Vidalia Onions & taste-alikes
 

I love a good sweet onion. Onions will sweeten up with cooking - I don't know why. But, I love using Vidalias in some recipes because sometimes you want a raw onion but need a milder flavor - like in a chicken salad. I wish Vidalias were available all year long, but they are seasonal and usually gone from the shelves of my local stores by fall. The past couple winters I have noticed other onions labeled as "sweet" - one was from Texas, another was from Peru. Both were milder than a generic yellow onion, but not as mild as a Vidalia. I know I'm deprived living in a small town. Does anyone know where I can order sweet onions in the winter? And can anyone identify a good comemrcially available Vidalia relish? It was the secret ingredient in a friend's potato salad. I'd love to be able to duplicate it.

Maui onions are available year 'round from www.takehomemaui.com along with other delicious Maui products. Maui No Ka Oi! Aloha!

You can freeze them, they won't have the same texture, but the flavor is still great.

How can I freeze my onions?

According to the USDA to freeze onions you need to wash, peel and chop onions. Water blanch 2?1/2 minutes; cool and drain. You may also freeze onions without blanching. Tray pack or day pack with headspace use in cooked products. Will keep 3?6 months.

I love a nice sweet onion myself, but I have never seen a fresh Vidalia in Texas. About all I've ever seen is some that are bottled/canned. This is probably because the high water content does not allow for an extended shelf-life and for traveling well.

Most of the growing season for onions in Texas (spring mostly) we can get a great supply of 1015's from the valley. This usually dries up when summer takes hold, approximately June or so. I've heard that they are supposed to be as mild as a Vidalia, but I don't have any personal experience to compare the two.

From then on, we get sweet onions from Colorado and some from Peru (it's winter there). These are usually slightly more hot than the 1015's, but very usable.

Regardless of variety of the onion, however, if you pick one that is flat rather than round, you'll get a sweeter onion in the process.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

I've noticed that. Why do you supppose that is?

I do chop and freeze onions and bell peppers. I do it for economy when I spot red or yellow bell peppers on sale, I grab a bunch for the freezer. I don't have much luck using thawed onions and peppers raw. I find I have to cook them as the texture suffers in the freezer.

kaukau, I've had Maui onions and like them. That's a good backup plan. I'd imagine the season is 12 months long. Rather pricy, though. I know I haven't paid $10 a pound in the store.

Not sure, really. I was just told that by someone who cooks for a living and took it at face value. Hasn't failed me thus far though. ;)

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

If you love Vidalia onions, try one of these babies:

http://sweetonions.org/

Thanks for this link; I just love sweet onions. Now I get to import from Maui! :)

Thanks for the link. It made me wonder about the history of Walla Walla. All those Italian last names!

I though I read somewhere that Vidalia growers had perfected some storage process so their onions could be available year round? Or perhaps it wasn't year round, but a much more extended window of availability?

Here in NC, they seem to be available a good part of the year.

Some info I found:

Vidalia onions are harvested from late April through mid-June. Retailers usually have fresh Vidalia onions available through mid-July. Controlled atmosphere storage research makes Vidalia onions available through December. Farmers plant Vidalia onions from September through February.

Vidalias

The local school children sell Vidalias in 10 pound sacks as a fund raiser. I store them in panty hose. Drop a Vidalia in the toe, tie a knot, and keep putting them in and tying knots, until you run out of panty hose or Vidalias. Then hang them in an area where the air can circulate around them. They stay well when stored like this, but I always have them eaten before fall, so I don't know how long they could stay this way.

Beware of sweet Onions
 

I gave a friend some Maui Onions. He ate them daily for a week or more and his wife (who has just started talking to us again) said he farted the entire time and for days afterwards! You know, I sort of enjoyed the quiet. Think I may buy him another Maui onion or two!!! :D

They don't have HEB in Austin, I have seen Vidalia in SA at HEB.

LOL. Yes. HEB is pretty ubiquitous here in Texas, especially in Austin and San Antonio. But, I've never seen a real, live Vidalia at any of the ones in Austin and I shop at five different ones depending upon what I'm looking for. I did see the bottled/canned ones at HEB, but that was it.

Maybe they are so popular that they kept all the fresh ones in San Antonio. ;)

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

HEB seems to have three types of stores (besides Central Market). High end, normal, and low. There is a high end by my house which carries it, not all the time though. I have also seen a lot of other vegies and fruits that I have never heard of or seen before. I am a foody.

I even bought brussells sprouts on a stalk. It was 3 feet long and looked like a christmass tree. Not as bitter as off stock. My kids were eating it raw.