As you should already learn, we will first
speak of the history of this root. The most
common root in the world, along side the potato
and the onion. The wild ancestors of the carrot
are likely to have come from Afghanistan, which
remains the centre of diversity of D. carota,
the wild carrot. The carrot (Daucus carota
subsp. sativus, Etymology: Middle French
carotte, from Late Latin carōta, from Greek
karōton, originally from the Indoeuropean root
ker- (horn), due to its horn-like shape) is a
root vegetable, usually orange or white, or
red-white blend in colour, with a crisp texture
when fresh. The edible part of a carrot is a
taproot. Selective breeding over the centuries
of a naturally-occurring subspecies of the wild
carrot, Daucus carota subsp. sativus reducing
bitterness, increasing sweetness and minimizing
the woody core, has produced the familiar
garden vegetable. In early use, carrots were
grown for their aromatic leaves and seeds, not
their roots. Some relatives of the carrot are
still grown for these, such as parsley, fennel,
dill, caraway and cumin.
The carrot gets its characteristic and bright
orange colour from β-carotene, which is
metabolised into vitamin A in humans when bile
salts are present in the intestines. Massive
overconsumption of carrots can cause
hypercarotenemia, a condition in which the skin
turns orange (although hypercarotenemia is not
itself dangerous unlike overdose of vitamin A,
which can cause liver damage). Carrots are also
rich in dietary fibre, antioxidants, and
minerals. A very interesting fact comes form
the similarities of carrots with the Dutch
soccer team the orange color. The Original
color of the carrots was a dark blue which
during the 1600 changed to orange to honor an
emblem of the House of Orange and the struggle
for Dutch independence from France.
Here, as
always are the starts of the dish. Today we
have:
-
1 lb of carrots (less than a n inch in diameter at their thickest part.
-
1 tbsp light (or dark, your choice) brown sugar
-
1 tsp caraway seeds
-
1 tsp cumin (or curry powder)
-
1/2 tsp celery seeds (optional)
-
salt ( I am not showing salt any more in any of the ingredients because it goes everywhere, what is the point)
Was the
carrots very well, so you on ‘t have to peel
them. I know… Evilly smart. I use a sponge
with light soapy water to rub the clean.
Cut the tops
of.
Take your
vegetable peeler and pretent you are cleaning
them, but instead keep on cutting long thin
strips. Rotate the carrot so you evenly make
the strips.
At the end 1
lb. of carrots should look like this.
Half way done.
Now we need to make the dressing marinate.
Start with good quality greek drained yogurt.
Use the fat free. It will make for a lighter
texture.
About two hip
tbsps of it. If you twist my hand I would say
half a cup.
Dumb it in a
large bowl.
Add cumin. We
add the cumin because it is in the same
botanical family as the carrot. Share similar
characteristics and their flavor is oddly
similar.
Follow with
caraway seeds for the same reasons. Same
botanical family.
add the brown
sugar and…
The olive oil.
So let ‘s see I skipped the fat in the yogurt
and add my own… Well it is all about the
science. I just wanted some fat there to
diffuse the spices flavor. However in the
refrigerator the milk fat is mostly solidifies,
and therefore it is not as effective.
Mix
everything.
Season with
salt. A couple of pinches. With the carrots and
the sugar it will be overly sweet. It will be
quite thick dressing but it is supposed to be
like that. It needs to coat the carrots so it
needs to stay on them.
Add the carrot
strips and…
Stir gently…
very gently so you don ‘t break the carrot
strips.
Serve immediately, or chill and keep in the
refrigerator till the yogurt expires.
It is a very sweet and tasty dish that can
accomodate the average holiday table. And the
best of all. It is good for you. It is backed
with beta carotene, fiber, minerals. It is
essentially a cluster bomb. Just don ‘t eat too
much (more than 3 lbs in a day for more than a
month) since you may turn orange.
Happy New Years!
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