Aromatic biennial typically grown as an annual. Thinner stalks and more abundant, more flavorful leaves than ‘normal’ celery with a slightly peppery taste. Leaf celery is one of the earliest cultivated forms of celery, recorded in Mediterranean regions around 800–500 BC.
Originally grown as a medicinal herb, its aromatic leaves were used as remedies to treat arthritis, rheumatism, and insomnia. Rumored aphrodisiac and a source of antioxidants, it also helps in lowering blood pressure. Wild celery had a strong, bitter taste and began its cultivation as a food item beginning in 16th-century Italy. By the 17th century, French growers began breeding for more tender stalks and milder, sweeter leaves. While stalk celery became widely popular in the West, leaf celery has remained dominant in Europe and Asia.
In Greek and Roman times, wild celery was dedicated to Hades or Pluto, the god of the Underworld. Appearing in the Iliad, Odyssey and even found adorning Egyptian Pharoah Tuttankamuns tomb. Leaf Celery also features in the famous De Medicina; part of a larger, lost encyclopedia that was written in 30 A.D by Roman Aulus Cornelius Celsus.
Aromatic biennial typically grown as an annual. Thinner stalks and more abundant, more flavorful leaves than ‘normal’ celery with a slightly peppery taste. Leaf celery is one of the earliest cultivated forms of celery, recorded in Mediterranean regions around 800–500 BC.
Originally grown as a medicinal herb, its aromatic leaves were used as remedies to treat arthritis, rheumatism, and insomnia. Rumored aphrodisiac and a source of antioxidants, it also helps in lowering blood pressure. Wild celery had a strong, bitter taste and began its cultivation as a food item beginning in 16th-century Italy. By the 17th century, French growers began breeding for more tender stalks and milder, sweeter leaves. While stalk celery became widely popular in the West, leaf celery has remained dominant in Europe and Asia.
In Greek and Roman times, wild celery was dedicated to Hades or Pluto, the god of the Underworld. Appearing in the Iliad, Odyssey and even found adorning Egyptian Pharoah Tuttankamuns tomb. Leaf Celery also features in the famous De Medicina; part of a larger, lost encyclopedia that was written in 30 A.D by Roman Aulus Cornelius Celsus.
