On Glazing Carrots · 8 December 2003
Boiled carrots – woody, mushy, bland – are crotchspawn of the devil. Glazed carrots are prizey, the business, the shit.
One prefers of course the small, sweet early-summer carrots which require only a quick scrub under the tap, and which can be served with a sprig of greens left on. In their absence regular supermarket carrots will do, as long as the ones you use are fairly uniform in size. If they are spongey or resemble balsa wood when cut open, chuckem.
If you’re using supermarket carrots, pare them at each end. You’ll want to get the bitter outer layer off: you can scrub with a vegetable brush, or you can scrape with the edge of a sharp knife, or you can use a peeler. If you choose the latter, you had better do it right.
Some will rotate the carrot with one hand, peeling rapidly in a sort of card-dealing motion. Not only is this imprecise, it causes carrot peel to fly all over the place and I hate that.
Regard the palm of your non-dominant hand and firmly situate the carrot between your thumb and fingertips. Position the peeler so its two blades sit astride the squared-off corner of the end opposite. Using decisive forearm motion, draw the peeler backward until it glides entirely off. A long thin strip of peel should come away with the peeler; you are thus afforded a measure of control over its destiny. Rotate the carrot enough to begin anew and – this is the pleasing part – the very act of positioning the peeler on the opposite end of the carrot will cut free the existing strip from its blades; the strip will then fall gently to the cutting board like a cooked noodle.
Once peeled, you can slice. Some like to cut their carrots at a jaunty angle, but anywhere other than asian restaurants this is merely cute. Slice at a right angle to the length of the carrot, adjusting for width so the total mass of each slice is consistent: slices from a narrow part will be longer, etc..
You should have some white or brown meat stock going. You can dissolve a cube in boiling water if you have to.
Arrange the carrots in single layer in a heavy pan, with enough stock to just cover. Add salt and pepper (go on then), a good-sized fling of brown sugar, and a walnut or so of butter.
Cook, uncovered, at a gentle boil, for about half an hour, checking now and again if the carrots are becoming soft; if so, you may need to pour off some of the liquid in the rush to completion. Mushiness here is a mark of abject failure.
When the liquid is all but evaporated, crank up the heat so the butter and sugars in the sauce can carmelize and coat the carrots.
Serve, dusted with chopped fresh parsley, in a dish or bowl or something.
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