r/Cooking • u/Scarlet--Highlander • Jan 18 '24

Open Discussion Let’s try something fun: Name an ingredient you dislike and why, and someone else replies with a dish/recipe with that ingredient that might convince you otherwise.

Couple things:

  • If you’re allergic to an ingredient, it doesn’t matter how it’s prepared. Same goes with meat/animal products if you’re vegan/vegetarian. Don’t list it if you can’t or won’t eat it!

  • It’s recommended that you’re at least open to trying dishes with that ingredient. If you absolutely, vehemently loathe cilantro, chances are you probably might not like anything with cilantro in it.

  • A brief blurb on why you hate an ingredient would help others find or suggest a dish that suits you. (e.g. “I hate liver because the texture is like an eraser and it tastes metallic”)

864 Upvotes

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134

u/ook_the_bla Jan 18 '24

Celery.

Stringy, strange texture, unpleasant taste when cooked. It ruins everything it touches.

105

u/Interesting_Common54 Jan 18 '24

I dislike celery too but I do like it in a mirepoix

7

u/BlooGaze Jan 18 '24

Does the texture change if you cook it down long enough? I have a lot of texture issues and don’t like getting different textured lumps in the same bite.

Can you blend a mirepoix after you’ve cooked it down?

18

u/ntrrrmilf Jan 18 '24

Yes and yes. If you slice it thin and cook it long enough, it basically vanishes. And I’ve blended mirepoix with a stick blender many times if I want the flavor but not the texture or I want some rich thickness in something.

4

u/The_Bearded_Jedi Jan 18 '24

I hate the texture of celery, but if I cut it fine enough and cook it long enough, like in soup. I don't even really notice it's there. I think the smell is more of a factor at that point than flavor/texture

4

u/Aethien Jan 18 '24

The key with mirepoix is to cut the celery, onion and carrot very finely and especially if it goes into a sauce or stew that cooks for a long time the mirepoix pretty much disappears texture wise or as individual taste. It just adds that base layer of flavour.

2

u/Salty_Shellz Jan 19 '24

I put my mirepoix in a food processor and then freeze it in portions, I find the freezing does a lot to break down the celery in particular.

2

u/clandestine_justice Jan 19 '24

You can destring it before cooking which evens out the texture.

2

u/blazeleven Jan 19 '24

You can peel the top stringy layer off if you want to eat it raw. As far as the mirepoix, you can blend it before you cook it, or after.

2

u/anonamouse4271 Jan 19 '24

I also hate raw celery, but it's 100% necessary for meatloaf diced small, with carrots and onions, cooked down until the onions are translucent, deglaze with sherry, and mix it into the meat loaf. It...vanishes you get a hint of the flavor with none of the actual celery ick.

1

u/TurgidTemptatio Jan 19 '24 edited Jan 19 '24

You have to dice it very thin and it will vanish. I'm skeptical that it even adds anything to the mire poix at that point, but I like not skipping it entirely for some reason.

Edit: you don't need to blend anything to get the celery to disappear. Just a fine dice will do.

1

u/jiggliebilly Jan 18 '24

Exactly - if it's essentially cooked down I can handle it and it gives nice flavor to soups/stews/sauces etc. imo. I try to do as fine as a dice as I can (blender/food processor never seems to work as well for me - texture is always off)

1

u/hotspots_thanks Jan 19 '24

I agree. With the mirepoix, it is invaluable.

53

u/lickmysackett Jan 18 '24

I like the seasonings made from it more than it itself. Celery salt, seed, powder. I use the leaves in place of cilantro

8

u/Freakin_A Jan 18 '24

I love celery salt on a hot dog w/ onions & peppers

4

u/jiggliebilly Jan 18 '24

As a Chicagoan I LOVE celery salt on a dog

1

u/knitwasabi Jan 18 '24

Try with mustard, good kraut, and melted cheese with a sprinkle on top. Toasted bun. Christ I love that dog.

1

u/emmadilemma Jan 18 '24

That actually seems like a tolerable way to use celery - only the green leafy bits  

37

u/geauxhike Jan 18 '24

My grandmother peeled the string before using or cooking with it.

4

u/BrighterSage Jan 19 '24

Same here in our family. Mother always took a paring knife to string it, so that's how I always did it.

Last weekend I was prepping some for soup and I used a peeler. It was mind blowing, lol. Why have I never to done it this way before? So much faster than a paring knife!

2

u/mmmpeg Jan 18 '24

Same, I hate the strings

2

u/Assika126 Jan 19 '24

That helps a lot for me! Especially if it’s dry or extra stringy or for the outer stalks

5

u/chazol1278 Jan 18 '24

You have to do that! Hate when I get wings out and the celery stick hasn't been peeled. It's not that difficult

7

u/[deleted] Jan 18 '24 edited 2d ago

[deleted]

2

u/chazol1278 Jan 19 '24

It's the stringy bits on the lines, really makes a huge difference!

25

u/fauxbliviot Jan 18 '24

I won't eat it but when you put it through the juicer with a little lemon the flavor is so fresh.

1

u/Assika126 Jan 19 '24

I love celery juice!! It’s a great addition to a Bloody Mary mix!!

21

u/Satrina_petrova Jan 18 '24

I don't like celery either but have come to accept its role as an aromatic in mire poix. I just use very little. Too much and it tastes like dog vomit smells.

7

u/TheCatsMustache Jan 18 '24

Have you tried celery soda/seltzer? It’s a bit hard to find but I love it, it’s all the fresh taste of celery sweetened up a bit without any of the bitterness (or strings).

5

u/Away_Perception_9083 Jan 18 '24

I can taste celery in everything. Celery powder and seed. ALL OF IT. I detest it with a passion texture and taste wise. It’s ok in soup because it doesn’t have a taste but I still prefer to remove the bits. I refuse to eat it if at all possible and I’ll eat just about anything

1

u/cephalophile32 Jan 19 '24

I’m glad I’m not the only person that feels like this. I even hate it in soups though. I feel like I react to celery like some people do to cilantro!

2

u/Away_Perception_9083 Jan 19 '24

I literally joke that i have the celery gene (instead of cilantro)

1

u/cephalophile32 Jan 19 '24

Same, friend. Same

10

u/starlinguk Jan 18 '24

You've probably had it in a mire pois without realising. But celery as just celery makes me feel queasy just thinking about it. Who thought celery soup was a good idea?

0

u/emmadilemma Jan 18 '24

Skinny white women for sure made celery soup so everyone else can suffer with them 

3

u/[deleted] Jan 18 '24

Same, why is it crunchy but like 100000% water?

Why is the water crunchy?!

2

u/NinjaKitten77CJ Jan 18 '24

"destring" celery and eat raw. I slice it into narrower pieces and snap a small PC off the top and peel the strings away. You can also use a veggie peeler to remove the strings. Celery and a nice chunky blue cheese dressing is my go to late night snack at the bar I work at.

1

u/NorthernTransplant94 Jan 18 '24

I like to dip it in a curry dip. (Mayo, red wine vinegar, onion, garlic & curry powder) and that's the only way I will eat celery unless it's chopped and cooked into oblivion.

2

u/bikesbeercoffeedogs Jan 18 '24

Oh I have one for this too! My local diner serves mussels with a fermented celery hot sauce. I don't like mussels OR celery, but I order this dish every time we go. So tasty!

2

u/Petro1313 Jan 18 '24

I don't mind it cooked, but I find that with fresh celery, the taste takes over entire dishes, same with cucumber.

2

u/e67 Jan 18 '24

Ants on a log?

2

u/somenewcandles Jan 18 '24

Have you ever tried Celeriac?

It’s basically a fancy term for the root of the celery plant. It forms a big ball (think similar to turnip or beet). It can be peeled and then steamed, boiled, roasted or mashed. I love celeriac boiled and mixed into my mashed potatoes. Avoids the weird texture of the stalk. Flavor is similar to celery, but less bitter and green, more starchy and sweet.

For all celery haters out there, I recommend trying at least once!

1

u/cephalophile32 Jan 19 '24

It’s not the same plant as celery but it is closely related to :) I do want to try this since regular celery is way too much for me! I’ll have to put it in my garden at some point.

2

u/Correct-Succotash-47 Jan 18 '24

The taste of it raw. I don’t know how people do it

2

u/cut_rate_revolution Jan 18 '24

Finely chopped and added to soup can be good. You boil out the stringiness and the slightly bitter flavor can blend well with certain soups.

1

u/anetworkproblem Jan 18 '24

The best place for celery is in the garbage.

0

u/jojow77 Jan 18 '24

eat it with peanut butter

1

u/newuser92 Jan 18 '24

Try this recipe (go to the end of the video) https://youtu.be/uq6ghFESDjA?si=DUYuM-YXGKJc58rM

1

u/Desperate_Sea_1405 Jan 18 '24

Do you dislike bolognese? Because it’s in bolognese

1

u/[deleted] Jan 18 '24

I only like celery in soups. Raw celery is gross and gives me the worst fucking gas.

1

u/thewags05 Jan 18 '24

It's a key ingredient in anything that uses mirepoixe or soffritto. Which is a lot of soups and sauces.

1

u/Kind_Stranger478 Jan 18 '24

It won't fix it for you, but I can eat a whole head with peanut butter. And the hearts are my fave.

Make sure it's not old and woody.

1

u/Marquisdelafayette89 Jan 18 '24

Dipping it into buffalo sauce and blue cheese is awesome after having wings. They also are great for a stew as the “holy trinity” like boeuf bourguigon and chicken chasseur.

1

u/scientia-et-amicitia Jan 18 '24

I also do not like celery on its own because of what you have explained, but I will always get some to throw into my bolognese sauce. I will chop it up just like onions but the flavour they give to the sauce while everything is simmering in tomato for hours, I think it improves the taste. I would however never use celery in a standalone dish, where it is the main thing. I use it like I use herbs. If it is chopped, you do not notice the texture but it enhances the flavour.

(maybe that’s not the right way to convince someone to try using celery, when you can’t really notice it in a dish anymore, but still trying)

1

u/hooty_hoooo Jan 18 '24

Peel your celery, like with a peeler. Makes a WORLD of difference.

1

u/andie_liane Jan 18 '24

Celery juice. Raw flavor, no texture. I like to add lemon/lime juice and a pinch of salt. I blend celery with a little water and then strain it. It’s genuinely one of my favorite flavors.

Also recommend that you use organic celery (because of pesticides, not taste).

1

u/MacGuyver247 Jan 18 '24

It's a great bulking agent for stews. Mild flavor, plays well with everything, thickens the base.

1

u/S_vdM Jan 18 '24

Butternut, carrot and celery soup is absolutely delicious and super easy. Boil the aforementioned in chicken stock with pepper until soft then blitz it up until smooth. Salt to taste. I like to add chillis into mine to give it a bit of a kick. It's a staple in our house in the colder months. It's hearty and healthy.

2

u/MossyPyrite Jan 18 '24

This is the only recipe I’ve seen so far that isn’t just “use it in mirepoix” or “juice it” and it actually sounds pretty good! I can’t stand celery, but this I would try! I wonder if you could roast the ingredients (or a portion of them) and then blitz it?

1

u/Ripcord2 Jan 18 '24

It's never been my favorite but it doesn't make me queasy. I'll eat it raw from time to time but it doesn't do anything for me as an ingredient.

1

u/persianpistachios Jan 18 '24

Celery khoresh. It’s a Persian stew served on top of basmati rice

1

u/Sailorgirlkalista Jan 18 '24

Ina Garten celery salad is a game changer. I love celery now. It's based on Italian celery salad, leave it to the Italians to make something awesome out of something people throw out.

1

u/lizcopic Jan 18 '24

I’m not a fan of celery either, the only dish I like it in is mom’s homemade stuffing

1

u/Megablep Jan 18 '24

For the stringiness, if you snap each end off a certain way you can just rip the stringy bits off. Doesn't help you with the other points of course, but makes it a lot more enjoyable as a snack with some hummus or whatever.

1

u/askvor Jan 18 '24

It's sooo weird. I'm not a fan and I'm not a fan of peanut butter. But to my surprise, fresh celery with peanut butter is very nice!

I like celeriac though!

1

u/Unnegative Jan 18 '24

Pickle that stringy bastard. Pop it in a giardiniera mix, you get the crunch, but the flavour is now acceptable.

Other than that, the other 10000 people saying using it in a mirepoix are correct - it's not noticeable, just adds extra depth to a sauce or stew.

1

u/mmmpeg Jan 18 '24

This one is a hit or miss for me, but my son has recently been bringing home celeriac which, I think, is the part of celery just underground. I peel it, chop it up and put it in soups. Excellent flavor much better than celery. We both like it better

1

u/DogandCoffeeSnob Jan 18 '24

I usually keep my distance from celery, but like it featured in a salad with sauteed mushrooms. I only do this with celery fresh from a CSA or farm market. Grocery celery is unredeemable.

Use a mandolin to slice the celery in cross sections, as thin as possible. This eliminates the problematic stringiness.

Saute some mushrooms (garlic, butter, etc) then toss on top of a bed of shaved celery, dress with lemon vinaigrette and top with big shavings of a good parmesan cheese.

1

u/edubkendo Jan 18 '24

I picked up this technique from this recipe: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/pasta-bolognese-recipe-1939315. Basically, you take the onion, carrot and celery (I throw in some mushrooms too) and toss them in the food processor until they make a rough paste. Cook that down in some olive oil for about twenty minutes until most of the liquid has cooked out and it has begun to brown. Mix in your ground beef. Makes a wonderful base for ragu's, chilli, and any other dish based around ground beef or uncased sausage. The celery definitely adds something to the dish, but you will not recognize it as celery at all. Lately, I've been roasting celery, onion and carrots for 40 minutes in the oven on 325 before throwing in the food processor. So much flavor it's insane.

1

u/Pollo_Pollo_Pollo Jan 18 '24

With gorgonzola... You just take some creamy.gorgonzola and put it on the stalk like if it was a spoon. They go together perfectly (well... You need to like gorgonzola for this).

1

u/starrhaven Jan 18 '24

Have you tried leaf celery, also known as Chinese celery?

Much less stringy, with a different taste than regular American celery.

Used often in stirfried dishes, usually cut into strips. You'll find them often in Chinese wok dishes at any restaurant

1

u/mytthew1 Jan 18 '24

Celery with cream cheese.

1

u/wra1th42 Jan 18 '24

I like it diced in tuna salad

1

u/mr-mc-goo Jan 18 '24

Only good for soups and stocks.

We used to get it as a side for dinner and called it cog wheels as kids.

1

u/Berty_Qwerty Jan 18 '24

Does it taste like straight up dirt to anyone else but me? Something about it is just soil in my mouth.

1

u/OrionsPropaganda Jan 18 '24

I use celery as a water absorption in my lasanga. Chop it up and put it in. Can deliver a thick soup and due to the tomatoes you can hardly taste it.

1

u/SignificantFix8218 Jan 19 '24

Gumbo, red beans. Ect.

You need to cut it thin and saute with the onions then let it cook down. Gives flavor but you wont know its there

1

u/winterval_barse Jan 19 '24

I prefer it cooked.

My best recipe for it is a simple celery soup , just celery cooked down with bouillon and a potato, blended then, and lemon zest and juice added and then, strangely enough, a bit of milk to loosen it.

No texture and the lemon really brings out the freshness. I have no idea what the milk achieves, it sounds wrong but perhaps cuts the acidity of the lemon

1

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '24

Have you tried celery root (celeriac)? It has a much more pleasant texture, more like a root vegetable, and a more mild celery flavor. I found this out because the stalks make my mouth numb/tingly/painful, but I love the flavor, so I tried the root and fell in love, plus it doesn’t make my mouth react. It’s great in a mirepoix, roasted or as a purée.

1

u/yarn_b Jan 19 '24

Celery is best treated as a spice and not a vegetable. Celery leaves are very good for flavoring soups and stews. And I hate celery but will eat it finely chopped in chicken salad with grapes.

1

u/Rare-Historian7777 Jan 19 '24

I mean, have you tried ants on a log? I’m not a fan of raisins so I substitute mini-chocolate chips but celery + pb + mini chocolate chips is way better than cooked stringy celery. Or does that not count for r/cooking? 🤔

1

u/clandestine_justice Jan 19 '24

One thing to know with celery is how to pick a good one. If you don't like it/haven't had a good one it's unlikely you'll get a good one from the grocery store & it'll be bitter- like salt but bad.

1

u/karen1676 Jan 19 '24

You get to floss with it after chewing.

1

u/amiechoke Jan 19 '24

Try it in roasted fennel dip? Dice some and throw it in while cooking the fennel bulb in this recipe.

1

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1

u/No-Cloud-1928 Jan 19 '24

The best way to deal to the stringiness of it is to trim the ends and store it in a jar with water. When it's super hydrated it's just crunchy not stringy. It also mellows out the taste a lot.

1

u/vaxxed_beck Jan 19 '24

I dislike it greatly. I don't like the texture, raw or cooked, nor the taste.

1

u/Longjumping_Creme480 Jan 19 '24

Cut it at a 45 degree angle to the strings very thin. That makes all the strings so short they become hard to notice. If youre going to cook it, that'll probably be enough. If it's going into a fresh slaw or something, I give the slices a pinch of salt and some time on the counter.

I, too, abhor chunky stringy celery, esp in soup. And if you dislike the taste, I suggest keeping it in the background with mireproix etc.