Kem Ormond’s vegetable garden: Ugly and misunderstood produce needs love too

Celeriac may be a bit ugly but it's easy to grow and a nice alternative to pumpkin. Photo / Pixabay, Engin Akyurt

Kem Ormond is a features writer for The Country. She’s also a keen gardener. This week, she’s giving the unloved vegetables some praise.

OPINION

Sometimes, you come across a strange-looking vegetable at a farmers’ market, or even in the supermarket, and wonder what it is and how do you grow it.

Most of the time, it has been around for years but it is just not one of the popular kids.

There are a few that come to mind, such as celeriac, romanesco, kohlrabi, and even sorrel gets a bad rap nowadays.

Celeriac

Now this is a cold-hardy vegetable, and honestly, it is easy to grow but it looks a bit on the ugly side.

It is quite knobbly on the outside, with tops looking a bit like celery or Italian parsley.

It is a good autumn, winter vegetable and adds flavour when added to winter stews, soups or even when put in with the roast vegetables.

It is a desirable alternative when you get sick of eating pumpkin.

If I were to describe the taste and texture, I would say it is like a cross between a turnip, a potato and celery with a few mushrooms thrown in.

When cooked, it is quite starchy.

You can grow celeriac from seed.

After 20 to 28 weeks, when the bulbs are about the size of a tennis ball (they will grow much larger, but remember bigger is not always better), carefully remove the bulbous root from the soil.

Then make it into a dish of your choice.

Romanesco

This vegetable is so beautiful to look at and its colour would be what I would describe as neon or lime green.

With its collection of conical heads, it is like a cauliflower or broccoli gone wrong.

It tastes like broccoli, but there is a hint of nuttiness to it and the texture is similar to cauliflower.

Now this is a vegetable that can tell a tale or two because it was first cultivated in the 16th century by Italians.

A bit like cauli or broccoli, it does not like the extreme heat; it likes to be cool, refreshed and prefers its growing conditions to include fertile soil.

It is a fun vegetable to serve up whole to be appreciated and then smothered in a white or cheese sauce.

Kohlrabi

Like various other vegetables, kohlrabi gets a bad rap because so many people don’t know how to cook it.

The secret is in the size; you want to purchase nice small ones that you can cup nicely in your hand ... slightly smaller than a tennis ball.

Don’t go for the giant ones.

They have the texture of an apple with a cabbage-like flavour, which makes them great to add to salads.

In Germany, they call it a turnip cabbage.

It can be sliced and steamed with your pork knuckle, added to your vegetable soup or roasted.

Easy to grow from seed, so why not give these cute wee fellows a try.

Common sorrel

This is a leafy green vegetable that has a slight lemony flavour and a bit of a tang.

In fact, it gives spinach and silverbeet a run for their money.

It is widely grown in France because sorrel soup is a firm favourite there.

You will also see it in many English vegetable gardens.

The leaves are edible when young but toughen with age.

The tender fresh green leaves can be used in soups, salads and sauces.

Sorrel is easy to grow from seed, takes a couple of months to mature, tends to cope with chilly weather and is high in vitamin C.

If you have never made sorrel soup, grow some and give it a go.

Make a sorrel sauce, it goes lovely with fish.

Who knows, maybe in time one of these vegetables will make a comeback just like cottage cheese has.