ChefTalk.com › ChefTalk Cooking Forums › Cooking Discussions › Food & Cooking › celery definations
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

celery definations

post #1 of 16
1/16/04 at 9:08am
Thread Starter 
OK How do you define the amount of celery. Stalks, blades,ribs?

Bulbs and cloves of garlic are no problem, but I have had recipes define celery differently, and sometimes it is confusing. I usually let common sense rule, but I wondered if there are defining terms.

Thanks
Reply

Featured Stories on ChefTalk.com

Great product that allows you to manually adjust the sharpening angle for each knife
When Cooks Cook for Themselves
Follow ChefTalk on Pinterest!
post #2 of 16
1/16/04 at 3:49pm
I think stalks, blades and ribs all refer to the individual pieces of celery.
Reply
post #3 of 16
1/16/04 at 4:08pm
Celery: 1/4 of total weight of mirepoix.
Reply
post #4 of 16
1/16/04 at 4:47pm
:eek: :D
Baruch ben Rueven / Chanaבראד, ילד של ריימונד והאלאן
Reply
post #5 of 16
1/16/04 at 6:38pm
The whole thing is a head of celery, unless the end with the leaves has been chopped off, in which case it is a celery heart. The individual pieces are either ribs or stalks. Thinking in the same terms as garlic:
Garlic --------- Celery
bulb ----------- head
clove ---------- rib or stalk
"Notorious stickler" -- The New York Times, January 4, 2004
Reply
post #6 of 16
1/17/04 at 1:51pm
Wow, Suzanne. I'll bet you cleaned house on the Miller Analogies test! :eek:
Moderator Emerita, Welcome Forum
***It is better to ask forgiveness than beg permission.***
Reply
post #7 of 16
1/17/04 at 3:15pm
What I've read disputes what Suzanne said. I'll have to dig around and see if I can find the source.

The stalk of celery is the whole thing, as it all grows as one from one spot.

A rib is the individual strand from the stalk.

Epicurious' dictionary supports this; notice the last sentence of this quote:

Phil
more than taste fine
me eat it all the time
Reply
post #8 of 16
1/18/04 at 8:04am
Phil, thats very possible. I posted what I use, and what I teach the people I work with. Could be wrong, but at least we're all wrong together and are all speaking the same language. :D
"Notorious stickler" -- The New York Times, January 4, 2004
Reply
post #9 of 16
1/18/04 at 10:54am
Oh, I agree.

I see stalk used in recipes all the time when you obviously don't want that much celery in the dish.

Phil
more than taste fine
me eat it all the time
Reply
post #10 of 16
1/18/04 at 3:39pm
To confuse matters even more, I usually refer to a "head" of celery as a "bunch" of celery.
From Man's sweat and God's love, beer came into the World-Saint Arnoldus
http://www.onceachef.com/
Reply
post #11 of 16
1/18/04 at 6:18pm
Thread Starter 
sheesh, how confusing. LIke I said, I usually let common sense prevail, but it would seem that blade and rib would be the individual pieces, and I could see that stalk could be the whole thing, even though I always thought of 'bunch' as the whole thing.
Reply
post #12 of 16
1/19/04 at 9:41am
I wonder how much of the confusion comes from regional differences in nomenclature?

Anyway, whatever makes sense -- I mean, if you're making a dish for 4 people and the recipe calls for 2 stalks of celery, you can figure out which it means.
"Notorious stickler" -- The New York Times, January 4, 2004
Reply
post #13 of 16
1/23/04 at 7:19am
Thread Starter 
That's true suzanne, I do figure it out, I just wondered if there were 'standard' labels. Thanks guys!
Reply
post #14 of 16
1/23/04 at 7:14pm
Upon further research, the Food Lover's Companion (3rd edition) makes it sound like the individual things are called ribs, surrounding the heart, and what holds it all together I guess is called the stalk, ie "leave the ribs attached to the stalk until ready to use". It also says "celery grows in bunches" so I guess Pete is right about that.
Reply
post #15 of 16
1/24/04 at 3:49pm
in my years of culinary experience a stalk is what is connected to the heart what some call a rib. wow that doesnt help at all does it :confused: oh well i guess what suzanne said is right at least we are all speaking the same language.
i pledge my professional knowladge and skill to the advancement of our profession and to pass it on to those that are to follow..... ACF pledge
Reply
post #16 of 16
1/31/04 at 4:47am
I came across two online encyclopedias that refer to the whole head of celery as a "stalk":

http://www.foodsubs.com/Stalk.html
http://www.whatscookingcanada.com/rw...256c28001028eb!OpenDocument

But like the previous authors, I do see stalk being used in recipes refering to a single rib.

Since there is so much confusion surrounding the word stalk, you might want to avoid using it in your own recipes and use rib instead. Head, bunch, and rib seem to always mean the same thing whereas stalk can get confusing.

Not to be too nitpicky but... a celery heart technically should also have the outer ribs removed.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Food & Cooking

Featured Stories on ChefTalk.com

Great product that allows you to manually adjust the sharpening angle for each knife
When Cooks Cook for Themselves
Follow ChefTalk on Pinterest!
ChefTalk.com › ChefTalk Cooking Forums › Cooking Discussions › Food & Cooking › celery definations