Carrots

Carrots are a delicious, often subterranean vegetable used in various kinds of cooking around Halintar (and arguably the rest of The Big Stretch). Though most varieties are also eaten raw, the nutritional benefits, taste, and safety of individual varieties can vary.

* **The Honest Carrot:** Often called the "quintessential carrot", it is the most common variety and, unless otherwise stated or culturally redirected, is what most people refer to as "a carrot". It gets its name from the thought that it originated from the Honest region of The Great Northwest. Some can refer to it as the "Darlin" carrot, after the Darlin River of the same area.
	+ **The Dishonest Carrot:** An honest carrot that grows in poor soil, lack sunlight and water, or is otherwise neglected by its grower is marked as a "Dishonest". These carrots are essentially the same, but have less nutritional value, are less sweet, and can go soft before a normal Honest. Due to the association these carrots have with poor or apathetic growers, they are not often sought out, and are rarely sold. Merchants will always check the batches of carrots that come to them, as selling a Dishonest can lead to a dip in sales. Although this kind of carrot is not so much a variety in itself, it is still has a distinction to the level that many consider it separate from Honests.
* **The Northwestern Yellow-Top:** A carrot variety lauded for its sweetness and nutrition, it is sometimes seen as the only necessary ingredient in recipes found throughout the countryside. It's trademark yellow top can sometimes cause confusion when being grown or bought by unsuspecting farmers or chefs, throwing them out under misinterpretation of spoilage. The true way to tell a yellow-top has passed its prime is if tiny black spots start to appear at the base of the stem or tip of the leaves.
* **The Ghost Skin:** Sometimes mistaken for oblong radishes, the ghost skin carrot is semi-translucent in its infancy, giving it its name. After growing into a full plant, this variety of carrot appears as an honest variety with a pigment issue. Only needing about half as much sunlight and having extra cold resistance as any other carrot variety, it is not as sweet, but can be grown for longer. What stops this variety from being a go-to in many regions is its particular needs on the soil around it, leading to mass cultivation being unreasonable in most places.
* **The Purple-Tipped Spear Carrot:** One of the least sought after varieties, the purple-tipped spear can be cultivated from Crockett to Creolewy. Though, it's lack of sweetness, difficulty to harvest, and tendency to regrow even when not wanted makes it an unwelcome addition to some farms. It is packed full of minerals, and as it remains firm even after cooking, can be used to add a crunch or fullness to a food. Purple-tips are also not often eaten raw, and consumption of raw purple-tips can be linked to dangerous stomachaches.
* **The Hare-Tail:** This variety gets its name for its short, stubby body, and from the plethora of thin roots that make it look like its is growing little hairs. This carrot is considered the easiest to grow, as it takes up little space, and can generally fend for itself. The hare-tail's quick and multiple growing seasons keep it firm within its wide home range, stretching from the Rade River valley up to the Pyxian Throat, and over to the Sassegado Valley.
* **The Standing Hollow:** A variety of carrot that is somewhat hard to differentiate from the others, the standing hollow is most easily distinguished once it has matured, as it lifts itself out of the ground once fully ripe. Another distinguishing point cannot be appreciated until it is cut open: the center of the carrot has a pocket of air within it. Some speculate this helps the carrot float more easily, and that it can quickly colonize downstream if it needs to. This carrot is not particularly special as far as sweetness or nutritious, but the time it spends above-ground gives it a deeper flavor than many of its cousins. This carrot can be found naturally from the Twotoed River, down to Danger's Lap, and west as far as Grog's Grove.

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Certain recipes can be made primarily of the many varieties of carrot listed above. Below is a short sampling of recipes created from majority carrot.

1. **Two Carrot Stew**
	1. Chop 2 yellow-tops into thick slices. Put them into a standard pot of boiling water.
	2. Take 1 ghost skin and skin the flesh down to the core, then chop to core into knuckle-sized bits.
	3. Take a second ghost skin and smash it into a pulp. Mix with salt, cumin, chives.
	4. Stir all together until the edge of the pot turns orange. Take a third yellow-top and chop it into even thicker slices, and then cut those slices in half before adding them in.
	5. Optional: (add dumplings and/or chicken)
	6. Spice to taste and serve. Feeds 2-3 people.
2. **Game Hunter's Delight**
	1. Take a hare-tail carrot and remove the roots. Cut off the top, hollow out the core and save it.
	2. Cut thin notches into the inside of the carrot, and fill it with [spiced] fresh, half-cooked rabbit meat.
	3. Stand the carrot up next to an open fire or pile of embers.
	4. Smash the saved core and mix with salt and any other desired spice. Warm it near heat.
	5. Once one side of the carrot turns deep brown, spin it so the other side faces the fire/embers.
	6. After both sides are browned, drizzle heated core over carrot and enjoy. 4 carrots feed 1 person.

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**Carrot Legends**

1. **The Carrot Tree:** Legend speaks of a tree able to produce carrots, but not just any carrot. Unlike the normal types of carrot, these are sometimes called "Carruits", and grow with their tops attached to the branches of the tree. Most legends that mention this unusual plant state that the carrots produced are sweeter than any other type and softer in texture. While it is greatly under debate as to whether or not the product of this tree would be a carrot in the traditional sense, they have always been referred to as such, and thus they are firmly classified as carrots until the tree itself is found.
2. **The Golden Carrot:** While being more well documented in the annuls of time than the Carrot Tree, the Golden Carrot is not a single legendary object but a vegetable that can grow out in the fields. Exceedingly rare by all reports, none have been preserved long enough to be seen by many, as they are often eaten. Those that ate them talk of some unnatural charm, making them fascinated with it, and eventually coaxing them to consume it. Once consumed, one's stomach does not empty for a long time (the length of which is different for every person), while some claim immortality, and some still end up in comas. Until the Golden Carrot can be captured and studied, this vegetable is veget-inable.
3. **The Super-Carrot-Colony:** A legend borne from the studies and theorizing of the world's top carrot farmers, it is the theoretical life-form made of up hundreds, if not thousands of carrots all connected through their root systems. This Super Carrot has, by all estimations, the ability for basic cognition, and may be able to communicate in some primitive degree. A few travelers who have found themselves on the central-western side of The Colossal Covert claim to have come into contact, if not saw such an organism; though, with it mostly being underground, it is unclear how to reach out to it.