Give Due Credit To Finely Chopped Celery

Jess Kapadia•

Once in a while, I like to be completely frank about my job. It's so awesome, guys. When Matt spearheaded Frozen Drinks Week, we all went nuts with the frozen dark 'n stormies and vodka gummy bear popsicles and, hopefully, so did you. Now that I'm bringing in the Lobster Roll Week harvest — think claw crackers instead of threshers — our whole situation has just gotten that much more summery and delicious. Teamwork, folks! And as a result of excellent teamwork, I've been thinking a lot about the beautiful finished product as well as the sum of its parts. Which, naturally, got me to thinking about celery. Also if we're breaking the team down into ingredients, I get to be the lobster.

I claim this title because I've edited a lot of lobster roll recipes this week. But I've also established a massive spectrum of what chefs include in their signature recipes with regards to greenery. Sometimes there's cucumber; frequently, fresh herbs (chives and tarragon are favorites) and I've encountered very few that don't call for celery. I'd certainly miss celery in a lobster roll that omitted it entirely. You're not going for a lobster-and-celery salad, the celery is there to subtly accent the sweet brininess of the lobster meat and provide the tiniest bit of crisp texture. You should not be crunching down on any kind of discernible vegetable, diligent knifework is key here.

My next three paragraphs could go into a lot further detail just on this topic alone, but in the spirit of lunch and productivity, here are a few other lunches that would benefit from the addition of cool, juicy crunchiness. You know, for those of us who aren't having a nice relaxing day by the ocean with a lobster roll and a beer because it is Monday morning.

I'm going back to the mines (yes, the lobster roll mines) to gather more information, chop more celery and continue to tell people I'm the lobster in the Food Republic lobster roll.

More crucial lunch components on Food Republic:

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