Elena Bucur explores new culinary uses for carrots

Elena Bucur shares her culinary journey of transforming the carrot from a secondary soup ingredient into a primary dish in a series for HotNews Food.

Since moving to a village in Transilvania, Romania, she has embraced local ingredients and seasonal techniques to cook for her family. Bucur describes how she previously used carrots mainly in soups or salads but began experimenting when she received a large weekly supply of the vegetable.

She developed several methods to highlight the carrot, such as roasting them in the oven until soft and colorful to create a base for various dishes. She uses these roasted carrots to make creamy soups, hummus, or salads, choosing different flavor profiles like ginger, lemon, curry, or coconut milk depending on her preference.

She also shares a recipe for a carrot salad inspired by a Turkish shawarma shop, which uses cumin, cardamom, and lemon to balance the sweetness of the vegetable. Additionally, she serves roasted carrots with a tahini sauce inspired by a restaurant in Budapesta, Hungary. Bucur concludes by mentioning a tip from a professional chef to add vanilla to carrot soup, a combination she is currently testing to enhance the vegetable's natural sweetness.