South Texas’ love affair with the sweet onion had its origin in 1898 when seed onions from Bermuda were first planted commercially near Cotulla in La Salle County. By the early 1920’s onion farming, using seed onions imported from the Canary Islands, was thriving. When production began faltering during that decade and into the 1930’s due to the worsening quality of the Canary Islands seed onion, local growers began to look elsewhere for their seed.

Adversity breeds creativity. In 1933, poor production led to the establishment of a local effort to breed onions suited to South Texas growing conditions. Eventually that effort grew into a cooperative breeding program involving the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. In 1952, that program developed the Granex, a yellow, Bermuda-type hybrid. The Granex variety is the parent of many sweet, mild onions known around the world, including the Vidalia.

Texan onion breeders are part of a long history of human involvement with Allium cepa, a member of the Liliaceae Family. Traces of onion have been found by archeologists in Bronze Age settlements dated to around 5,000 B.C. Cultivation probably occurred later, and some written proof of this exists in modern day Iraq, where ancient Mesopotamian cuneiform inscriptions from 2400 B.C. refer to city governors misusing temple property for onion and cucumber patches.

Although onions are often thought of as peasant food in cultures around the world, they were also prized by ancient Greeks and Egyptians.  Alexander the Great is said to have fed his men onions to make them strong and courageous. The Egyptian King Ramses IV was buried in 1160 B.C. with onion bulbs in his eye sockets, and many ancient Egyptian kings went to the afterlife with plenty of onions in their tombs. This was because the onion was thought to represent eternal life, with its spherical shape and concentric layers.

Onions have a strong, pungent and sulfury flavor. As an onion plant grows, it takes in sulfur from the soil. The chemical compounds formed by the sulfur are stored in cells and released by enzymes that are triggered into action when an onion is cut or chewed. The volatile chemicals that escape are the source of the onion’s distinctive tendency to cause tearing in the eyes of anyone nearby. Chilling an onion for 30 minutes before slicing it will reduce tearing. Leaving the root on will also help, as the root has the densest concentration of sulphuric compounds. And, keep in mind that the sweet mild spring varieties usually have less than half of the sulfurous compounds of the fall varieties.

Onion plants store their energy for the coming season in their bulbous leaf bases. That energy is stored as fructose sugars, which are responsible for the marvelous carmelization that occurs when onions are sauteed.

Come explore the many varieties of onions available at the Harlingen Farmers Market, every Saturday from 3 – 4:30 p.m., 712 N. 77 Sunshine Strip in the courtyard at El Mercado Mall.