Chef Juliette
Butters and Creams
Beurres et crèmes d’hors-d’œuvre prove that cold-table finesse is mostly timing: smooth good dairy, cover it closely, hold it cool, then season only as you dish so every spoonful keeps a clean edge.
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Celery à la Grecque
Created by Chef Juliette
Céleri à la Grecque turns humble celery hearts into a bright, cold hors d'oeuvre, gently cooked in lemon, olive oil, white wine, and coriander, then cooled in the same fragrant liquor.
Salads
French
Make Ahead
Dinner Party
Picnic
20 min
Active Time
25 min cook•4 hr 30 min total
Yield4 servings
Céleri à la Grecque (celery hearts cooked and chilled in lemon-coriander liquor) teaches one essential principle: cooling in the cooking liquor is part of the cooking. The celery must leave the heat tender but still holding itself, because it continues to absorb salt, acidity, coriander, and olive oil as it chills.
The original entry assumed Artichokes à la Grecque was already part of the kitchen's working grammar, with uniform hearts sorted by a brigade and a crystal hors-d'oeuvre dish waiting for service. At home, make a small batch of the same liquor in the saucepan used for parboiling, cut two compact hearts into four equal portions, and serve them in shallow glass or porcelain. The cross-reference and formal crystal service are brigade scaffolding; the acidulated parboil, the oil-lemon-coriander liquor, and the long cooling remain. One cook, one stove, one evening.
The second simmer decides the dish. Stop when a knife enters the thick base with slight resistance, then let the liquor finish its work in the cold. Boil the celery until limp and no marinade can restore its character.
À la grecque belongs to the French classical hors-d'oeuvre table shaped in Parisian professional kitchens, where artichokes, mushrooms, and celery were cooked in an acidulated olive-oil liquor and served cold with a portion of it. The name reflects the French canon's association of Greece with olive oil, lemon, and coriander rather than claiming the preparation as a Greek household recipe. Celery entered the family by borrowing the artichoke method exactly, including the preliminary blanch and the cooling in liquor rather than a dressing added afterward.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
compact celery hearts
Quantity
2 hearts (about 1½ lb / 680 g total)
outer stalks removed and hearts halved lengthwise
cold water for parboiling
Quantity
8 cups (1.9 L / 1.9 kg)
fresh lemon juice for the acidulated water
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g)
fine sea salt for the acidulated water
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g)
dry white wine
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 118 g)
water for the cooking liquor
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 120 g)
olive oil
Quantity
⅓ cup (80 ml / 73 g)
fresh lemon juice for the cooking liquor
Quantity
¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g)
coriander seeds
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 4 g)
lightly crushed
black peppercorns
Quantity
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g)
fine sea salt for the cooking liquor
Quantity
1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g)
bay leaf
Quantity
1
fresh thyme sprigs
Quantity
2
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| compact celery heartsouter stalks removed and hearts halved lengthwise | 2 hearts (about 1½ lb / 680 g total) |
| cold water for parboiling | 8 cups (1.9 L / 1.9 kg) |
| fresh lemon juice for the acidulated water | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) |
| fine sea salt for the acidulated water | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g) |
| dry white wine | ½ cup (120 ml / 118 g) |
| water for the cooking liquor | ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) |
| olive oil | ⅓ cup (80 ml / 73 g) |
| fresh lemon juice for the cooking liquor | ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g) |
| coriander seedslightly crushed | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 4 g) |
| black peppercorns | ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g) |
| fine sea salt for the cooking liquor | 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g) |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| fresh thyme sprigs | 2 |
Equipment Needed
- •5-quart (4.7 L) nonreactive saucepan with lid
- •Colander and kitchen tongs
- •Shallow glass or porcelain serving dish
Instructions
- 1
Trim equal hearts
Remove any dark, coarse outer stalks, leaving the compact pale hearts. Trim each heart to about 6 inches (15 cm), but keep enough of the root end intact to hold the ribs together. Halve the hearts lengthwise and wash carefully between the ribs. If one half is much thicker, divide it again; equal size matters because every piece must reach tenderness together.
Peel only the exposed ribs that carry tough strings. The tender inner stalks need no such fuss, and over-trimming leaves very little celery for the table. - 2
Parboil in acidulated water
Bring the 8 cups (1.9 L / 1.9 kg) water to a full boil with the 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) lemon juice and 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g) salt. Add the celery and parboil for 5 minutes. The ribs should bend slightly while their thick bases remain firm. Drain at once and rinse the saucepan; the blanching water has done its work and is not part of the finished liquor.
- 3
Build the cooking liquor
Combine the white wine, water, olive oil, lemon juice, coriander seeds, peppercorns, salt, bay leaf, and thyme in the clean saucepan. Bring the liquor just to a simmer and hold it there for 5 minutes so the coriander opens and the wine loses its raw edge. Taste a cooled spoonful. It should seem brighter and slightly more seasoned than a warm sauce, because cold quiets both salt and acidity.
- 4
Simmer without rushing
Nestle the celery into the liquor in one layer, cut sides down. Cover loosely and maintain the barest simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, turning the pieces once, until a small knife enters the thick base with slight resistance. Do not wait for complete softness. If a thinner piece becomes tender early, lift it out and return it when the celery cools in the liquor. Ça se rattrape. If every piece begins to slump, stop the heat immediately and transfer them gently to the cooling dish; they won't regain firmness, but they can still keep their shape.
- 5
Cool in the liquor
Arrange the celery in a shallow nonreactive dish and pour over all the cooking liquor and spices. Let it cool uncovered until no longer warm, no more than 45 minutes, then cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Turn the pieces once during chilling so both sides drink in the marinade. The oil will separate into shining droplets rather than forming an emulsion. That is exactly right.
- 6
Serve very cold
Remove the bay leaf and thyme. Arrange one celery portion per person on a chilled shallow platter and spoon over enough cooking liquor to pool lightly beneath it, carrying a few coriander seeds onto each piece. Serve very cold, while the celery is firm, glossy, and sharply fragrant. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose compact hearts with tight, pale ribs and fresh inner leaves. Wide dark stalks are useful for stock or braising, but they remain stringy in this delicate cold preparation.
- •Crush each coriander seed only enough to crack it. Powdered coriander clouds the pale liquor and coats the celery with grit; whole uncracked seeds surrender too little perfume.
- •Use stainless steel, enamel, or another nonreactive pan. Lemon and wine can draw an unpleasant metallic taste from bare aluminum, and this liquor has nowhere to hide it.
- •Cook with a dry white wine you would pour at the table. A Muscadet or another lean, unoaked white suits the celery's herbal edge without fighting the lemon.
Advance Preparation
- •Prepare the entire dish 6 to 24 hours before serving. The celery tastes rounder after a night in its liquor and needs only arranging at the table.
- •Keep the celery covered and refrigerated in its liquor for up to 3 days. For a picnic, transport it in a leakproof container inside a well-chilled cooler and arrange it only when ready to eat.
- •Do not freeze it. Freezing collapses the celery's cells, leaving the ribs watery and limp when thawed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 235g)
Calories
205 calories
Total Fat
19 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
16 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
820 mg
Total Carbohydrates
8 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
1 g
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