The human male brought home a “surprise” from the greengrocer today. Sigyn’s excited, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s not yummy croutons or tasty cheese or a rich dressing that would go on a salad or, better yet, more cheese. No, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be just another hitherto-untried form of wet cellulose.
I was not wrong.
But it is very colorful wet cellulose. (poke, poke, poke) I don’t trust them.
The human female says they are special, extra-colorful carrots. You don’t say! I can see that they do not conform to expected spectral specifications, you dolt. What I want to know is why they’re all gussied up in fiesta colors.
Idunn’s Little Apples! That was NOT an invitation, mortal, to stand here and deliver a twenty-minute lecture about (but not restricted to) crop breeding and genetics, the importance of phytonutrients, the particular pigments in maroon carrots that enable them to dye anything light-colored in a soup or stew a nauseating shade of pink, the market price of carrots at the rail head*, and the structure of the beta-carotene molecule.
What I want to know is do the different colors taste different? Or is it like Froot Loops, where the difference is just cosmetic?
(munch, munch, crunch)
I think the maroon ones are a little sweeter and the yellow ones a little more earthy. Not sure about the whitish ones, except I can tell they’re not parsnips. I know! Mortal, why don’t you put on a blindfold and Sigyn and I will force-feed you root bits, and you can tell us if there is any discernible difference? I just happen to have a blindfold right here…
>|: [
*The 2020 season average U.S. price for fresh carrots was $28.90 per cwt, up over the previous three years and 33 percent higher than ten years ago.
Loki Speaks... 
Were the maroon ones really developed at TAMU? Or is that in the Tag lines just because they’re Aggie colors?
They were developed by Dr. Leonard Pike, a breeder of vegetable crops at A&M. They are higher in nutrients than orange carrots. He was also involved with super-sweet onions.