This is a sponsored post. While I was compensated financially, all opinions are my own.
I’m back with more Spanish Sweet Onion love, but before I get to describing just how utterly easy and delicious this tart is (just look at it) here are some neat things about onions that you may not know. It’s monday! Let’s learn things!
The onion is an ancient vegetable thought to have come from Central Asia and has been grown for over 5000 years in Egypt, 2000 years in Italy and more widely in Europe during the Middle Ages. That’s a really long time! The onion has collected a wealth of stories, myths, symbols, culinary and medicinal uses that connects us to a broader view of human activities and attitudes. Because relatives of the onion are found all over the world, it is likely that the onion has been a common ingredient of the cuisines of the world from the time before humans wrote, perhaps even before they spoke. In its long and robust life, the onion has found many champions. Greek physicians around 60 AD, prescribed onions for eating, as well as for medicinal reasons. Richard II, King of England, had many recipes using onions in his 1390 “cookbook.” Some ancient cultures raised the onion to symbolic heights. The Romans considered the concentric rings of cut onions and globe shape of uncut ones symbolic of eternity. The Egyptians painted or carved onion shapes on monuments and in tombs to depict their use as funeral offerings. And, lastly, Greek and Phoenician sailors carried onions on board their ships - the high content of Vitamin C came in handy when preventing scurvy. Cool, hey? Lots to think about the next time you pick up a bag of Idaho-Eastern Oregon Spanish Sweet Onions at the market!
