Food

Food Information

Vegetables

Root Vegetables

CARROTS

Carrots are available twelve months of the year. They are almost always in ample supply because they are not very perishable and are usually the least costly fresh vegetable at the produce counter. Despite their moderate price they are most nutritious, flavorful, and colorful, and are equally good when served cooked or raw.

Carrots are root vegetables that have green, parsley like tops. They are in the same botanical family as parsley, but the carrot greens are inedible. Back in Grandma's day, fresh carrots in season were marketed only with the green tops attached. The clip-top carrots were harvested in the fall, stored in root cellars, and offered for sale during the winter months.

Today nearly all carrots are sold year-round without tops. They are packaged in sixteen-ounce plastic bags. But a few with greens attached are shipped in bunches containing five to eight carrots in each. The larger carrots are shipped in fifty-pound bags and are used by the purveyors who supply restaurants and institutions. In recent years miniature carrots packed in twelve-ounce bags have made their debut and are fairly popular. These are especially good when cooked whole.

When shopping for the sixteen-ounce packages of carrots, peek through the plastic and select those that contain carrots that are small or medium in size, colorful, well shaped (tapered and not blunt-ended), smooth, and very firm. Avoid those that are limp or wilted. Check out the tips of the carrots (that's the first area of decay) and check out the tops (if you see yellow sprouting, that carrot is old enough to vote).

If you purchase bunched fresh carrots with the greens still attached, clip off the tops as soon as you get home if you plan to keep them a day or two. Carrots with greens attached lose freshness faster than those without the tops. These bunched carrots sell at premium prices-usually at twice the price of the bagged carrots. While they are fresher and better Savored, the slight difference in quality does not warrant paying double the price.

Carrots aren't very perishable, but since they are so readily available and since the prices seldom fluctuate, why buy them several days before you plan to use them? Limp, rubbery carrots may be rejuvenated by putting them in cold water for a few hours.

The source of the carrot will determine the sweetness. The farther west it originated, the better the flavor. Even though most areas use the same seed, by far the sweetest carrots are produced in California and Arizona. Those from Texas, Michigan, and Florida are the next best. Carrots imported from Canada and especially those grown in the northeastern states are usually less sweet and are apt to be more woody.

Deamer 5/97