Celery Sorbet

with Salmorejo

with Gazpacho

When Ed and I were in Madrid last fall we had an awesome dinner at Naia Restaurante Bistro . One of the highlights  was Andulsian Gazpacho with Celery Sorbet.  Since  then I have looked at several sorbet recipes but not found one that really clicked.  Then a few weeks ago an article by Mark Bittman appeared in the New York Times Sunday Magazine:  Yes, This is made of Celery, and yes, it included a recipe for celery sorbet. However, Bittman uses a ratio of 1 1/2 cups of sugar to 1 1/2 pounds of celery.  I use a lot of sugar in Cranberry Ice, but I only serve this on Thanksgiving.  I wanted a sorbet to enjoy weekly during the summer.

So I turned to On Food and Cooking for guidance; Harold McGee writes:

"The more syrup and plant debris there are, the more the solid crystals are lubricated, the more easily they slide past each other when we press with the spoon or tongue, and the softer the ice's texture. Most ices are made with about double the sugar of ice cream (whose substantial fat and protein content helps soften the texture...), between 25 and 35% by weight.  Sweet fruits require less added sugar to reach this proportion, and purees rich in pectins and other plant debris (pineapple, raspberry) require less total sugar for softening."*

At 10 1/2 ounces of sugar to 24 ounces of celery, or 30% sugar by weight Bittman is right in the middle of this range. But Bittman also strains the celery (plant debris).  

So what if I did not strain the "debris"?

In a small saucepan, combine and boil until the sugar has dissolved:

2 T sugar
2 T water

Separate stocks, trim and pull the strings off:

1 # celery (net weight after strings are removed), cut into 3/4" pieces

Place in a food processor, add the sugar water mixture and:

Cilantro,  ~3-4 sprigs, leaves only
2 T lime juice

Puree until mixture is smooth.

Since I have a small (Donvier) ice cream maker, I put the mixture in the aluminum cylinder which had been in the freezer overnight and cranked intermittently for about 15 minutes.  The end result was not smooth but scooped very well, looked great on the Gazpacho (photo top left) and had the interesting celery taste I remembered from Naia.

The techniques used with Cranberry Ice would also work: put in a container and freeze, stirring once or twice as mixture begins to set in order to mix pulp and juice as evenly as possible. The downside of this recipe (due I'm sure to the low sugar content) is that it freezes very hard.  Because of this, it is necessary to remove the sorbet from the freezer well before serving, time dependent on how cold the freezer is, or to partially thaw it in a microwave oven.  As the sorbet softens, mix and scoop then garnish the Salmorejo/Gazpacho.

NOTE: In the photos at top of post, sorbet on the Gazpacho was scooped straight out of the ice cream maker - the sorbet on the Solmorejo was thawed and then scooped. 

* See page 289 for full explanation.

Reviewed 6/20/2017