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Three cheers for the onion
BBC ^ | 4 January 2015 | BBC

Posted on 01/04/2015 1:26:00 AM PST by moose07

Onions are eaten and grown in more countries than any other vegetable but rarely seem to receive much acclaim. It's time to stop taking the tangy, tear-inducing bulb for granted and give it a round of applause, writes the BBC's Marek Pruszewicz.

Deep in the archives of Yale University's Babylonian Collection lie three small clay tablets with a particular claim to fame - they are the oldest known cookery books.

Covered in minute cuneiform writing, they did not give-up their secrets until 1985, nearly 4,000 years after they were written.

The French Assyriologist and gourmet cook Jean Bottero - a combination only possible in France, some might say - was the man who cracked them. He discovered "a cuisine of striking richness, refinement, sophistication and artistry" with many flavours we would recognise today. Especially one flavour.

"They seem obsessed with every member of the onion family!" says Bottero.

Mesopotamians knew not just their onions, but also their leeks, garlic and shallots.


(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Food; History
KEYWORDS: agriculture; allium; animalhusbandry; assyria; babylon; cuneiform; dietandcuisine; france; garlic; godsgravesglyphs; helixmakemineadouble; huntergatherers; jeanbottero; leeks; mesopotamia; onion; onions; shallots
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To: To Hell With Poverty
Everything is just bland without them!

Tell me about it!! My daughter-in-law is from an Upper Midwest family that has a very bland flavor palate. It's only relatively recently that onions could become obvious in any dish. This has been an on-going project between my son and me to show her flavor does not equal death from overstimulation of the taste buds.

21 posted on 01/04/2015 5:21:41 AM PST by T-Bird45 (It feels like the seventies, and it shouldn't.)
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To: moose07

Comments on the Weekly Gardening Thread have inspired me to try Egyptian Walking Onions this year. We’ll see how it goes. I live on a farm and I’m good at raising livestock. Plants, not so much...


22 posted on 01/04/2015 5:34:43 AM PST by mrs. a (It's a short life but a merry one...)
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To: real saxophonist
I come from the area of Georgia known for Vidalia onions. You really can just ‘eat ‘em like an apple’.

With all due respect to the Vidalia onion -- which we seek out and employ most of the time -- it is not "the bestest onion on the block".

Here in Texas, we have Noonday onions -- named for a small town in East Texas, near Tyler. Somehow, the sandy soil, the climate and rainfall combine to produce a superior onion. They're smaller than Vidalias, but even milder and sweeter.

Come summertime, for the few weeks they are in season, Noondays replace the baked potato -- baked in foil on the grill, with butter, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce.

23 posted on 01/04/2015 5:45:20 AM PST by okie01 (THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: Ignorance on Parade)
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To: left that other site

Except that the Roman ruin is in much better condition, particularly the bathrooms.


24 posted on 01/04/2015 5:45:49 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: okie01

That’s a good recipe, I’ve done that. Here in northern Colorado, if Vidalia onions aren’t available, Walla Walla onions are a good substitute. And there are some locally grown onions that are pretty sweet as well.


25 posted on 01/04/2015 5:54:34 AM PST by real saxophonist (Spam, Spam, Spam, Bacon, and Spam. Extra Bacon.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Bwahahahahahahahahaha!


26 posted on 01/04/2015 6:01:34 AM PST by left that other site (You shall know the Truth, and The Truth Shall Set You Free.)
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To: SunkenCiv

I’d like a #4 extra value meal, no ketchup, extra onions, large size with a Coke.


27 posted on 01/04/2015 6:03:22 AM PST by Rodamala
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To: real saxophonist
if Vidalia onions aren’t available, Walla Walla onions are a good substitute.

Hear of them, but never seen them in a store down here.

We'll try them if we get a chance.

While we're on the subject of "special produce", have you ever encountered Tennessee tomatoes? They come from East Tennessee, over around Marysville, and are purportedly better the higher on the mountain they're grown. They come off in late summer -- late August thru September. Outstanding!!! Even better than the East Texas vine-ripes from around Quitman, TX.

28 posted on 01/04/2015 6:10:50 AM PST by okie01 (THE MAINSTEAM MEDIA: Ignorance on Parade)
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To: real saxophonist

That sounds good. Just got to try and find the onions now.
Any excuse for a trip up the smoke. :)


29 posted on 01/04/2015 6:19:14 AM PST by moose07 (The Camels have reached Radiator Springs; Luigi knows what tyres they need.)
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To: okie01

Thanks so much for the note on Noonday onions. I knew about the tomatoes in Jacksonville, but not the Noonday onions. I hear that Tyler is known for it’s Aparagus.... hahaha I just crack myself up.

I love that part of Texas... good people... well except for the inmates in Rusk.


30 posted on 01/04/2015 6:25:06 AM PST by Rodamala
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To: moose07

The recipe on the clay tablet was written by a lady called ‘The Babylonian Chef’. She was an ancestor of Julia Child (The French Chef).


31 posted on 01/04/2015 6:41:33 AM PST by ExCTCitizen (I'm ExCTCitizen and I approve this reply. If it does offend Libs, I'm NOT sorry...)
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To: ExCTCitizen

Hmmmm, impressed.!
Your Cuneiform reading has come on in leaps and bounds ,Grasshopper.
:)


32 posted on 01/04/2015 7:15:37 AM PST by moose07 (The Camels have reached Radiator Springs; Luigi knows what tyres they need.)
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To: moose07

Thanks..unless it was Emeril Lagrasse’s an ester... I think I read ‘Bang’ and ‘Its not Carriage Science’ (to paraphrase Mr.Lagrasse famous saying about cooking).


33 posted on 01/04/2015 7:42:12 AM PST by ExCTCitizen (I'm ExCTCitizen and I approve this reply. If it does offend Libs, I'm NOT sorry...)
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To: Rodamala

Yeah, and they’ve only got three showing on the wall, some renegade centurion would leap out and run ya through! ;’)


34 posted on 01/04/2015 7:45:02 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: real saxophonist
you know, George, that's an onion
35 posted on 01/04/2015 7:55:00 AM PST by samtheman
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To: SunkenCiv

FDA to shut them down for not displaying calorie and nutrition data on their menu in 3...2...1...


36 posted on 01/04/2015 8:05:54 AM PST by Rodamala
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To: Vaquero; moose07

I hear this guy makes a wicked onion soup.

37 posted on 01/04/2015 8:09:29 AM PST by Rodamala
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To: Rodamala; Vaquero
French onion soup : Delicious the first time around, shame about the repeats.
38 posted on 01/04/2015 8:30:10 AM PST by moose07 (The Camels have reached Radiator Springs; Luigi knows what tyres they need.)
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To: okie01

Here in Ohio we get Tennessee Tomatoes very early - they are the first of the season at Buehler’s.


39 posted on 01/04/2015 8:48:23 AM PST by smalltownslick
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To: smalltownslick
Oooo I Love Onions
40 posted on 01/04/2015 9:03:35 AM PST by null and void (The aggregate effect of competitive capitalism is indistinguishable from magic)
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