[Sca-cooks] Sweet onions in period Europe

[Pixel, Queen of Cats]

On Thu, 24 May 2001, Chris Stanifer wrote:

>
> --- "Mark.S Harris" <mark.s.harris at motorola.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Another onion as sweet as the Vidalia in period? I
> > really doubt
> > this. If there had been, I would expect mention of
> > it to show up
> > in multiple contemporary writings. Look what
> > happened when other
> > "sweet" foods became available, either mutations or
> > imports.
>
> I'm not convinced that our modern "sweet onion" is not
> relly just a throwback to an older, sweet strain of
> onion.  It's entirely possible (though this is purely
> conjecture) that period onions were already sweet, and
> the sweetness was bred out in modern times in favor of
> larger onions and larger crop yeilds.  The
> "reintroduction" of the Vidalia and Maui sweet
> varieties would seem a breakthrough in our age, but
> not necessarily in period.  Hence, no special mention
> of a sweet onion.  Of course, period onions could have
> tasted like pencil shavings, too...I have no clue.
>
> Balthazar of Blackmoor

Aren't Vidalia onions sweet in part because of the particular soil they
grow in, in Georgia? Or am I way off?

Margaret