Per Pale Carrots
This recipe is based on the SCA feast staple: honey glazed carrots. Which I have seen on feast menus for the last thirty years. Usually this recipe:
Glazed Carrots
2 lbs. of carrots
2 Tablespoons of honey
3 to 4 Tablespoons of butter
1 Teaspoon of ground cinnamon
Scrub carrots then cut in half lengthwise and remove the core. Cut into 1 1/2 in lengths. Put carrots in a single layer in a pan or skillet adding 3 tablespoons of butter, honey and cinnamon halfway. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to very low and cover. Simmer until tender. Remove lid and boil off the rest of the liquid. Remove from heat and add 1 tablespoon of butter and shake to coat.
I have found this recipe listed in the dozens of feast menus that I have saved over the years. But is this a period dish?
Carrots were known in medieval times, although not the carrots that we take for granted, today. The orange carrot, called "the long orange", was invented in Holland in the 17th century in honor of William of Orange. Carrots, in the SCA time period, were not orange but were red, white, yellow and purple. And, not sweet like the long orange. The
Ménagier de Paris describes carrots as red roots and advises to cook them like turnips. The
Sent Sovi contains a recipe for white carrots in almond milk.
Carrots are often confused with parsnips in medieval European manuscripts. Recipes by Apicius are entitled carotae sev pastinacae (carrots or parsnips). The 1551 edition of the
Libro de Agricultura, by Gabriel Alonso de Herrera, has this to say about carrots. "Of carrots and parsnips. Platina puts these two kinds of roots in the same chapter even though they are different in their colors. Parsnips are white like turnips, except that they are thinner and longer. Carrots have the appearance of turnips, neither more nor less, except that some are the color of oranges; others are so red that they turn dark." [1]
Throughout the Medieval writings, carrots are confused with parsnips. Today (since Linneaus created scientific names), carrots are Daucus carota and parsnips Pastinaca sativa. Fuchs in 1542 described red and yellow garden carrots and wild carrots, but names them all Pastinaca (Meyer Trueblood and Heller1999). Gerard (1633) likewise uses the name carrot, but calls it Pastinaca in Latin: Pastinaca sativa var. tenuifolia, the yellow carrot and Pastinaca sativa atro-rubens, the red carrot. Gerard distinguishes parsnips from carrots and calling the parsnip Pastinaca latifolia sativa and P. latifolia sylvestris. Gerard notes the name similarity and is dissatisfied with it. He gives daucus as a name for carrot in Galen, but notes that many Roman writers called it pastinaca or other names. I don’t think the plants were confused particularly, but since we have in many cases only the written word, if the medieval writer called his plants "pastinaca", it’s impossible to know if it was carrots or parsnips. [2]
Wild and cultivated carrots were used by medieval cooks, although wild carrots have very thin and woody roots; they were used more for medicine than for eating. Both the root and the leaves are edible. Carrot leaves taste similar to parsley and can be used in the same way. Nicholas Culpeper (1653) said of carrots that "Wild carrots belong to Mercury, and expel wind and remove stitches in the side, promote the flow of urine and women’s courses, and break and expel the stone; the seed has the same effect and is good for dropsy, and those whose bowels are swollen with wind: It cures colic, stone, and rising of the mother; being taken in wine or boiled in wine and taken, it helpeth conception. The leaves being applied with honey to running sores or ulcers cleanse them; I suppose the seeds of them perform this better than the roots: and though Galen recommended garden carrots highly to expel wind, yet they breed it first, and we may thank nature for expelling it, not they; for the seeds of them expel wind and so mend what the root marreth."
"Carret (Daucus carota) is a 16th century word; carrot appeared by 1597, in Gerard. The name comes from Greek karoton.... So it is curious that the first citation of the word by OED is in 1533, as "Parsnepes and carettes" from Elyot’s "The Castel of Helth". However, Turner in 1548 treats then familiarly, saying that "Carettes growe in al countries in plentie," carefullty distinguishing them from wild carrots, so that those who claim that the carrot was not introduced into England until the time of Elizabeth, and even later, are in error." [3]
So, carrots themselves are to be found in period, but is this recipe period? I was unable to find any period recipe for either carrots or parsnips that resemble this project. Martha Washington’s cookbook doesn’t list one. Mrs. Beeton’s cookbook doesn’t list one. [4]
The Joy of Cooking doesn’t list one.
I read an interesting story from, I believe, James Fixx. [5] He recounts an exercise given by a professor of thermodynamics which asked at what temperature, and for what cook time, would one have to cook a cut of beef of certain dimensions, and of a certain mass, in order for the center of the roast to be at a certain temperature. Two students managed to provide the correct answer. The first purchased several roasts, and cooked them at different temperatures, and, using a probe thermometer, produced a graph detailing the optimum internal temperature based on the external temperature verses time, all while he was munching on rare cooked beef. The second student called his Mom.
I had a conversation, with my Mom, about my research and she said that she remembered cooking glazed carrots when I and my brother were kids. She pulled out her copy of
The Joy of Cooking, the 1964 edition, and there on page 271 is this recipe:
Caramelized Carrots
Carrots:
Skin them. Cut them into halves or quarters. Dip them in:
Melted Butter
Sprinkle them with:
Salt, paprika and brown sugar.
Place them in a heavy skillet over low heat until they are well glazed. Baste them from time to time with a little melted butter.
I discovered the same issue with
The New York Times Cook Book. My 1998 edition doesn’t list it, but my Mom’s 1961 edition does.
Glazed Carrots
Cook four large or eight small carrots as above. Drain, then dry. Mix one-fourth cup sugar with one-half teaspoon ginger and roll the carrots in the mixture. Melt three tablespoon butter in a skillet and add the carrots, turning slowly and often over low heat until the carrots are glazed and a deep, appetizing brown. [6]
I think that this is a dish from the 1960s. One of those things that were popular and universally enjoyed, like fondue, and then faded away. Glazed carrots became a popular frozen side dish sold by Birds Eye and Jolly Green Giant by the late 60s. And was also included in Banquet and Hungry Man TV dinners around the same time. I feel that this was a modern dish presented as "period" so that feasters would have at least one recognizable dish on the table. And while it kind of disappeared from the major, American cook books [7] it can still be found in the frozen food aisle at grocery stores. The early SCA really wasn’t the family hobby that it has become in the 21st century, but as the college age kids grew up and had kids of their own, honey-glazed carrots remained on the feast menu so that parents would know that their kids would have one dish of recognizable and tasty food.
Can we find period recipes that resemble our glazed carrots? Are there any period recipes that call for carrots (or parsnips) with honey, or sugar, and spices?
Apicius has a recipe for Carrots with Cumin and Olive Oil, which calls for onions, carrots, vinegar, cumin and salt. [8] Certainly not sweet, but spiced. He also has another recipe for "Carrots and parsnips are fried with a wine sauce" [9] which calls for parsnips and carrots to be cooked with pepper and raisin wine, which was a very sweet wine: The closest modern wine I would use as a substitute would either be cream sherry, or Moscato wine. [10]
Duszony Por z Pasternak i Gier (Stew of Parsnips, Leeks, and Alexanders), a medieval Polish dish, calls for parsnips, leeks, cabbage, onion, and alexanders to be cooked with honey, saffron, cinnamon, cumin, salt and vinegar. Usually served with cheese dumplings as a substitute for meat on fast days. The saffron, cinnamon and cumin would have made this an expensive dish, but the book states that this was "typical one-pot meal for a noble family living on a large rural manor". [11]
There are a number of recipes for pottage or compost that call for carrots and/or parsnips as well as honey and spices. [12]
"The formula for Diazinziberios is given in "Le Livre des Dimples Medicines", is taken from a 13th century French translation of an earlier treatise on parmacopoeia: "take very well cook parsnips, mince them and cook them with clarified honey until all of the honey is absorbed, stirring well so that the mixture does not stick to the vessel; then put in aromatic powders, gimigibre, pepper, nutmeg, and galingall and cook together to a candy." [13] Now, granted, this is for a gingerbread-like desert, but it does show that parsnips were used with honey and spices.
Honey Glazed Root Vegetables, from
Vikingars Gästabud (The Viking Feast), calls for cabbage, turnips, carrots, leeks, honey and pepper.
So, while there is no actual period dish that resembles our project, there is enough evidence that carrots (and parsnips, since they were closely related) were cooked with honey and with spices. Our non-period, SCA staple is a product of the modern world but would not have been out of place on the tables of our ancestors.
My recipe:
2 pounds of purple carrots
1/4 cup clover honey
3 Tablespoons of salted butter
1 Teaspoon of fresh, ground cinnamon
Method:
I found some locally grown purple carrots and based this project on them. Not only for the pun, but because the heirloom carrots are a better match for a period dish. I scrubbed the carrots clean in the sink but did not peel them as these carrots were quite thin. I chopped the carrots into small wheels, discarding the last inch off of the leaf end, as it was quite bitter.
I used clover honey because that is what I had in the house. I will not take the time, in this paper, to explain my opinion of honey farming in the middle ages, except to say that the bee industry of today, which can move hives from one field of mono-crops to another, did not exist in the SCA time period: hives were near farm lands and gardens and a variety of crops were grown simultaneously. This means that the bees, which collected nectar from every available source, produced a blend of honey, not a singular variety. Clover or wildflower honey, I feel, is closer to period honey, than buckwheat, rosemary, apple wood, sage, lavender or other specific varieties.
I also used more honey than the standard recipe: 1/4 cup versus 2 Tablespoons. This is because orange carrots contain sugar and the heirloom varieties, such as the purple variety that I am using, do not. They are rather starchy in comparison. Hence, the added honey.
I used salted butter because that is what I have in the house.
I broke up half of a stick of good quality cinnamon (Saigon cinnamon, not cassia) and ground it into power using an electric spice grinder. I could have used a mortar and pestle, but the spice grinder did the job in five seconds. I chose to use Saigon cinnamon because I like the sweet taste of the region and the brand, I that ordered, was USDA certified organic, which not only means that the trees were grown without the use of pesticides or chemicals, but that it is certified to be Cinnamon loureiroi, and not bark from any other tree.
I put the carrots into a frying pan over high heat. My stove is electric and I do not think that, for this dish, there would be a difference between gas, electric or an open fire. Nor do I think that my ceramic-lined cast iron frying pan adds or takes away from any period cooking vessel. I let the carrots cook for a couple minutes in order to soften them a little. Then I added the butter and the honey. Once they had melted, I reduced the temperature to low and added the cinnamon: I did not want the cinnamon to burn. After mixing the spice into the sauce, and making sure that each wheel was covered, I let the dish cook for ten or fifteen minutes before taking it off of the heat and letting it cool.
As I was making this a few days in advance, I had tested this recipe to ensure that it was still tasty at room temperature and when cold (it was necessary to refrigerate this dish prior to the event). In my opinion, this dish is actually better when it is left to chill overnight: the glaze thickens quite a bit.
In conclusion, this is a modern dish that, if using the proper variety of carrots, would not look out of place on the tables of our medieval ancestors.
[1] So, either there were orange varieties of carrots in 1551, or the oranges that Gabriel was referring to were much paler than our modern varieties.
[2] Horwarth
[3] Washington p66
[4] If she did they would most likely turn out mushy. She recommended boiling carrots for 1.75 to 2.25 hours.
[5] I think it was in
Games for the Super Intelligent but I can’t find my copy to confirm this.
[6] p371
[7] And I can’t remember the last time I saw it on a menu in a restaurant.
[8] Bouchut
[9] ibid
[10] From personal experimentation and sampling..
[11] Dembinska and Dembinsk, p151
[12] Various published cookbooks and SCA feast handouts and A&S newsletters.
[13] Washington, p343
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This was a project for a heraldry themed, A&S competition at the 2018 Summer's End event. I had dinner with my parents, a month or so before the event, and the restaurant had heirloom carrots as the side dish. They were nice, but they did inspire me to make a nice A&S project out of a very bad pun. The dish wasn't sticky enough to hold together into a divided-shield shape (per pale, in heraldry lingo). I did get a lot of nice compliments on the flavor of the carrots and the quality of the documentation. I also received several smacks for the pun.
Mission accomplished.
In retrospect, I should have only used one pound of carrots as I had plenty left, at the end of the day, to bring home; even though I foisted carrots upon everyone I could.
One note to anyone who wishes to cook with purple carrots. Purple carrots contain anthocyanin, like beets. And, like beets, juices from purple carrots can stain anything they touch.
