21 June: Onions

The vegetable celebrated by the French Revolutionary Calendar today is the onion. You'll know your onions after reading these ten facts.

1. People have been eating onions for over 7,000 years. Traces of onions have been found in Bronze Age settlements.
2. The ancient Egyptians even worshipped them. To the Egyptians, the concentric rings and spherical shape of onions were symbols of eternity. Not only that, but the scent of onions was thought to bring the dead back to life. Traces of onions were found in the eye sockets of Ramesses IV.
3. During the middle ages, onions were used as currency. This practice continued in Siberia up until the middle of the 18th century.
4. An onion is about 89% Water, 9% carbohydrates (including 4% sugar and 2% dietary fibre), 1% protein, and hardly any fat. There are 40 Calories in a 100g (3.5 oz) serving of onion.
5. Pliny the Elder of the first century CE wrote about the medicinal use of onions. He claimed they could heal oral sores, toothaches, Dog bites, lumbago, and even dysentery. There used to be a belief that placing a cut onion beside your bed would prevent illness, because the onion would absorb Bacteria from the air. It's not true. Onion skins do, however, contain a compound called quercetin, which may help alleviate high blood pressure.
6. Onions are also said to be an aphrodisiac. Hindu texts on the art of lovemaking mention onions. In Egypt, celibate priests were forbidden to eat onions in case it made them randy! It's also the reason behind the French tradition of serving onion soup to newlyweds the morning after their wedding.
7. According to English folklore, you can tell by the thickness of the skin of your onion crop whether it will be a hard winter or not. The thicker the skin, the worse the winter will be.
8. The nation which produces the most onions is China, while the biggest consumer is Libya, where the average person eats 66.8lb of onions a year.
9. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest onion ever grown weighed 10 lbs 14 oz. It was grown by V. Throup of Silsden, England.
10. So why does chopping onions make you cry? The onion has a defence mechanism whereby when its cells are damaged, it releases enzymes which react with amino acids to produce sulphur compounds which are released into the air. When this irritant reaches your eyes, the eye's defence mechanism, that of producing tears to flush out irritants, kicks in. Chefs claim that chopping onions under cold running water or splashing white vinegar over the chopping board before you start can help.

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