Did You Know? Your Everyday Orange Carrot Was Once Royal Purple!

Hey, so you know how a carrot just is? Crunchy, sweet, and undeniably orange? Well, get ready for a fun little tidbit that might make you see your next veggie snack in a whole new light!

Did you know that the carrots we munch on today, those bright, vibrant orange sticks that are staples in kitchens everywhere, are actually a fairly modern creation? It’s true! For thousands of years, dating all the way back to ancient times, carrots looked quite different. They weren’t orange at all! The original, ancient carrots were primarily purple, and also came in shades of white and yellow. Imagine a whole different rainbow of carrots gracing your historical dinner plate! The deep purple varieties were actually the O.G. — the original gangsters, if you will — and the true ancestors of our familiar orange friends.

So, what happened? Why the big change? It wasn’t until around the 17th century, primarily in the Netherlands, that some dedicated and rather clever Dutch growers decided to start selectively breeding carrots. Their goal was to develop a carrot with a distinct orange hue, and they did it as a patriotic nod to the House of Orange, their ruling dynasty at the time. Pretty cool, right? They literally cultivated a new color for a vegetable out of national pride!

So, the next time you’re happily munching on an orange carrot, take a moment to appreciate that you’re enjoying a piece of culinary history that was specifically cultivated for its color, and remember that for most of history, carrots wore a magnificent crown of royal purple!