The carrots Of Viterbo

The carrots of Viterbo in aromatic dressing is a special preparation based on a particular breed of carrots, the most common "daucus carota var. sativa", of the umbelliferae family, of which many colour (white, red, yellow, violet) and shape varieties (long, short, cylindrical, conical, top-shaped) are known. These carrots are not to be mistaken for the beet-root as did Ada Boni in her famous “Talisman of happiness” where she titled the recipe “Beet-roots in aromatic dressing (carrots of Viterbo)” and continues in the description that “for this recipe are used not the common round beet-roots but the long-shaped ones, similar to the yellow carrots…..In Viterbo it is easy to find these dried beet-roots, twined and of dark colour”. Unfortunately, today this particular breed of carrots has disappeared, but it has been replaced by the common yellow carrot because the peculiarity of the dish does not lie in the breed of carrot but in the preparation of the recipe. But how and when this recipe has been created?.

In the book of expenses of the Convent of the Holy Trinity of Viterbo, dated December 1467, are written the expenses paid by Friar Cristoforo who had to pay a “bolognino”(an ancient money unit) at the People’s Gate as toll for entering the town with some carrots bound to be a gift for the Abbot. Both the toll paid and the receiver of the gift prove that these carrots where not common ones but a luxury produce. Platina (1400) in his "De onesta voluptate et valetudine" at chapter 108 of the fifth tome, titled "carota e pastinaca", says “the market garden carrots are tastier, specially those of Viterbo”. Still another reference to these carrots has been found in the records of the town of Vitorchiano (near Viterbo) in a letter sent by the Conservators of Rome (Roma die sexta Martii 1488) where they ask to send a certain quantity of carrots to be prepared for the Lent period: "Per uso dello nostro et per possere fare honore in questo tempo quatragesimale ad alcuni forestieri che adcaschano alla nostra mensa, haveriamo caro essere serviti da voi de qualche carota per posserla confectare". Concerning the recipe, instead, only recently in the Town Library of Viterbo a letter sent by a notable to an acquaintance in Rome, dated November, 25th 1827, containing the recipe of the carrots of Viterbo, has been found, although still leaving the question about its origin unresolved. Most certainly the sweet-sour preparation of the dish makes presume a late medieval origin when sweet-sour dishes were very common.

Towards the end of the last century started the trade of these carrots in particular pots and they even won a prize at the Exhibition of 1879; it is said that they have been served at dinners organized in Viterbo in honour of Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1876 and of Ferdinand IV. The Royal Family appreciated them so much that a lady of Viterbo continued to send annually a certain quantity to King Umberto, exiled in Portugal. In order to prepare the recipe, cut the carrots lenghtwise in slices and let them dry in the August sun, then place them in vinegar for some days and heat them in a sweet-sour dressing made of vinegar, sugar, cloves, nutmeg, and - according to personal tastes - chocolate, pine-seeds, raisins, candied fruits, etc. Maybe, as in so many other cases, each family had its own personal recipe. The carrots were kept in pottery, simply covered by a towel or in case of longer preservation, in sealed pots. This dish accompanied mainly boiled meat and some local delicatessen such as boiled salami and “coppa di testa” (pressed pork head meat).

The more detailed recipe is contained in the volume “Tuscia a tavola” by Italo Arieti, delegate for Viterbo of the Accademia Italiana della Cucina. For further information you may contact him (Phone 0761.34.27.57).

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