[Sca-cooks] Salty carrots

Suey lordhunt at gmail.com
Thu Mar 27 14:50:06 PDT 2008


Terry Decker,
I have reviewed what you have written to SCA this month and on Stefan's pages beginning in 2001 and in 500 eggs concerning the carrot and find small contradictions. These are my notes:

carrots, pastinaca, pasternak
Apicius first used carota.
Athenaeus, parsnips and carrots same.
Galen differentiates, carrot Daucus pastinaca
Forme of Cury Pasternak, either white carrot or parsnip:
white, origin Europe/probably Central Asia, Queen Anne's lace, wild 
carrot, Daucus carota, Swiss lake region - Are we Swiss, European or 
Central Asian?
 
dark red origin Central Asia
purple Asia/Afghanistan, probably hybridized in China brought to 
Mediterranean from Central Asia with Islamic expansion/known in Empire". 
- Are we Afghan, Chinese or what?
modern purple created in Texas
yellow first noted Asia Minor 10^th C/10^th or 11^th C./Anatolia but not 
tracked down but referenced in a couple of places. - In what century are 
we and where? -  Andalusian writer considered yellow inferior to red.
red and yellow carrots appear in Andalusia 12^th C/13^th C, introduced 
to England 14^th C/15^th C by Flemish/Dutch immigrants
modern orange hybrid from crossing red and yellow 16^th C/15^th C or 
early 16^th , limited use until 17^th C / better taste and texture
5 orange stains identified 17^th C Deary you like to flip: "/" your 
centuries at will and we don't know if you are with the Flemish or the 
House of Orange!
Other carrot colors: green and black.

Bear could you please clarify the above?

I know you guys don't want me to enter politics but I think this story 
is old enough to recreate it and have a good laugh. I don't remember it 
very well perhaps you can refresh my memory but the Dutch created the 
orange carrot in honor of William I of Orange, William the Silent, and 
made it the national vegetable against their King Philip II of 
Spain.Apparently the carrot had a role in promoting the independence of 
the Netherlands from Spain. I think that cool. I have heard of tea 
getting into the act and salt but this is my first case of a carrot!

This underlines all the citations of paintings we have been looking at 
this month. The Dutch are curious. Who would have ever thought that 
their independence is based on the carrot. I always blamed salt!
Suey



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