San Geraldo made chicken soup Monday night. It was delicious. It was filled with vegetables. It was nutritious.
It was purple.
At Ana Crespillo’s fruit market Monday morning, San Geraldo picked up some unbelievably beautiful carrots. He tasted some as he cut them up for the soup. He said they were unbelievably delicious. They were also purple.
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| PURPLE CARROTS AT ANA CRESPILLO’S MARKET, LOS BOLICHES. (CLICK ANY IMAGE TO “PURPLIZE.”) |
I just learned that until the late 16th century, most carrots were purple, with mutations in yellow and white. At that time, Dutch growers began developing the orange carrots that we now know so well.
Sadly, no Dutch growers were available to tell San Geraldo what purple carrots would do to his soup. The potatoes and other vegetables — and the chicken — took on a sickly lavender hue. The broth was a richer shade of lavender. Surprisingly… or perhaps not surprisingly… it tasted just like chicken soup.
But, it was similar to the color of borscht (made from beets).
I hate borscht, but I liked the soup.
San Geraldo loves borscht, but not purple chicken soup.
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| COOKED PURPLE CARROT. |
Maybe, like Doris Day, I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love…
And, speaking of a purple cow…
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| SAN GERALDO SPOTTED THIS PEELING PAINT FROM HIS WINDOW. IT LOOKS JUST LIKE A BUFFALO. |
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| THIS IS WHAT I SEE WHEN I LOOK OUT THAT WINDOW. |
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| INSPIRATION FOR THE SONG: POEM BY GELETT BURGESS, 1895. (ILLUSTRATION BY BURGESS, TOO.) |
