In Defense of Onions
It’s a real stinker. It’s thin outer peel clings to your hands; falls to the floor, and into open drawers Slicing into it makes your eyes burn and tears flow. It's sulphur content is responsible for the discomfort.
These are small problems compared the benefits. Onions are chock-full of nutrients yet low in calories. They are loaded witonionsh antioxidants, have anticancer compounds, and regulate blood sugar and lower blood pressure They also have antibacterial properties, boost digestive health, strengthen bones, and may help prevent osteoporosis. It challenges the old adage “an apple a day keeps he doctor away,” but who is willing to meet meet the challenge of eating an onion each day!
Onions have been around for a long time Medieval doctors used them to treat headaches, heart disease, and mouth sores.
Somewhere I read that Vidalia onions were discovered in Texas. Unable to find any more mention of Visalia’s and Texas, I decided it was a mistake...until I came across “The Legend of the Texas Sweet Onion.”
As the story goes, back in the 40s, the Bermuda Islands grew a well-liked onion. and were finding it difficult to meet the demand for its seed. And Texas farmers were struggling to meet the demand for this sweet onion.
In those days, the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station was using crossing techniques to improve various vegetables, but had neglected the onion, the main Texas crop, because it was difficult to cross.
In an attempt to meet the farmers’ demands, they contacted New Mexico's Director of its Experimental Station and found he had imported a high yielding variety from Spain from which he had selected a strain for New Mexico and named Bravo.
Texas tried this Bravo in a test field and when the neighbors saw the results they asked for all the available seeds.
Finally, after more ups and downs and more cross breeding, the Texas bred Granex was created and became famous world-wide under different names.
In 1952 a Georgia farmer bought Texas Granex plants for his farm and the Georgia Vidalia was created after being discovering in Texas. The Georgia Vidalia and the Texas Grannex are the same although Georgia claims theirs is better because of the low sulphur content of their soil. Because of this, the State has limited it’s counties qualified to grow and market Vidalia onions
Now that you know there are low-sulfur onions in the markets, pay a little extra and be a happier cook.
