[Sca-cooks] orange carrots

[Mark.S Harris]

> Hrolf Douglasson wrote:
> > how about the colour of carrots....white for the welsh areas of britain
> > and purple in the rest.
> > Many people still think those orange things are period.
>
> But- but- but... they're ORANGE! They're BEYOOOTIFUL!
>
> *sniffle*
>
> 'Lainie

But orange carrots ARE period.

This is from the root-veg-msg file in the Florilegium:
> Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 16:36:35 -0400
> From: renfrow at skylands.net (Cindy Renfrow)
> Subject: Re: SC - Questions about Archives and Carrots
>
> I just looked at a site yesterday that offered seeds for heirloom carrots
> in a variety of colors:  http://www.webslnger.com/wethepeople/
>
> Wild carrots have white roots.  Le Menagier talks of carrots with red
> roots.  Gervase Markham mentions carrots of "sundry colours", and Gerard
> describes a yellow carrot, and a blackish-red carrot.  Carrots colored pale
> orange and dark red can be seen in oil paintins of the 16th century.
> Epulario uses carrots to make a jelly a sanguine color.
>
> Cindy Renfrow/Sincgiefu
> renfrow at skylands.net

It is my feeling that there may well have been orange carrots in
the medieval period as well as a multitude of other colors, red,
white, black etc. However when the mutation that created a sweeter
version of the carrot occurred in the late 15th century, which
happened to be orange, this form of carrot quickly drove the
other carrots off the market. Not because it was orange, but
because it was sweeter.

Bear is currently doing a survey of period carrots. I'm hoping his
info will either support or possibly disprove this theory.

The root-veg-msg file is at:
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-VEGETABLES/root-veg-msg.html

Stefan li Rous
stefan at texas.net