[Sca-cooks] Sweet onions in period Europe

[Stefan li Rous]

Ras replied to my comments with:
> mark.s.harris at motorola.com writes:
> << Another onion as sweet as the Vidalia in period? I really doubt
>  this.  >>
>
> Sweet Spanish Onions come immediately to mind. There grow as large as (or
> usually larger than) Vidalias and are very sweetbut not quite as sweet as
> Vidalias. IUnfortunately I don't know if this type of onion is a 'modern'
> hybrid or a variety of onion on its own. I also don't know if they are
> European or period.

> Until Vidalias came on the scene, they
> were considered the  finast, sweetest onion available and often were
> advertised as being able to be eaten like an apple.

This is the kind of comment I would expect to see in some period
writings if a sweet onion mutation developed or a sweet onion was
imported from outside of Europe.

I went searching on the web for information about Spanish onions to
see if anyone could say where they came from and when. It looks like
they may have come from either the Canary Islands (Spanish Onions)
or Corsica (Walla Walla sweet onions) but I can't seem to find out where
they came from before there or when they arrived there.

I have pasted my notes below and where I found the stuff. Some of this
is just general info on onions that I thought some folks here might
be interested in.

Oh yes. I looked up onions in Waverly Root's "Food" but while he has
several pages on onions and their history, he doesn't mention any
sweet onion history.
--
THLord  Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris             Austin, Texas         stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****

> From: http://www.sunspiced.com/oplant.html
>
> Specialty sweet onions contain very small amounts of the sulfur-containing compounds,
> only about 50% of the typical levels found in other varieties. We taste the sugar instead of
> the sulfur and think they are much sweeter. Ironically, sugar levels in sweet onions are only
> slightly greater than those of some storage onions. The sulfur compounds serve an important
> purpose, however, increasing an onion's capacity for long-term storage. The specialty sweet
> onions will not store as long.
> ----------
>
> From: http://www.sunspiced.com/ohistory.html
>
> The onions we use today are very similar to those described and eaten 2000 years ago. By
> 1900, plant breeders were already refining the species to meet the needs of the grower and
> consumer. A 1900 seed catalog might offer red, yellow, white, oblate, globe and spindle
> shaped onions.
>
> The complex role of day-length in onion bulb development was another important factor in
> breeding onion varieties. Many onion varieties were developed which would form bulbs at
> the correct time, i.e. varieties for both northern and southern growers.
>
> In 1945, analysis of the sulfur compounds in onions (the compound that makes people cry
>  when an onion is cut) resulted in breeders being able to develop a sweet onion. These onions are spring and summer onions, high in water and sugar content, and known for their sweet mild flavor. They don't store as well as other onion varieties do, but they offer a distinctive variation in flavor and have become very popular.
>
> Today, most of the onions eaten in North America are storage onions, grown primarily in
> western Idaho and eastern Oregon. As much as a quarter of the U.S. fall and winter crop of
> storage onions is produced in this area. California produces an equivalent amount, another
> 25% of America's onions, and not just storage onions, but also sweet, speciality, and
> processing onions. In fact, half of California's onion production goes to processors. Other
> states produce substantially lesser amounts. Texas grows about 10% of the total onion
> acreage, mostly sweets; Georgia grows about 5%. New Mexico, Washington, and Arizona
> also produce substantial quantities of sweets. Colorado, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin,
> Nevada, Utah, Nebraska and Ohio are also onion-growing states.
>
> There are onion varieties for every climate and latitude, large and small, hot and sweet, ready
> to eat and storage types. So many varieties, so many producing areas. There should never be
> a time when onions cannot be found in any supermarket.
> -----------
>
> From: http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blv51.htm
>
> Sweet onion varieties have been traced back to a packet of
> seeds from the Canary Islands shipped to South Texas in
> 1898. Those Bermuda onion seeds were planted near the
> city of Cotulla. The sweet onion crop was an instant success.
> In 1933, the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station began a cooperative breeding
> program with the U. S. Department of Agriculture to develop new hybrids and varieties.
> I'll cover more history within each of the spotlighted Sweet Onion Pictorial Chart
> showing different varieties.
> -----------
>
> From: http://www.sweetonionsource.com/different.html
>
> Although it seems like sweet onions are a relatively new item, they were first introduced to America around the turn of the century when a retired French soldier brought some onion seeds from Corsica to the Walla Walla region of the Pacific Northwest. But it wasn't until the savvy farmers in Georgia realized what a special thing they had in the Vidalia onion and began spreading the news far and wide that the sweet onion finally got the attention it deserves
> ---------
>
> From: http://members.aol.com/oddwonder/foodhis.htm
>
> Historians tell us that a sweet onion was the favorite dessert of the Romans. BBB-22
>
> (No referance though. And the same site also says:
> All members of the Roman empire were vegetarians until Julias Caesar. BBB-69
>
> So I question the validity of this site. I don’t know what the “BBB-22” is.
> ------
>
> From: http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/envirohort/articles/vegetables/onion.html
>
> There are three onion flavors -- sweet, mild, and pungent. The flavor of the onion is a result of the growing conditions. Soils containing a high amount of sulfur
> grow more pungent flavored onions. The color of onions can be white, yellow, or red. The bulb shape is globe or round, flattened, or torpedo shaped.
>
> (Written by Karen Nash, Consumer Horticulture Intern, Virginia Tech. Source: The National Bureau Celebrates 1995 as the Year of the ONION. The National
> Garden Bureau.)
>