{"id":7123,"date":"2021-02-04T10:45:37","date_gmt":"2021-02-04T10:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=7123"},"modified":"2021-02-04T10:51:10","modified_gmt":"2021-02-04T10:51:10","slug":"why-are-carrots-orange","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/why-are-carrots-orange\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are Carrots Orange?"},"content":{"rendered":"

You might have wondered before, perhaps you haven’t. But why are carrots orange? There’s actually a story. And it’s related to Dutch culture. Join me to unravel the myths and truths of our favorite orange root vegetable in today’s post here on the Dutch Language Blog.<\/p>\n

The Dutch invented the orange\u00a0wortel <\/em>– or did they?<\/strong><\/h1>\n
\"carrots<\/a>

Image by voltamax at pixabay.com<\/p><\/div>\n

There is a widespread urban legend that the\u00a0wortel\u00a0<\/em>(carrot) has its typical orange color because the Dutch made it so. The myth goes that the Dutch only chose those\u00a0wortels <\/em>that would make it more orange, finally resulting in the carrot so widespread today. Why? Because the Dutch national colour is orange, after the House of Orange.\u00a0Willem van Oranje\u00a0<\/em>(William of Orange)1<\/a><\/sup>the English William of Orange actually refers to the third William that also managed to become King of England much later. The Dutch William is the original one that led the Dutch revolt against the Spanish rulers in the Eighty Years’ War from 1568-1648.<\/span> is also known as the\u00a0vader des vaderlands\u00a0<\/em>(father of the fatherland)<\/a>. So an orange\u00a0wortel\u00a0<\/em>would be the perfect\u00a0eerbetoon\u00a0<\/em>(honor) to the\u00a0grondleggers\u00a0<\/em>(founders) of the Dutch Republic<\/a>. And since the Oranges also tried hard to establish orange as THE Dutch color, the\u00a0boeren\u00a0<\/em>(farmers) joined in the effort. In the 17th century, the Dutch were the world’s biggest producer of carrots. By almost exclusively growing the orange kind, the\u00a0boeren\u00a0<\/em>made that the standard color of the vegetable.<\/p>\n

But did they really manage to turn a bleak, purple, yellow root into an orange one?<\/p>\n

No. There’s no evidence for that. But the orange carrot was and is still by far the most popular kind in the Netherlands. Why then?<\/a><\/p>\n

Why are orange carrots so popular?<\/strong><\/h1>\n
\"carrots<\/a>

Image by Ulrike Leone at Pixabay.com<\/p><\/div>\n

There is evidence, however, for the orange\u00a0wortel\u00a0<\/em>doing really well in the Netherlands. Most likely, the orange kind was imported alongside the other coloured roots to the Netherlands. But why did it do well? Was that because people were such fans of the Oranges?2<\/a><\/sup>It feels weird writing it like that, but you get who I mean.<\/span><\/p>\n

Again, other reasons are more likely. For example, in dishes like the popular\u00a0hutspot<\/em><\/a>, the carrot bleeds some of its colour. A purple carrot would not look as tasty as orange. But the white and yellow wouldn’t have been such a problem. So another reason may be that the orange one is simply tastier, and less vezelig\u00a0<\/em>(stringy) than the other kinds.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0groenteboeren\u00a0<\/em>(greengrocers) at the time may have also liked the lively orange colour alongside their other vegetables. It’s a color that stands out and pops. It probably didn’t hurt business!<\/p>\n

How is the Dutch\u00a0koningshuis<\/em> then related to orange carrots?<\/strong><\/h1>\n