You’ve heard me, Dopers.
I’ve always loved Italian-style food; pasta (i’ve learned how to make a mean arrabiata sauce myself), pizza with the thin crust baked directly on the stone, and so on.
Note, I deliberately said Italian -style, because I’m well aware that what you get in Italy is probably quite different from what you get in even the most authentic Italian restaurant/pizzeria here in Luxembourg, let alone the tasteless lasagne and mushy spaghetti that some of us cook at home!
But I disgress.
I would love to explore, to try more recipes - but one thing is holding me back: my aversion to celery. Evil, evil celery.
I don’t know exactly how it started - I wasn’t always such a fussy twat. But one evening, a few years ago, my then-flatmate, who was generally easy-going and nice by the way, cooked up what I can only describe as the devil’s soup. It was pungent. There was no escaping the vile miasma, as it permeated everything. The air, the curtains, the atmosphere. Up to then, young foolish me thought my chaotic-living, hard-drinking, near-chain-smoking body could take anything.
Then, I began to wheeze.
Long-ass story short, I don’t know if it’s a genuine, though mild, allergy or just a strong aversion, but…celery. It is evil, at least to me.
ARE there any alternatives to celery, especially for ragu and bolognese recipes? If so, what are they?
In my experience, celery is not a strong component of most southern Italian cooking, and when it is called for in a particular recipie, couldn’t you just leave it out altogether or maybe substitute zucchini for it?
To me, it would be tougher trying to get away from tomato or olives in Italian/Mediterranean cusine. Now THAT would be a challenge!!!
I’m trying to think of any Italian dish I’ve ever had – here or in Italy – that had celery in it, and am drawing a total blank.
So, yeah, not seeing a problem here.
Thanks for your contributions, MPB and twickster.
And yes, of course you’re right in that celery isn’t as important a staple in Italian and Mediterranean cuisine as, say, olive oil.
(Personally, I like pasta with fried zucchini, or with spicy tomato sauce - it’s tasty, healthy and relatively cheap!)
It’s just that apparently, that old standby Bolognese (and many of its “relatives”) isn’t the real thing without celery. Or am i mistaken there?
Bologna is in the north, and yes, Bolognese typically uses celery in the soffrito along with onion and carrot. However,
I’d certainly be throwing some green peppers in if I had them. You might also try some slice Florence fennel bulb.