Recipe for salt-baked celery (whole)
Whole salt-baked celeriac.
The other day, I stumbled upon a large and beautiful celeriac that was just begging to be salt-baked.
By wrapping the celeriac in a salt crust, you preserve its flavor and strength. And that’s really what cooking is always about. The taste, the juices, and the essence need to stay in your ingredient. Otherwise, it’s pointless.
When you have your ingredient, think about how you avoid losing flavor, juice, and essence. For instance, if you boil celeriac, a significant part of the flavor and vitamins will dissolve in the water.
Of course, you can use the water for a sauce or the like. But wouldn’t it be fun if the flavor packed a full punch?
The salt crust encapsulates the root, so all steam, juice, and flavor stay inside. When you crack open the hard shell, the most wonderful celeriac aroma gushes out.
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale
- Deciliter Measure
- Stand Mixer
- Oven
Ingredients
- 1 pcs. Celery
Salt Dough
- 400 gram Coarse salt
- 400 gram Wheat Flour
- 250 gram Water
Instructions
- For a large cleaned celeriac, I used 400g coarse salt, 400g wheat flour, and 2.5 dl water.
- The dough is made in a mixer and kneaded together by hand at the end.
- Rolled the dough out on a silicone mat and wrapped the celeriac.
- In the oven for about 1 1/2 hours at 220 degrees Celsius (428 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Let the ball rest in a turned-off oven for about 30 minutes.
- Crack it open with a hammer and push the peel aside with a spoon.
- You can now pour browned or melted butter over it, or herb oil or whatever you like.
- Yummy, I say, a celeriac that tastes like celeriac?