Chopped Celery Salad

This salad is a Dickow family tradition, in the family for at least 3 generations. I have never found anything like it in any recipe books.

Ingredients:

Celery, depending on quantity to be prepared, up to 2 heads or more. The best celery is young and crunchy without being woody, and should not be bitter. Use some the leaves for the dish as well.

Salt to taste

Vinegar

Mayonaise

Onion (about ½, chopped finely)

Preparation:

Chop the celery with some of the tops as well. This can be done quicky (but be careful not to over grind) in a Cuisinart machine a cuisine in pulse-chop mode. However, the best way is to use an old fashioned hand chopper (a curved blade with a handle) and a wooden chopping bowl. Chop until the pieces are quite small and uniform. Without this tool, you can still hand ‘march--chop’ with a broad kitchen knife on a wooden cutting board, but this is a slow process.

Add a few dashes of vinegar and a pinch of salt to the celery and let drain in a strainer. Celery can produce a lot of water.

Chop the onion and add to the celery mixture.

Finally, add a few tablespoons of mayonaise, or as required, to add texture and flavor to the celery mix. Mix well, and serve immediately. It can, however, be kept for about a day in the refrigerator before it begins to lose flavor and quality. Adjust to taste by adding, sparingly, additional salt and vinegar, if needed.

Serve as is, or serve in scoops on individual plates on a bed of lettuce leaves. Sprinkle with a dusting of paprika if desired, and/or garnish with sprigs of parsley.