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I'm so glad you asked! So... the orange carrot we know today was cultivated in the Netherlands in the 16th century. The debate among carrot historians is *why* orange carrots were cultivated in the first place.
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A few sources report that 17th-century Dutch carrot growers grew orange carrots as a tribute to William of Orange, but others dispute the veracity of this claim.
According to Simon Schama, the carrot was used as a political weapon in the 18th c by the Dutch Patriot movement.
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According to Simon Schama, the carrot was used as a political weapon in the 18th c by the Dutch Patriot movement.
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The Dutch Patriot movement opposed the continued power of the House of Orange.
The Patriots declared that orange "was the color of sedition... carrots sold with their roots too conspicuously showing were deemed provocative."
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The Patriots declared that orange "was the color of sedition... carrots sold with their roots too conspicuously showing were deemed provocative."
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Whether or not William of Orange was, in fact, the inspiration for the orange carrot is still hotly debated.
BUT politics aside, everyone agrees that the Long Orange Dutch carrot is the variety from which the orange carrot we eat today was cultivated.
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BUT politics aside, everyone agrees that the Long Orange Dutch carrot is the variety from which the orange carrot we eat today was cultivated.
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Although the orange carrot was not cultivated before the 16th and 17th centuries, there is a reference in a Byzantine manuscript around 512 CE which depicts an orange rooted carrot, suggesting that this mutant variety of carrot could, at least, be found at this time.
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Research suggests that carrots were first cultivated in the area of present-day Iran/Afghanistan around 5,000 years ago. Those early carrots were purple and yellow, and they were tough and very bitter.
Purple carrots made their way to the Mediterranean in the 10th c. BCE.
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Purple carrots made their way to the Mediterranean in the 10th c. BCE.
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In ancient times, the root part of the carrot plant that we eat today was not typically used.
The carrot plant was highly valued due to the medicinal value of its seeds and leaves. It was used as an aphrodisiac and a birth control.
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The carrot plant was highly valued due to the medicinal value of its seeds and leaves. It was used as an aphrodisiac and a birth control.
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Mithridates VI, King of Pontius (around 100 BCE) had a recipe for counteracting certain poisons with the principle ingredient being carrot seeds. It has since been proven that this concoction actually works.
If you don't know about this guy, you should. He was amazing.
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If you don't know about this guy, you should. He was amazing.
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Carrots were a common plant found in Roman gardens, as they believed they were an aphrodisiac.
After the fall of Rome, however, carrot cultivation in Europe more or less stopped until around the 10th century when Arabs reintroduced them to Europe.
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After the fall of Rome, however, carrot cultivation in Europe more or less stopped until around the 10th century when Arabs reintroduced them to Europe.
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Another aphrodisiac herb that the Romans loved was silphium.
Julius Caesar kept a cache of it in the government treasury and the Greeks even put it on their money. It was worth its weight in gold â but no one knows if it still exists.
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Julius Caesar kept a cache of it in the government treasury and the Greeks even put it on their money. It was worth its weight in gold â but no one knows if it still exists.
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Silphium was a veritable wonder herb, a panacea for all manner of ailments, including growths of the anus and the bites of feral dogs (Pliny the Elder says simply rub silphium into the affected area).
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(Though Pliny warns his readers never, ever to try this with a tooth cavity after a man who did so threw himself off a house.)
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BUT silphium was also associated with romance! 
Its heart-shaped seeds are thought to be the reason we associate the symbol with romance to this day.
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Its heart-shaped seeds are thought to be the reason we associate the symbol with romance to this day.13/
The thing is, the fussy plant only grew on the east coast of Libya. Neither Greeks nor Romans could work out how to farm it.
Silphium was collected from the wild, and though there were strict rules about how much could be harvested, there was a thriving black market.
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Silphium was collected from the wild, and though there were strict rules about how much could be harvested, there was a thriving black market.
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The herb stumped even the most enthusiastic plant geek of the day, Theophrastus.
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Today, silphium has vanished â possibly just from the region, possibly from our planet altogether.
Pliny wrote that within his lifetime, only a single stalk was discovered. It was plucked and sent to the emperor Nero as a curiosity sometime around 54-68 CE.
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Pliny wrote that within his lifetime, only a single stalk was discovered. It was plucked and sent to the emperor Nero as a curiosity sometime around 54-68 CE.
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Silphium is thought to have been a close relative of asafoetida, which the Romans treated as a reasonable substitute.
Asafoetida comes from the area of modern-day Iran and Afghanistan ...just like the carrot!
(...and tulips, but that's a different thread.)
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Asafoetida comes from the area of modern-day Iran and Afghanistan ...just like the carrot!
(...and tulips, but that's a different thread.)
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Asafoetida's name is derived from Persian azÄ, meaning "resin", and Latin foetidus meaning "smelling, fetid".
Bon appétit!
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Bon appétit!
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