Spring onions and bulbs
Botanical name: Allium cepa
As for all bulbous plants, also for Onions, and especially for certain varieties, it is possible to use "Bulbilli" instead of seeds, that is, those Bulbs, obtained from seeds on spring crops specially sown dense.
These bulbs, extirpated when they have a diameter of just under 2 cm, ventilated at an appropriate temperature (4 - 8° C) so that they do not germinate, are planted (in the same way as for transplanting seedlings in seedbed) from October to March, to obtain an early production.
The onion as the protagonist of the garden
The onion is a bulbous plant of the Liliaceae family. Being a biennial plant, its life cycle can be interrupted at one year and destined for daily consumption.
The onion is also part of the field of garden bulbs, there are many varieties, starting from the red one from Tropea, the red one from Acquaviva, the red onion from Certaldo, the Cannara onion, the Atolla onion, most common in Campania , the Borrettana onion, widely used in Emilia and Romagna, and many more species.
But it is also used for therapeutic purposes, due to the properties attributed to it both by science and by the traditions handed down by popular medicine (something not recognized by science). Tropea's red onion is grown in the Vibo Valentia area and in the province of Cosenza and along the Tyrrhenian belt, it has been cultivated in these areas for more than 200 years, it was imported by the Phoenicians and has contributed, with its production, for over 100 years, to the economic development of the area.
Pliny the Elder refers to the red onion of Tropea, as a remedy to cure a series of physical ailments and ailments.
The onion is also used as a slimming cure, proposed as a Purifying herbal tea to be consumed every evening.
The main use of onion is for food, it is mainly used in the preparation of red sauces, it cannot be missing in the preparation of an excellent Genoese sauce, which together with carrot and celery is created a mince from fry, before adding the meat and starting cooking.
The preparation of the herbal tea consists in cutting the onion into slices, putting it in a saucepan and bringing the water to a boil, cooking everything for fifteen minutes, when the onion slices become transparent, turn off the heat, undoubtedly you do not need to add salt, but the mixture can be thickened with a spoonful of flour to calm the appetite. Keep in mind that it is not the onion that makes you lose weight, but the herbal tea, so it is important to drink the contents and not just eat the onion.