Small Carrots?

mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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Anyone know where to buy small carrots? I am not talking about the tiny ones that are.. imported from the States but SMALLER local ones?

The local carrots are -- well -- fit for horses..

I do not know how much longer they leave them in the ground to grow that big - become tough.. loose all of their sweetness..

but they are really a sort of sad distortion of what a carrot should be ..

perhaps I am searching for an upscale, maybe organic greengrocer?

(probably in Piantini or Naco? Or maybe in some open air market?)
 
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dv8

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i have never seen a small dominican carrot. the only way is to grow it yourself, i guess...
 

yb1

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Here in Punta Cana the Eco Foundation sells it's organic carrots and they are normal sized, small carrots! But I guess that doesn't help you in Santo Domingo.
 
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DavidZ

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In Santiago, the majority of carrots at Nacional are more or less "normal" sized, and at La Sirena around 10-20% are...the rest appear to be given carrot steroids or nuclear radiation of some sort...
 

mountainannie

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In Santiago, the majority of carrots at Nacional are more or less "normal" sized, and at La Sirena around 10-20% are...the rest appear to be given carrot steroids or nuclear radiation of some sort...

oh I see all the nice small sweet carrots are going to Santiago! Perhaps we need to start a Facebook group and have a march.....
 

gamana

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Pricesmart

You'll find them at Pricesmart. They are not local though. DR is known to still be using fertilizers banned in other nations for decades = HUGE veggies, and not so good for your health...
 
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You mean what my grandmother used to refer to as "sweet carrots." She used to call the over-sized ones "horse carrots" as you might too. Good luck finding them.

I don't think it's fertilizer as much as a different variety. My big thing was trying to find red onions bigger than squash balls to make onion rings. At least the potatoes are good.
 

mountainannie

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I find most of veggies here fantastic. There are varieties of peppers and eggplants that I have never seen. And the tomatoes are wonderful ALL YEAR.. not to even mention the avocados!

So I do not think that this is a question of fertilizers so much as a question of what they are used to eating.

I have served carrots to Dominicans who swooned because they had never tasted the sweetness of them.
 

mountainannie

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I caramelize them in butter and brown sugar and they are great with just about anything.

that is a great way to serve them but with the giant Dominican carrots even the butter and sugar hardly makes them palatable. I use those mostly in soup - for the color and texture but I really doubt that they have much nutritition left in them.

I served the tiny baby carrots which are now being imported from the US
 

AlterEgo

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that is a great way to serve them but with the giant Dominican carrots even the butter and sugar hardly makes them palatable. I use those mostly in soup - for the color and texture but I really doubt that they have much nutritition left in them.

I served the tiny baby carrots which are now being imported from the US

The tiny baby carrots aren't so great either - they are cut out of large, misshapen carrots. Annie, have you ever gone to the open market on the Malecon near the Presidente factory? Good fresh vegetables cheap. Eggs and meat too.

AE
 

Acira

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We have here a local fresh vegetable market and belgiank is going there every day and sometimes he finds some surprises like f.e. spring onions, flat parsley.
When he finds them on a rare occasion he buy's the whole lot and chops them up and put them in the freezer.

Getting to know the local small farmers that sell their products pretty good, I am sure one day he can convince one of them to pull him some smaller carrots and sell them to him.
 

Tarheel

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potatos

I have noticed that Dominican potatos are much better than the ones I see in the USA. They are smaller but more favorful than the US ones. Have others noticed this?
 

mountainannie

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I have noticed that Dominican potatos are much better than the ones I see in the USA. They are smaller but more favorful than the US ones. Have others noticed this?

If you go up to Constanza, you can visit the potato growers and see all the varieties that they grow -- AND export...

But I warn you that the air in the valley in Constanza is pretty polluted from the fertilizers -- and you will see the farm workers putting on the fertilizer and insecticides with no protective clothing --

But there is also a big growing industry there of organic farmers who are growing inside of greenhouses and now exporting to Europe under the organic certification - which is very hard to get.
 

AlterEgo

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Is that market open every day? Thanks for the tip!

I've never seen it closed, but I can't swear it's open Sundays [but I think it is]. It opens very early and close about dinnertime. I find the fruits and veggies there much better than the supermarkets.

AE