When it comes to root vegetables, the carrot stands proud as being one of the most important in the world. In recorded history, the cultivated carrot dates back to the 10th century Persia and Asia Minor. The carrots of yesteryear started as purple or white with a thin root, and, through a mutation, we have the orange carrot so widely available in grocery stores and on menus today.
You can find carrot cultivation and storage dating back over a millennium, with wild carrot seeds pushing the boundaries to nearly 5,000 years. For more information about the carrot, its coloring, and its domestication visit the Carrot Museum’s website.
We have had a LOT of time to come up with carrot recipes, diversifying it to nearly every category of food.
- Bread
- Cake
- Appetizers
- Entrees
- Desserts
- Drinks
The use of the carrot is also extremely widespread and can be seen through the histories of many cultures. You can get Asian, European, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Indian, and American food which highlights or contains the carrot.
Today is carrot cake day, so, we’re going to talk about some fun projects. Not too hard, since we imagine that you’ve already got the full size convection oven and most of the bakery equipment handy.
In looking at most of the carrot cake recipes out there, they include many of these ingredients:
- Carrots
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Eggs
- Oil
- White Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Vanilla
- Pecans or Walnuts
- Raisins
Here’s a recipe for carrot cake from Chow.com
Here is the carrot cake recipe from Food.com
Here are 8 carrot cake recipes from Southern Living
So, while you’re eating the divine carrot halwa or nomming on a stew with baby carrots, know that you’re entering into storied traditions when you put carrots on your menu.
