What's Up Doc? Celebrate International Carrot Day with Vibrant Recipes, A Beloved Cartoon Legend & Happy Horticulture

I know, I know. There is a marked day for everything. Everything. But as a card-carrying fan of the sexy carrot, I couldn’t pass on this party.

“Digging” into this a wee bit (!) I learned that the April 4th celebration of my favorite vegetable was launched in 2003 as The International Carrot Day and is “the pinnacle for carrot lovers all around the world. It is the day when the carrot is celebrated through carrot parties and other carrot related festivities.” Who knew?!

I wondered, is this yet another example of my British ancestor’s satirical poke at the “art of the carrot,” a leap down the proverbial “rabbit hole,” or is it an opportunity to explore the magic of the carrot? (Never mind pulling a rabbit out of the hat!)  Oh, the irony, the humor… And when did rabbits and carrots become a pair, anyway? 

Did you know there is a Carrot Museum, albeit a virtual one. Here you can learn the history of the humble wild carrot - we’ve been crunching carrots since prehistoric times and the garden carrots since the Middle Ages. So much horticulture, folklore, nutrition and folly about my beloved vegetable. No less than Pliny the Elder suggested the carrot seed made a fine love potion… 

Carrots have inspired not just the Carrot Museum and their Twitter @carrotmuseum but also pastry chefs, cooks, gardeners, neon artists, farmers, nutritionists ~ yes, carrots are good for your peepers, helps reduce the risk of breast cancer. And me.  Carrots are beautiful. Carrots are delicious. 

 

Carrots are not just Orange! 

As a foodie and horticulturist, I really appreciate the colorful cultivars. I love the many other colors of the carrot: purple, black, white, red, yellow.  

Botanically speaking, Daucus carota is a root vegetable that is best grown in colder climates. Fun Fact: Queen Anne’s Lace is a carrot! I have a client who loves this ornamental ~ and not edible beauty.

Here, I’m talking about the edible carrot. You can eat all of the carrot. Its fernlike tops make great pesto, add a tasty treat to salads, and make a fetching cocktail garnish.  I’ll share some very delicious recipes below. 

First, some background on this fashion-forward veggie queen.

The Carrot Museum notes: “The color of the carrot is due to the presence of pigment. 

The orange color is due to carotenes and yellow due to anthocyanin. 

The variation in color is due to accumulation of carotenoids in varying degrees. The color development depends on cultivar, growing season and age of the root.” 

Bill and I grow as many carrots as we can in our “farm-ette” at our country house. You can plant the seeds in a few weeks in the Northeast ~ you need steady temperatures above 50 degrees.

I did say carrots were sexy, remember?  These look for all the world like great gams, no?! Ha. 

Carrots are a natural source of sugar.  And they are sooo easy to prepare to eat. Just wash. 

Carrots may be the most versatile food. Roasted, raw, blended as a smoothie or juice, stand-alone or mixed with other ingredients (plays well with others), as a dessert, or cocktail. Here’s just a few ideas and ways I love carrots:

Wash, cut, and enjoy on a crudité or in verrine 

Roasted carrots with extra virgin olive oil and sea salt are maybe the perfect treat. To me, they taste better than candy.  I eat them straight-away and in salads.

Carrot Soup and Carrot Risotto are two favorites also. Don’t get me started on Carrot Cake and Carrot Cookies, Carrot Souffle or my delicious Carrot Cupcakes with their adorable carrot curls topping the cream cheese frosting. 

 and Carrot Ice Cream. 

But let’s get to the Root of Carrot Bliss.  

I was inspired to create a delicious Carrot Cocktail ~ the vibrant color and natural sugar is so fabulous for brunch, especially. 

I made carrot infused sugar by grinding carrots in a food processor ~ you can use a spice mill, also. I added two cups of granulated sugar and placed both ground carrots and sugar in an airtight glass jar till ready to use. You can spice it up if you like with cinnamon and/or cardamom. 

I added a wee bit of maple syrup to coat the rim of the cocktail glass. 

I made Carrot Simple Syrup ~ mix carrot curls ~ using a knife or madeleine ~ in with equal parts water and sugar, heat to a boil, then let it sit to cool. Strain out the carrots.  You’ll use them for the garnish. 

For the juice, you can veg it up in your Breville or blender, or start with an organic  store brand such as Bolthouse Farms. 

Carota Love Potion

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Appleton Estate Rum from Jamaica

• 1.5 oz Amaro ~ I used Eda Rhyne Distilling Co 

• 1.5 oz Suze 

• 1.5 oz orange liqueur (Solara)

• 1.5 oz Carrot Simple Syrup

• .75 oz Fresh-squeezed lemon juice 

• Dash of Orange Bitters (Fee Brothers or Modern Bar Cart)

Method:

Put all the ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake, shake, shake.

Pour into a coupe glass, rimmed dipped in maple syrup or agave and the carrot sugar.

Garnish:

Sugared carrot curls draped languidly on the rim. Can add carrot greens or basil. Also a dash of cardamom 

This drink works great sans alcohol too. 

Here’s a real gem of a carrot cocktail. 

In my book, Art of the Garnish, contributing mixologist Jelani Johnson created a  

What’s Up Doc?  

Ingredients: 

• 2 oz Black currant infused Flor De Caña 7 (1 cup of currants per bottle for 3 days.) *Dos Madeiras P/X 5+5 rum is a fine substitute if the infusion is unavailable.

• ¾ oz Lemon Juice

• ¾ oz Carrot Juice

• ½ oz Orange Juice

• ¼ oz Ginger Syrup

• ¼ oz Maple Syrup

• 1 dash Dale Degroff's Pimento Bitters

Method:

Shake and strain into a pilsner glass filled with crushed ice. 

Garnish with a bushel of carrot greens!

In the Garnish book, Jelani said: 

This is the first cocktail that I ever created that appeared on the cocktail menu at Clover Club. It is the culmination of a lot of principles that I learned in my time coming up through Julie Reiner's program. From the use of infused spirits to blends of fresh juices, this cocktail combines a lot of aspects of what I came to love about cocktails. The most important aspect though, is the drink's kitschy appearance. A lesson that I try to apply to everything I do in this field of work is one that I definitely used here: "you drink with your eyes first." The carrot greens garnish coupled with the pilsner glass that shows off the natural color of the drink makes for an eye-catching cocktail that has a lot of depth of flavor.

That Wiley Wabbit: Bugs Bunny

Oh, and about those rabbits and carrots?  

Wild rabbits do not eat carrots.

If you have a pet rabbit, do not feed them carrots. I learned that “Not only will it make pet rabbits uncomfortable, it is also dangerous for their internal health.” One of the reasons why it is discouraged to give pet rabbits carrots is that it can cause them to develop tooth decay. 

We have Clark Gable to thank for the Bugs Bunny character becoming the cultural icon we now link to carrots.  According to Wikipedia: “Bugs' nonchalant carrot-chewing standing position, originated in a scene from the film “It Happened One Night” (1934), in which Clark Gable's character Peter Warne leans against a fence, eating carrots rapidly and talking with his mouth full to Claudette Colbert. Bugs' nonchalant carrot-chewing standing position, as explained by Freleng, Jones and Bob Clampett, originated in a scene from the film 

The creators of the animated, Academy Award nominated, Brooklyn-accented Bugs Bunny cartoon at Warner Brothers were inspired by Mr. Gable. 

Cheers to Bugs, Mr. Gable, Jelani, and the Carrot Museum.  And to carrot-lovers everywhere.