'Irish' Red soup celery

[SrStanislaus]

In Ireland you can often get some lovely soup that had a definite flavour that you just cant get in England.

The magic ingredient is Red celery which imparts a lovely flavour. Its a smaller variety than normal salad type celery and has a finer flavour.Ive looked everywhere to see if I can find some to buy but all thats available are the seeds. I dont want to grow the stuff ,only eat it.

Does anyone know what Im on about - and more importantly does anyone know where it is available in England?

I don't know where you can buy the celery, but you can buy the seeds here and grow your own next year.

I know what you mean...but unfortunately I am also in need of info on this and cant help, but will watch this thread with great interest. I am from Ireland and for 20 years have lived in England and still in search of this celery leaf. I have never heard it referred to as red celery but as celery leaf. It does make gorgeous soup and makes it taste of Irish soup...if you see what I mean...a distinctive flavour. Sorry no help but wanted you to know someone else is interested in finding this out.

Can't help with the red celery to buy but as I grow it I'd love to have your recipe to try srStanislaus :)

My DH is from NI and he is always banging on about celery leaf as he calls it (his mum's soup is legendary - I have to admit). I know he has hunted high and low, but can't locate it, so I will watch with interest.

takver is it called red celery that you grow?

The variety is the Giant Red that HEmum linked to - I don't know if it is the same as the Irish celery that srstanislaus describes, though.

I've grown leaf/soup celery in the past but don't bother these days as IMO the leaves from normal homegrown celery have just as good a flavour (stronger than if you buy celery in the shops) so it is two for the price of one IYKWIM.

Slightly OT but it made me laugh - we were given some seed of an Asturian leaf celery, but the person who gave it us said that the way that it was used to cure coughs and colds - either by making a tea from it or - by putting some stalks under your armpit

Think I am confused ...does anyone know if the leaves on celery (that are cut off when you buy table celery in the shops) is what you can grow as leaf celery for soup. Thus the red celery is a different variety of the normal green table celery, but the leaf is also used from this for the soup. Hope someone understands what I am waffling on about

There are specific varieties of celery (in fact closer to the original wild plant) that are nearly all leaf without the fat stems - so if you bought 'leaf celery' seed that is what you would get.

But the leaves of 'normal' celery like you buy in the shops taste just the same (& are the same species) - the plant has just been bred to grow a longer fatter stem to the leaf, IYSWIM.

(And then people have bred red & white (& pink) varieties of this sort of celery.)

Thank you Takver that is crystal clear and you answered (and understood) my garbled question.

I usually just use the leaves from the Victoria celery that I grow every year when celery leaf is required. Victoria is quite a leafy variety and less densley packed, iyswim, than the stuff you buy in the shops so I would lose half the plant if I didn't use them.