Description
The orange carrot we know is a fairly recent invention: the first cultivated carrots, in Central Asia, were purple and yellow. The orange one spread from the seventeenth century thanks to Dutch growers.
It is one of the most generous vegetables in the kitchen: sweet, inexpensive and available all year round. It is the base of soffritto together with celery and onion, it brings colour and sweetness to soups and vegetable ragù, and it is crunchy raw in salads or cut into matchsticks for kimchi.
Do not throw away the tops if you find them fresh: finely chopped, they flavour a pasta salad like an herb. And if you find the heirloom yellow and purple varieties at the market, try them roasted with spices: each has a slightly different taste.
It is one of the most generous vegetables in the kitchen: sweet, inexpensive and available all year round. It is the base of soffritto together with celery and onion, it brings colour and sweetness to soups and vegetable ragù, and it is crunchy raw in salads or cut into matchsticks for kimchi.
Do not throw away the tops if you find them fresh: finely chopped, they flavour a pasta salad like an herb. And if you find the heirloom yellow and purple varieties at the market, try them roasted with spices: each has a slightly different taste.
