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Colorful Carrots - They Don't Have to be Orange

post #1 of 11
2/16/07 at 1:54pm
Thread Starter 
Hi gang ...

This morning I discovered white carrots. Wow! What a nice change from the typical orange carrot, yet it tastes the same. How nice if you want the taste and nutrition of a carrot, but not the color it may impart to stocks and other dishes.

So, being a curious guy, I looked up white carrots and found, to my surprise, that carrots can be found in many colors - red, orange, yellow, purple, and white - maybe others as well.

It seems that in different parts of the world carrots other than orange are preferred or used more frequently than here in the US.

Maybe this is old news to a lot of you, but it sure sets my imagination running.

Shel
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post #2 of 11
2/16/07 at 2:31pm
I'm not sure how accurate this is but i heard once that most carrots were purple once, but the Dutch made a hybrid that was orange, (like their flag?) and they caught on. I've had purple carrots once, quite nice.
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post #3 of 11
2/16/07 at 5:32pm
You sure it wasn't a parsnip?

Yeah there are all sorts of different colored carrots. Good for presentation.
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post #4 of 11
2/20/07 at 3:47pm
I have only seen orange too. I'll have to check this out thanks.
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post #5 of 11
2/21/07 at 5:14am
Thread Starter 
I was at a local natural grocery and saw some white carrots alongside the orange. I tasted a white one and it seemed to tastel like the orang carrots - it was clear that it was a carrot and not a parsnip. So I did a Google search on white carrots and found out about the other colors.

Shel
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post #6 of 11
2/21/07 at 8:26am
I have indeed just used a bundle of organic carrots of all spectrum of colors, including white, orange, blood red purple, and yellow I think it was. Anyway, they all tasted like carrots and made my brown rice look real nice. I cooked them along with celery, chopped leeks, and the rice in the rice cooker.

doc
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post #7 of 11
2/25/07 at 11:23am
Did a dinner party last week for 12 people and we used a julienne of purple carrots sauteed with snow peas. Attractive and tasty.

Jim
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post #8 of 11
2/25/07 at 2:35pm
Jim, do they keep their purple color or change when exposed to heat, acidic ingredients, etc.?
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post #9 of 11
3/1/07 at 5:07pm

carrots

If you want to know about carrots, go on the internet and type in Carrot Museum. It will tell you everything you ever wanted to know or not know about carrots, lol. Actually, it turned out to be kind of interesting and had some pretty decent recipes.:D
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post #10 of 11
3/2/07 at 12:17pm
Shel,

You may be interested in knowing that carrots were never orange in nature. The orange carrot originated in the Netherlands in the 15th-16th century thanks to patriotic Dutch growers who bred the vegetable to grow in the colours of the House of Orange signifying the struggle for Dutch independence.








Mezz,
Purple carrots turn brown when cooked, so it's best to julienne or slice them for salads, etc.

If you don't find multi-colored carrots at your local grocery store, check around at local farmer's markets. Ask the vendors so they know there is a demand.

You can also see if there is a CSA in your area which is another great source for hard to find and unusual fresh produce.
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post #11 of 11
3/3/07 at 2:11pm
Interesting! I blanched the purple carrots for about 15 seconds in boiling salted water, then into an ice bath. For services, sauteed the snow peas first, then threw the carrots in...worked great. Maintained their purple color and sure did make the plate look great.

Jim
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