Celery Preserved in Brine
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the celery
Cut each celery head into pieces six inches long.
Parboil the celery pieces until they are three-quarters cooked.
Immerse them in cold water, then drain and dry on a napkin.
Make and store the brine
Place the celery in an earthen jar and cover with brine (18 or 20 degrees sugar weight) when cold.
Cover the jar tightly and store in a cool place.
In two days, remove the brine and boil it, adding more salt to match the original brine strength.
Once cooled, pour the brine over the celery to cover it well.
Use
When ready to use, soak the celery in fresh water for several hours.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Celery
- The main vegetable, whose firm structure the brine preserves and softens when soaked.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws water out of the celery and creates a brine that slows spoilage.
The step that matters
Restoring the brine strength on day two. Salt concentration is what keeps the celery preserved. Boiling the brine and adding salt to match its original strength makes up for salt lost in use, so the celery stays protected while it is stored.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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