Sandwich Carrots

"Sandwich-carrots! - dainty Sandwich-carrots." The 1796 print by satirist James Gillray portrayed John Montagu, 5th Earl of Sandwich (1744–1814) putting money in the pocket of a street vendor. (British Museum online).  Sandwich Carrots did not take their name from the Earl, but from the town.  They were called red carrots but actually were "a very deep orange...and the most esteemed."  [Hale, 1758]  Recipes below are for boiling and for soup.


"... about Sandwich the soil is so adapted to the growth of carrots, that it produces larger ones, and of a more excellent flavour and colour than those that grow any where else."  [Hasted, Edward.  The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent.  Canterbury: 1797]

There is a variety of colour in the roots of the carrot, the gardeners have hence made what they call three principal kinds. These they call, I. The dark red carrot. 2. The orange carrot. And, 3. The white carrot. The first and last of these terms are somewhat improper, the first kind being only a very deep orange, and the other a very pale yellow. The first is the most esteemed. The white kind is more common in France and Italy than here; and is the sweetest and finest flavoured of them all. The farmer is to cultivate not that which is best, but what people think so; and therefore he is to chuse the deep red, commonly called the Sandwich carrot.  [Hale, Thomas.  A Compleat Body Of Husbandry.  London: 1758]

To dress Carrots. 1717

If your carrots are young, you need only wipe them after they are boiled , but if they are old you must: scrape them before they are boiled. Slice them into a plate, and pour melted butter over them. Young spring carrots will be boiled in half an hour, large ones in an hour, and old Sandwich carrots will take two hours.   [Williams, T.  The Accomplished Housekeeper, and Universal Cook 1717.   Hannah Glasse's 1784 Art of Cookery used this recipe, as did other cookbooks] 

Carrot Soup.  1838

For this purpose the large Sandwich carrots are the best; only the red outside part is to be used. To two quarts of plain broth (or liquor in which the bones of roast meat have been stewed,) put the red part of six or seven large carrots scraped clean and sliced thin, also one head of celery and a large onion or two cut in thin slices: cover the stew pan close, and let it simmer two hours, or more, till the carrots are soft enough to rub through a hair sieve or colander. Having done this, return the pulp to the stew-pan, with as much more broth as will bring it to the thickness of pease soup; stir it together. When it boils throw in a tea-cupful of bread-crumbs; let it boil a few minutes, season with salt and pepper; and serve.  [Copley, Esther.  The Housekeeper's Guide.  London: 1838]

For more carrots in art, click HERE


©2013 Patricia Bixler Reber
HOME