Glazed Carrots

Honey Glazed Carrots

A bit of history: The 16 century Netherlands seen the development of the orange carrots that we have today. Prior to the 16th center the carrot range in colors from red, purple, yellow and white. The carrot originated from regions around Pakistan and Afghanistan and it still to be the center for carrot diversity. Carrots arrived in Roman Times in the eastern Mediterranean and was introduced in Italy, and Greece before moving to the Middle East. In the 14th century carrots are mentioned in the "Le Menagier Paris" as been red roots sold at markets. It should be noted that some of these Medieval varieties are still possible to attain which have names as Purple Dragon (Dragon), Comic Purple, Labyana, a Slovenian yellow variety and Flemish white. Taste can be similar from old varieties to our common everyday variety however the yellow carrots appear to have a coarser texture making them better for soups and stewing. In Archaeological finds of the 9th and 10 century Viking foodstuffs of vegetables were found in Jorvik (York), Danalaw (England) which were carrots, parsnips, turnips, celery, spinach, brassicus (cabbage)

Carrots are a conical root vegetable, which grows a green leafy stalk and should not be eaten when unripe

source of history

http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history.html - History of the carrot

http://nvg.org.au/documents/other/vikingrecipes.pdf  archaeological digs and recipe

Recipe (1) Honey Glazed Root Vegetables - from Vikingars Gastabud (The Viking Feast)

Ingredients

1 turnip                                                 2 to 3 carrots peeled

1 1/4 heat of white cabbage                  1 leek

butter                                                   honey

salt and pepper

Peel all root vegetable required for recipe and cut into bite size pieces. Boil roots all together in slightly salted water for about 5 minutes and drain. In a fry pan add butter. Once butter is melted add the boiled roots to the pan and suttee till soft. When near soft add cabbage and leeks (cut into pieces before adding) with the roots vegetables. Add honey and stir carefully. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot: Serves four.

Note: Some people may not care for the flavor of turnips and or cabbage within the glazed carrots so included below are two different versions. which make two tasty dishes

(Recipe 2) Version 2   http://cookit.e2bn.org/historycookbook/printview-922-honey-glazed-carrots.html

Ingredients

5 carrots                                              1/2 Tsp of salt

20 oz butter                                         3 oz of runny honey

2 tablespoons cider vinegar                  1 teaspoon dried mint

1 Tbsp of cress (cut finely)                   Sliced radishes

(Recipe 3) The version Christiana uses

5 large peeled carrots                           1/2 Tsp of salt

8 oz butter                                           3 oz of runny honey

1/4 Tsp Cinnamon                                dash of nutmeg

1/8 cup raisins                                      Optional - pine nuts, or walnuts, or almonds

salt and pepper

Preparations for recipe version 2 and 3. Peel carrots, cut either into silvers or cross cut no thicker than a 1/4 inch. Boil carrots till just about tender, remove and drain let stand. This should take about 15 minutes. Take butter and met in large fry pan. To melted butter add spices and or vinegar (recipe 2) and stir. Do not burn the butter. Add the drain carrots and other ingredients to mixture, and stir carefully. Add honey, and stir for about 5 minutes. Serve hot - serves six