Carrots

Carrots, ginger, sugar, salt; the leftover cicerchie

DAUCUS CAROTA SUBSP. SATIVUS: "Carrot," the word, is related to "corn," and "horn," because horn is what it's shaped like. It's a root vegetable, of course; it's an aromatic, indispensable in mirepoix, those finely chopped onions, carrots, and celery (2:1:1); and it's sweet. I disliked them as a child, primarily because of the way my mother had of cooking them: sliced crosswise in thick slices, covered with water in a saucepan, and boiled until they burned.

Later I learned better ways of treating them. First of all, simply slicing them lengthwise and heating them in a bit of butter until they're tender. Then cooked with vodka. Then Moroccan carrots, in Thirty Recipes Suitable for Framing, David Goines's first commercial success — I think the recipe came from Victoria Kroyer: it called for carrots and cumin, maybe a little garlic, surely a little salt.

And, of course, carrots with ginger, which is what Lindsey did tonight. Candied ginger, I suppose? No, she said, fresh ginger, and a little bit of sugar. They were delicious, even if they were sliced crosswise.

And afterward, the leftover cicerchie, and my bottom is not yet paralyzed, thanks to a morning of garden work, and an hour at the gym...

The rest of that Nero d'Avila, and a splash of rosé as an aperitif, with the carrots...