger quantities than in celery. This l)ody is a (jliicoside — that is to say, a sugar combined strongly with another matter, apigeuin. A solution of apiin in boiling water, or a decoction of parsley or celery, is coloured deep blood-red by ferrous sulphate, even when very dilute, and brownish-red by ferric chloride. Apiin crystallizes in needles, and in feebly alkaline solution turns the ray of polarized light to the right. Apigenin is a yellowish sublimable substance, and contains an aromatic radicle.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

VEGETABLES FOR ENTREMETS OR SECOND COURSE SIDE-DISHES. History and Use of Celery. Ciu.Eity is used in England mainly in two forms — firstly, in the shape of young green leaves for flavouring soups ; and secondly, and mainly, in the shape of greatly-developed, etiolated, blanched leafstalks, which are eaten raw with cheese or salt, and also cooked in soups, ragouts, stews, and stewed by themselves. On the Continent, however, besides the young green leaves, the modification called celeriac, the greatly enlarged pole-rooi of the plant, is mainly used. This furnishes one of the most agreeable vegetable materials for various preparations : (a) The roots are boiled in broth, and eaten sliced in the soup ; (b) they are eaten as a vegetable with white sauce, either being boiled in broth first and subsequently dressed, or being stewed and braised at once in a sliced state ; (c) they yield an excellent salad boiled in broth or salt water, sliced fine, salted and spiced, covered with oil and a little vinegar. They may be mixed with other ingredients, or form a topdressing to other more voluminous salads. An entire celery plant, of the kind which forms the enlarged and tuberculated pole-root, consists of about 61 per cent, of root, 18 per cent, of leaf-stalks, and 20 per cent, of leaves ; a root may weigh from 140 to 150 grammes, or from 4| to near 5 ounces. The root contains about 84 per cent, of water, 1'5 per cent, of nitrogenized substance, 0‘4 per cent, of fat, 0-8 per cent, of sugar, 11 per cent, of matters free from nitrogen (in this some starch), 1-5 per cent, of woody fibre, and above 0’8 per cent, of ash. The CELERY AND CELERIAC leaves and stalks contain the following quantities of constituents : Water. Nitrogenized Mutter. Fat. other Noii- Sugar. nitrogeni^ed Lignhi. matter. Ash. Leaves Leaf-stalks... 81 -.7 89-5 4-6 '0-8 0-3 1-3 7'9 1-4 0-6 2.9 1-2 2-5 1-4 From this it appears that the stalks are the most succulent or watery parts of the plant ; the etiolated stalks are probably much more so than were the green ones subjected to the analysis stated in the foregoing. The flavour of celery resides in an essential oil, which can be obtained by distillation with water of seeds and herb ; it is transparent, colourless or little coloured, and has a pungent, sweetish odour. On account of the volatility of the oil with water-vapour, dishes containing celery should not be boiled longer than is necessary for the cooking of the vegetable, or the vegetable should be added at the latest possible period. Another of the characteristic ingredients of celery {Apiuin graveolens) is apiin, originally discovered in parsley, in which it is present in larger quantities than in celery. This body is a glucoside — that is to say, a sugar combined strongly with another matter, apigeuin. A solution of apiin in boiling water, or a decoction of parsley or celery, is coloured deep blood-red by ferrous sulphate, even when very dilute, and brownish-red by ferric chloride. Apiin crystallizes in needles, and in feebly alkaline solution turns the ray of polarized light to the right. Apigenin is a yellowish sublimable substance, and contains an aromatic radicle.

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