Daucus carota.

Five colours in the same row, and each one is a different molecule. The orange comes from beta-carotene, the yellow from lutein, the red from lycopene (the same pigment as tomato), the purple from anthocyanins (the same as red cabbage and Bull's Blood beet), and the white contains practically none. So it isn't only pretty: by eating the mix rather than a single colour, you genuinely widen the range of antioxidant compounds you take in. It's the kind of detail that turns a crudité platter into an argument.

Long tapered roots 18 to 24 cm, regular, all the same shape whatever the colour, which makes for particularly beautiful bunches. Classic sweet flavour, with real nuances from one colour to the next: the purples are the boldest and most peppery, the yellows the mildest and almost floral, the whites the most neutral. Spectacular raw in sticks or grated into a salad, where the colour stays intact, and magnificent roasted in quarters in the oven with olive oil and thyme.

Grower's tip: two things to know with a coloured mix. First, purple carrots bleed when boiled and turn everything else in the pot pink: cook them separately, or roast rather than boil, or simply accept the result, which isn't unpleasant. Second, the colours don't ripen at exactly the same rate: harvest by shoulder diameter (2 to 3 cm) rather than by the calendar, clearing a little soil with a fingertip to check. For the rest, they're carrots: slow germination of 14 to 21 days, surface sowing at 1 cm maximum, deeply loosened stone-free soil, and above all never fresh manure.

• Open-pollinated. A mix of white, yellow, purple, orange and red varieties. Biennial: flowering only occurs in the second year. Insect-pollinated; crosses between colours and with wild carrot.
• Top height: 30 to 40 cm. Roots: 18 to 24 cm.
• Maturity: about 70 days.
• Exposure: full sun.
• Loose, deep soil (at least 25 cm), sandy to loamy, free of stones and fresh manure. Thin to 5 cm.
• Direct-sow as soon as the soil can be worked (late April/early May in Québec). A second sowing in July is possible for fall harvest.