Currabinny Cooks: What is kohlrabi and three recipes that use it
Kohlrabi with pinto beans and coriander. Picture: Bríd O'Donovan
For most of our culinary journey, there were very few vegetables that we didn’t explore at least a little bit. We have actively sought out exotic varietals and rare heirlooms — but somehow missed a rather ordinary one. Kohlrabi doesn’t look like much at first glance, we could be forgiven for ignoring it all this time due to aesthetics alone. There are, however, many ordinary-looking vegetables we both love and use regularly. In our defence, it is rarely seen in cookbooks or on restaurant menus, at least in this country.
Our kohlrabi awakening happened quite recently when we ate at one of our favourite Dublin restaurants: ETTO Merrion row. All of the food was exceptional. We ordered Côte de Boeuf, thickly-sliced Italian-style with all of the wonderful trimmings and a side salad for something lighter. It was this side salad that blew our minds more than all of the other wonderful things. It was an incredibly simple salad of incredibly thinly shaved kohlrabi, crunchy, fresh, and mildly spicy, it was lightly tossed with the rocket, thin slices of radish, capers, olive oil and a pinch of salt to make one of the most refreshing salads we've ever had. In the time since our epiphany, we have become kohlrabi obsessives.
