Writing about onions is a tricky business but when I got mail from the  Newent Onion Fayre yesterday telling me about their Gloucestershire festival, I just couldn’t resist it and had to show them that in our neck of the woods we also eat onions. We even had a health minister who once recommended a concoction of African potato, raw garlic, beetroot, lemons and plenty of raw onions to cure AIDS but the nation was convinced it was probably the barley that got to her and had a good few laughs at her expense. I like using onions nowadays but there

was a black time in my life when I couldn’t bear them because the smell killed me.  After being obliged to eat a particularly vile dish at the home of a friend a few years ago, I couldn’t face them for a whole long year. It was hell because food without onions just doesn’t taste as it should and try as I might, fennel bulbs just didn’t do it. So I persevered, singular in my determination and eventually the onion and I were united again.  Today’s post is a bit longer than usual so that the visitors to the fayre have something from which to choose but in future, I’ll be all lean and mean again.

CREAMED ONION SOUP

Ingredients

• 2 large onions, halved and sliced
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 75 g butter
• ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 75 ml good quality white wine
• 50 ml double cream
• 200 ml hot water
• Handful fresh parsley, chopped
• Freshly made croûtons to serve – crumbled dried melba toast is a good idea in this rich dish.

Method

• Preheat the grill to its highest setting.
• Fry the onions over medium heat in the butter to until soft and translucent before adding the nutmeg and cooking for another 2 – 3 minuts.
• Pour in the wine, the water and the into the saucepan and mix well with a whisk, then simmer over medium heat for another 10 minutes before adding the parsley.
• Process in a blender or use a hand-held blender until the soup is soft and velvety,  check and correct the seasoning and then serve with croûtons.

The onion (allium cepa) isn’t a tuber – above ground there’s a vertical shoot but the bit we eat stays underground and store’s the plant’s energy; in effect we eat the plant’s energy which is probably why they’re so healthy. Onions originated in central Asia, Iran or West Pakistan and have been used as food for thousands of years; traces of onions that were found with fig seeds and date stones date back to around 5000 BC*. Nobody can be sure that these onions were actually cultivated because the only other source, the Bible, here  dated around 3000 BC, says “we remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic” in Numbers 11, verse 5. (King James). The slaves who built the pyramids quite probably ate quite a lot of the and with the radishes they also ate their breath must have been quite something. The main varieties are:

• Bulb onions
• Multiplier onions
• Tree or Egyptian onions
• Welsh onions
• Leeks
• Yellow onions
• Sweet onions

ROCKET AND RICOTTA STUFFED ONIONS

I came across the recipe somewhere and tried it – it’s really great.

Ingredients

• 4 large Spanish or sweet onions, peeled
• 150g wild rocket leaves (if you don’t like rocket, use baby spinach leaves), chopped
• 15og ricotta cheese
• 1 large organic egg yolk
• 1 tsp lemon zest, grated
• 50 g parmesan, freshly grated
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 30 g butter, softened
• Extra virgin olive oil as needed, plus extra for drizzling to serve
• Aged balsamic vinegar, to serve

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200 C.
• Boil the onions for 15 to 20 minutes in plenty of boiling water, drain and then set aside to cool. Combine the ricotta, the rocket leaves, the egg yolk, the Parmesan cheese and the lemon zest before seasoning to taste with salt pepper.
• When the onions are cool, slice off the top 1cm and remove the middle of the onion with a small fork before filling with the ricotta mixture.
• Put the onions in a small roasting dish (I always put them close together so that they touch and don’t fall over), sprinkle over some additional Parmesan and dot with the butter.
• Roast for 15 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and golden brown.
• Remove carefully and serve with a small drizzle of really good aged balsamic vinegar and a swirl of olive oil.

ANCIENT MYTHS AND REMEDIES

• The Ancient Egyptians **worshipped the vegetable because they were convinced that the spherical shape and concentric rings symbolized eternal life which is why they used them in burials and the mummy of King Ramses IV (died in 1160 BC) had small onions in the eye sockets to replicate an eyeball but also because of the spiritual significance.
• Waverly Root, a brilliant food historian) cites a Sumerian text dated to about 2400 BC that tells of someone ploughing  of the city governor’s onion plot.
• The ancient Greek athletes ate massive amounts of onions because they believed it would “balance their blood;”in the 1st century AD  Dioscorides recommended it as a tonic for athletes which is why they ate kilograms of the stuff, drank litres of onion juice and rubbed the onions all over their bodies.
• Roman gladiators used to rub their bodies with onions because they believed it would strengthen their muscles – lovely smell there too.
• In the 6th century BC (in India) the Charaka – Sanhita mention the onions medicinal properties and recommends use as  a diuretic,  a digestive aid and to improve the heart, the eyes and the joints.
• Pliny the Elder commented on the onions of Pompeii and when it was excavated, archaeologists found cavities in the gardens where the onion bulbs had been planted – as per his writings.
• Apicius used onions whenever he could in his recipes.

MEDIEVAL MYTHS AND REMEDIES

• In the Middle Ages, rent was often paid in onions, they were given as gifts, used to improve erections and bowel movements, cure headaches and choughs and treat snake bites and hair loss.
• In the early 1500’s they were used as an infertility drug for women, cattle, cats and dogs even though the cats and dogs probably died from the onions (recently vets discovered that kittens take kindly to the scent  of onions when they’re taken to a new home (maybe it reminds them of their mommies ?)
• American Indians used wild onions as vegetables, medicines and (wait for it) toys!
• American Pilgrims brought onions with them on the Mayflower and were planted in the USA around 1648.

HEALTH

Nowadays we believe that onions contain chemical compounds that have anti-inflammatory properties, are good for people with high cholesterol, help in the fight against cancer because of the antioxidant properties and are rich in quercetin. I must stress that my comments here are based on my reading only – so before you take them as a cure all, chat to your doctor please.  Oh yes, there have been studies, though, that suggest that increased consumption of onions reduces the risk of head and neck cancers. Some Buddhists and certain Hindu sects don’t eat onions because of their supposed aphrodisiac properties.

STUFFED ROASTED ONIONS

Ingredients

• 4 onions, peeled but left whole
• 2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves,chopped
• 75 ml Marsala wine
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 125 ml extra virgin olive oil

Filling

• 250 g brown breadcrumbs
• 200 g  butter
• 100 g toasted almonds, flaked and peeled
• 1 tsp lemon zest, finely grated
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, ground into a paste
• 100 g freshly grated parmesan cheese

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 C.
• Cut 2 incisions to form a cross that reaches halfway down in each of the onions, then cut another 2 incisions in a cross pattern so that the top half of the onion is separated into eight sections but still intact.
• Put the onions in a roasting dish very carefully and drizzle with olive, seasoning to taste and then sprinkle the thyme leaves over the top before covering with aluminium foil and baking in the oven for an hour.
• Now remove the foil and drain off all the excess oil and pour the Marsala into the roasting dish and put back into the oven, uncovered,  for another 15 minutes – most of the Marsala needs to evaporate and the top of the onions must begin folding open.
• Pre-heat the grill now.
• Combine the breadcrumbs, the lemon zest, the butter, the garlic, the flaked almonds and the parsley until well combined (mix the garlic paste with the butter and then use it.)
• Press the filling mixture into the spaces between the roasted onion sleaves and then grill for a few minutes until it’s golden brown.

HEALTH BENEFITS

• Onions are used to heal blisters and boils.
• A Maltese remedy advises the use of ½ of a baked onion packed on sea urchin wounds as a cure.
• Some people believe that raw onion will help to heal bee stings and have great anti inflammatory and antibacterial properties.
• Onion extract is used to treat topical scars.
• Onions are good for women who run the risk of getting osteoporosis because it, apparently, destroys osteoclasts so that they do not break down bone.
• My grandmother believed it was good for sore throats.

WHY DO THEY MAKE OUR EYES BURN

There’s a very complicated explanation for this but for the purpose of my purpose it’s enough to know that a type of acid that becomes a gas is formed when onions are cut. When the gas gets to our eyes, it wakes up our sensory neurons and stings. Tears are actually good because they wash out the gas. If you really suffer, wear goggles or give them to someone else to slice and even though chilling the onion could help, it hardly makes practical sense.

The biggest producers in the world are the Indians, the Chinese, the Australians and the Americans and in that order but some onions are so sought after that they are actually protected and naturally, they can be found in Italy and France:

• Cipolla Rossa di Tropea, a red onion from Calabria, Italy (PGI)
• Cipollotto Nocerino, a spring/salad onion sized Allium Cepa from Campania, Italy (PDO)
• Oignon doux des Cévennes, a sweet onion from the south east of France (PDO)

ONION AND BACON QUICHE

Ingredients

• 25g butter
• 500g onions, peeled and chopped
• 100 g smoked bacon, lightly grilled and torn
• 2 large organic eggs
• 300 ml double cream
• 140g mature gruyere, coarsely grated

Crust

• 280g plain flour and a little extra for dusting
• 140g ice cold butter

Method

• Make the pastry by putting the flour in the bowl and then rubbing the cold butter in with your fingertips until it’s well mixed and crumbly.
• Add about 200 ml ice water and bring everything together to form a stiff dough, roll into a mall and chill until you are ready to use it.
• Roll out the pastry onto a lightly floured surface to the desired thickness, using your pin to lift it up and drape over the tart case so that it hangs over the sides.
• Make a ball from the scraps of pastry and use it to push the pastry into the tin (concentrate on the corners and bottom bits) and then refrigerate for about half an hour (remember that it will shrink when baking so make sure there is a good overhang).
• Pre-heat the oven to 100 C.
• Cook the onions in the butter for about 20 minutes until they are soft, golden and quite sticky and then remove from the heat.
• Prick the base of the tart with a fork before lining with greaseproof paper and baking beans so that you can bake it blind for 20 minutes and then remove the paper and the beans and bake for another 10 minutes until it’s nicely browned.
• Whilst it’s being browned, whisk the eggs will and then add the cream gradually before stirring in the onions, the bacon and half of the cheese and seasoning to taste salt and pepper.
• Carefully pour the filling into the pastry case, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake until set and golden.
• Allow to cool in the caseand then trim the edges neatly and serve.

Notes:

*Some writers believe that onions may have grown in Chinese gardens around 5000 BC but I haven’t found any decent source to confirm this; it was mentioned once in the late Rigvedic Purusha sukta.

** There are paintings of onions on the inner walls of the pyramids of Unas (2423 BC) and Pepi II (2200 BC) and in tombs of both the Old and the New Kingdoms.