At the Cannon Beach Farmers Market last week i was browsing a table of a vendor that i rarely buy from and she offered a leaf of what she was calling red celery to me. i am not the biggest fan of celery. i think the texture is tough, chewy and way to viscous. the flavor is watery and bitter most of the time. i tried one simple leaf of the red celery though and it was if i had eaten a whole bunch of green celery in one bite. the leaf was tender and tasted like what celery (in my head) should taste like........ X 4. it was amazing to have such an aggressive taste from such a gentle and small piece of produce. i bought 5 #'s for the restaurant and she brought it to me yesterday. the funniest thing about that is now i have 2 days off of work, and the chef gets to figure out what to use it for.
side bar- a great game we play every so often is to go on your days off giving the other an absolute odd task to do. i will sometimes break out a textbook and think of a sauce that i know he hasn't made for years and publish a dinner special with it, so at around noon he will see he needs to make it, then have to do the research of how, and then have it made by 4pm or so. he in return will buy a protein (fish usually) i have never worked with and buy it whole and run it for me to break down and portion. in the end we are working to better each other but we always end up cursing the other in the heat of all the other things that need to be done in a day. in turn making it absolutely hilarious, especially if a quick text message gets involved.
anyway- i am not sure you will be able to find red celery near to you, what i am positive about is that sometime cool and unknown products can be found, especially if you can develop a relationship with the people you buy food from. the produce guy at your local mega mart will give you advice, the farmers at markets, the artisan cheese mongers, the roadside stand produce people, the butcher, the fish monger, etc. these people are there to help, and in most cases love to do so. keep in touch with them, keep an open mind, and keep your eyes open for you next big score.
side bar- a great game we play every so often is to go on your days off giving the other an absolute odd task to do. i will sometimes break out a textbook and think of a sauce that i know he hasn't made for years and publish a dinner special with it, so at around noon he will see he needs to make it, then have to do the research of how, and then have it made by 4pm or so. he in return will buy a protein (fish usually) i have never worked with and buy it whole and run it for me to break down and portion. in the end we are working to better each other but we always end up cursing the other in the heat of all the other things that need to be done in a day. in turn making it absolutely hilarious, especially if a quick text message gets involved.
anyway- i am not sure you will be able to find red celery near to you, what i am positive about is that sometime cool and unknown products can be found, especially if you can develop a relationship with the people you buy food from. the produce guy at your local mega mart will give you advice, the farmers at markets, the artisan cheese mongers, the roadside stand produce people, the butcher, the fish monger, etc. these people are there to help, and in most cases love to do so. keep in touch with them, keep an open mind, and keep your eyes open for you next big score.
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