A bunch of French carrots in mixed colours — purple, yellow, white, and orange. The instinct is to assume the orange carrot is the original and the coloured ones are novelties, but it is the other way around. Wild carrots (Daucus carota) were originally pale and thin-rooted. The earliest cultivated carrots, developed in Central Asia and the Middle East roughly a thousand years ago, were purple and yellow. Orange carrots only appeared in the 16th or 17th century, most likely through selective breeding in the Netherlands, and then gradually displaced every other colour to become the default. The coloured carrots in this bunch are closer to the historical originals than the orange ones are. The different colours come from different pigment groups. Purple carrots contain anthocyanins — the same pigments found in red cabbage, blueberries, and red wine. Yellow carrots are coloured by xanthophylls, a type of carotenoid. White carrots lack significant pigmentation altogether. Orange carrots get their colour from beta-carotene, which is by far the most commercially successful pigment because it also happens to be a precursor to vitamin A — which is part of how orange carrots came to dominate the market. The pigments affect more than just appearance: purple carrots tend to have a slightly earthier, sometimes spicier quality; yellow carrots are often milder and sweeter; white carrots can taste almost parsnip-like; and the orange ones sit in the familiar sweet-earthy middle ground. Store in the fridge loosely wrapped and use within a week. Allergens: Celery (carrots are in the Apiaceae family — the same family as celery — and may trigger cross-reactive allergies in sensitive individuals). Origin: France Ingredients: Rainbow carrots (Daucus carota subsp. sativus). Storage: Refrigerate loosely wrapped.
