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 ...
WOW! I made me cry!
WOWSERS!
Note to self: Need to buy another 5Kg bag of Onions afore I run out.
Almost as sad as hearing someone say they had their childhood traumatized by donuts or bacon.
How many sugar covered Doughnuts can you eat without licking your lips? :)
Except both donuts and bacon are essential food groups, necessary for a happy and healthy life, whilst onions serve no legitimate purpose whatsoever.
We once made our pasta carbonara without the onions to accommodate him. Never again. The onions stay in and he can just pick them out.
The entire onion family delivers great flavor.
Lies. Onions are far more essential and you can use them in far more foods than donuts or bacon. :-D
Onions have a good deal of Vitamin C, enough to prevent scurvy. There is speculation on what nickname the Royal Navy would have received had they discovered this before they found out about limes. People might have called them...French...
A number of the Ships at Trafalgar where captured French ships.
They no-doubt reeked of Onions and Garlic.
I have Libya beat.
Really, the whole of Libya? *He says ,reaching for Gas Mask*
:)
Happy munching.
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