18TH CENTURY RECIPES FOR TODAY

A recipe from a few hundred years ago - orange and purple carrots in a light, sweet and sour sauce - tastes fresh today. It's a fine side dish for holiday meals.

Here’s a recipe from a cookbook published in 1767 that seems completely fresh today. In fact, I’m planning to serve these Sweet and Sour Carrots as a side dish with the coming week’s holiday meal.

The recipe comes from Nuevo Arte de Cocina, Sacado de la Experiencia Economica, by Juan Altamiras, a Franciscan friar. I’ve had this little book in my culinary library for years and could never get past the old-fashioned spelling and typeface to actually try any of the recipes.

Vicky Hayward interprets an 18th century cookbook.

Until appeared a new edition, edited, annotated and translated into English by Vicky Hayward.

Vicky, a British journalist, historian and book editor based in Madrid since 1990, has given the recipes context by providing background for the Aragón-based friar’s original notes. Both her English and Spanish editions give Altamira’s original recipes followed by a modern-day transliteration with headnotes about ingredients and serving suggestions.

She transforms them into modern recipes that can be cooked in today’s kitchens. In the book's prologue, top chef, Andoni Luis Aduriz of Restaurante Mugaritz in the Basque Country, insists on the “value added” of old recipes that, as with very old wine, add another dimension, a sixth sense, a taste of history.

Vicky suggested to me a recipe for Roast Turkey with Cardoons and Lettuce from the book - but I wasn't ready to forego my favorite roast turkey recipe for the holidays. (The Altamiras recipe requires simmering the turkey in water before roasting.) So I have selected an enticing recipe for a side dish. Carrots, it is.

I'm thinking this is the perfect side dish with roast turkey or roast pork for Christmas dinner.

Sweet and Sour Carrots
Zanahorias con Miel y Vinagre de Vino

Altamiras doesn’t seem fond of carrots, perhaps because once they were considered animal forage. But, true to his purposes, he makes them exceptionally palatable. Here’s the original recipe:

Es comida simple, y bestial; si te gustan las Zanahorias, las pondrás à cocer con agua, y sal, y las harás raxas; con cebolla frita las pondrás en una cazuela y sazonandolas de todas especias, y sal, las echarás agua caliente hasta cubirse; las pondrás dulce de azucar o miel, y vinagre, que estén bien dulces o agrias; luego freirás un poco de harina, que estè bien quemada, la desatarás con el mismo caldo de las Zanahorias, y se trabará en un hervor, con que de almiento brutal passará à racional sustento.

Vicky suggests using Chantenay carrots, a short, stubby variety of exceptional sweetness. She adds a garnish of chopped pistachios, a genius touch. While the original Altamiras recipe calls for the carrot cooking liquid to be thickened with toasted flour, Vicky opts for reducing the liquid to syrup.

Purple carrots, if you can get them, are gorgeous as well as delicious. Back in the 18th century, they were probably more common than today.

I used half regular carrots and half purple ones. I chose to cut them in thick crosswise slices. The purple carrot was huge, weighing almost 1 pound, so I cut it lengthwise into quarters, then sliced it crosswise. I cooked the orange and purple carrots separately and did not save the liquid from the purple ones. (It made a good stock for making borscht the next day; with beets, the deep color was perfect.)

Vicky suggests serving the carrots with plates of ham, with cod or with a garlicky lamb stew. I think they make a brilliant side with roast chicken or turkey, pork or ham.

Serves 6-8.

Orange and purple carrots.

2 pounds carrots
Salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper

Pinch of caraway seeds (optional)

Chopped pistachios to garnish
Chopped chives to garnish

Peel the carrots and cut them crosswise. Cook in boiling salted water to the desired degree of tenderness (3 minutes was sufficient for me). Drain the carrots, saving the cooking water. Rinse the carrots in cold water to stop the cooking.

Return the cooking liquid to the pan, bring to a boil and reduce to 2 cups. Sieve the liquid and reserve it.

Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onion until softened, 5 minutes. Add the 2 cups of reduced cooking liquid, the honey, vinegar, pepper, caraway, if using, and, if necessary, salt. Bring to a boil and simmer until the liquid is reduced and syrupy. Taste and balance the sweet and sour flavors.

Return the carrots to the pan. Cook them in the syrup until heated through, 5 minutes.

Serve the carrots garnished with chopped pistachios and chives.

Chopped pistachios and a sprinkle of chives or green onions are a terrific garnish for the carrots.

More recipes with carrots:
Purple Carrots with Raisins and Pine Nuts.
Minted Carrot Salad.
Vegan Carrot Cream Soup.
Millet and Carrot Pilaf.

FELICES FIESTAS! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!