By Bridget White
Recently, I read a World War II ration recipe that included grated carrot in a fruit cake. This led me to delve further into the history of vegetables and all manner of uses. I learnt of sweet potato brownies, beetroot chocolate cake and various vegetable breads. I do love reading, so I continued, which led me to buy a beautiful volume called Vegetables: A Biography by Evelyn Bloch-Dano. This book had me learning the etymology of vegetable, which came from the late Latin vegetabilis, meaning animating.
Who knew that the history of the Thistle plant led to the development of the vegetables Artichoke and Cardoon? I began to read more deeply, joyfully noting that parsnips are related to carrots and parsley, as they belong to the Apiaceae flowering plant family. Apparently, before Europeans used cane sugar in their cooking, parsnips were natural sweeteners. Parsnips can also be eaten raw, which came as a total surprise to me.
I learnt about orange carrots, which came from Holland in the 1600’s, as a result of Dutch growers wanting to improve the quality of those vegetables. Apparently, yellow and purple carrots may have originated in ancient Persia. Each of the varieties have different chemical compositions, but Carotene was more highly valued, hence the common orange carrot seen in our seed catalogues.
Somehow, I alighted in the Middle Ages and learned of Skirret. I now have two packets of those seeds ready for Spring planting.
I wonder how many vegetables of heritage and heirloom varieties I can plant this year? In any case, I shall view those humble vegetables which travel from our patch to my plate in a different light.