Julia McLean offers an ode to the onion, along with a history of this fascinating kitchen essential, health benefits, and delicious recipes for her Normandy home.
Besides the fact tha
t gardening is not my forte, I really don’t enjoy it. I don’t have a huge sense of achievement when a plant comes up from seeds I have sown. That’s what it is supposed to do.
I work on the principle that most seed products sold are bought by very average people. The producers know that so that unless you are exceptionally cack-handed your garden should flourish.
If a plant doesn’t flourish in that spot, I might move it, but more likely I’ll let it die off or it’ll learn to adapt. If that doesn’t work, I don’t try again. One thing I have learnt is that herbs grow almost anywhere so my herb garden flourishes. The only time it doesn’t is if I cut back a plant and the winter gets into its bones. I lost my Italian Myrtille (myrtus communis) bush and my lemon Verbena that way.
However, my onion family is doing well. I mainly confine myself to spring onions and chives and garlic. I grew big onions on my veggie patch but have long given that up as I couldn’t eat all the vegetables I grew and didn’t have a freezer big enough.
Like Genghis Khan, the onion c
ame into Europe from Mongolia, but it has been much more beneficial for life and limb than Genghis ever was. Because it is small and easy to grow and transport, it has spread all over the world and has been known since ancient times.
It can be seen on bas-reliefs in Egyptian tombs. In fact, when the Pharaoh tried to prohibit it, all the pyramid workers went on strike! It was worshipped by the Egyptians to the point that two onions were used to close the eyes of Ramses IV!
The onion had the reputation of being able to thin the blood, and Olympic athletes of old used to drink a glass of onion juice before a race. It arrived in Western Europe with the Romans and was one of the most consumed vegetables during the Middle Ages (radish and cabbage were also very popular). It was such an important food that people would pay their rent with onions and give them as gifts. Then the onion reached America with Columbus.
The medicinal properties of Allium Cepa (the onion) are many. It has served during the ages as an antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, laxative, expectorant, stimulant for the circulation and anti-rhumatismal agent. Some even claimed it restored hair, protected from the plague and helped infertility and erections! Apart from the last two properties, modern medicine confirms most of the benefits of eating onions.
The health-giving properties are mainly due to three chemical ingredients found in the onion family:
• fructans: part of the fructose (fruit sugar) family and contribute to the digestion by helping to form good intestinal flora. It is therefore a good protection against cancer;
• organosulfides (allicin): the pungent substance causing you to weep when peeling onions acts as an anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial agent, and is supposed to be an active defence against hypertension and arteriosclerosis. (A New Zealand researcher is trying to produce an onion that won’t make you cry when you peel it! However, if you just put an onion in the freezer for a few minutes then cut it rapidly with a very sharp knife, you should have no problems.);
• flavonoids are anti-oxydants which protect against risk of cancer and heart attacks.
Some onions are stronger than others and contain more or less of these important ingredients. According to Wikipedia, shallots or scallions have more health-giving properties than most other onions which is probably why the French use so many in their sauces. Shallots have the most phenols, six times the amount found in the Vidalia onion, the variety with the lowest phenolic content. Shallots also have the most antioxidant activity, followed by Western Yellow, Pungent Yellow (New York Bold), Northern Red, Mexico, Empire Sweet, Western White, Peruvian Sweet, Texas 1015, Imperial Valley Sweet, and Vidalia. Western Yellow onions have the most flavonoids, eleven times the amount found in Western White, the variety with the lowest flavonoid content. This all just means that knowing your onions is good for you!
Recipes
Recipe for Sausages and Onions
Fry gently in butter and oil, four medium to large, fairly piquant, thin-sliced onions until they melt down. Season to taste and serve with either well-fried Toulouse sausages (good quality pork sausages), black pudding or Haggis sausages. Fry the sausages and onions separately.
Recipe for Sauce Robert
Start as above and once the onions are melted down, add a large spoonful of flour, stir vigorously to avoid lumps and add a cupful of stock (water or cider or a bit of left over wine). A thick sauce should form. You may need to add more liquid. Add salt and pepper to taste and a big spoonful of mustard. Serve with fried pork chops.
Recipe for Cider-baked onions
To serve as a vegetable with a roast, take one very large onion per person. Peel and cut in two across the layers. Fry cut-side down in butter and oil until slightly golden. Place in an oven dish, cut side down. Sprinkle with fresh thyme and pour over enough cider to come half way up the onions. Bake in a moderate oven until cooked through – about half an hour.
Recipe for Sweet Onion and Orange Salad
Thin-slice two large mild red onions. Peel two large oranges and thinly slice across the grain. Layer both into a flat dish and dress with a sauce made from two large spoons of orange juice mixed with a dash of soy sauce and three large spoons of sesame oil. Sprinkle with finely chopped chives.
Image Credits
Illustrations from ‘Plantes Aromatiques’ by Robert Quinche, pub Paris 1969
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