The history of the humble carrot is shrouded in mystery, with rumours, facts and old wives’ tales all mixed into the story. Involving kings, rebellions, night vision, war and designer veg, it certainly is a veg worth shouting about!
Wild carrots have been around since Roman times with them mainly being used as an animal feed. Back then the carrot was a thin, tough, fibrous root, which forked badly and was hard to prepare. In fact, it was almost overlooked as food fit for human consumption and was relegated to animal fodder.
PURPLE PATCH
It wasn’t until the 900’s that the carrot started to be developed in Afghanistan. At this time, the roots were mainly purple and spindly, yet very high in anthocyanin, which is reported to help fight cancer.…
