Those of you of a certain vintage - like me - will well remember the ‘Onion Johnnies’, the Breton farmers and vendors who travelled across to the UK from Brittany to sell their strings of onions slung over their bicycles. Place the bulbs in a single layer on a wire drying rack or use slatted crates placed upside-down, so air can circulate beneath them. Although one plant per module is effective, growing three to four per module saves space, although the resulting bulbs may be smaller. Although they have plenty of flavour, these pink onions are much sweeter than your standard white or yellow onions. After completing college I moved away from Rochdale for a full time roll at one of Cheshire’s most talked about Hotel restaurants The Stanneylands Hotel.

Onion Johnny - Wikipedia

Sailors first imported pink onions from Portugal in the 1600s but they only flourished in the climate and soil of Brittany. A Protected designation of origin (PDO) application was submitted to the European Commission in 2010.This tradition is still kept alive nowadays by a dozen Johnnies — you might spot one in Breton stripes! As onion foliage casts little shade, weeds grow readily and can soon swamp the crop, which would reduce the plants’ growth and subsequent bulb size. This traditional harvesting method ensures the onions keep all of their taste and flavour qualities. The Johnnies who regularly visited Wales in the nineteenth century became known as Sioni Winwns and subsequently as Onion Johnnies in English.

Onions | RHS Vegetables How to grow Onions | RHS Vegetables

They are even AOC (appellation d’origine controlee) approved - just like a good French wine or cheese.It all started in 1647, when Capuchin friar Cyril brought back the seeds from Lisbon to plant them in his monastery’s gardens in Roscoff, at a time when the town relied mostly on its maritime trade. They had been delivered only a few days previous by a modern day Onion Johnny, across from Brittany, and were strung in the traditional way, like on the bicycles.

Roscoff | Brittany tourism Roscoff | Brittany tourism

I am very lucky to be in the position I am and the drive to constantly improve our training and links to the next generation of young budding hospitality chefs.The golden age for Johnnies across the UK was during the 1920s; in 1929 nearly 1,400 Johnnies exported more than 9,000 tonnes of onions to the UK. My grandma’s philosophy for cooking even on a shoe string budget was always to use fresh and seasonal ingredients either home grown or bought from the market. The onions they sold where from the Roscoff area of Brittany, which has a certain kind of soil which gives the onions a pink hue and a sweetness that means they are great raw in salads as well as cooked.

ROSCOFF Onions Cooked in Beef Dripping, Whipped Parmesan ROSCOFF Onions Cooked in Beef Dripping, Whipped Parmesan

The onions were sold door to door in Britain by men who came from Brittany, known as " Onion Johnnies". College was the first time I really excelled in something and gave me the opportunity to laugh at the teachers who said I would never make something of my life! Tous les cookies qui peuvent ne pas être particulièrement nécessaires au fonctionnement du site Web et qui sont utilisés spécifiquement pour collecter des données personnelles des utilisateurs via des analyses, des publicités et d\'autres contenus intégrés sont appelés cookies non nécessaires. You’ll love the cheerful atmosphere of this forward-thinking region that’s switched on and full of creativity. Peel and cut the rest of the onions then, in a large frying pan, fry the onion cut side down until charred.

Close proximity to the sea and the mild oceanic temperate climate of the northern Finistère coast provide the best conditions for growing this particular onion. In the aftermath of World War II, in common with other goods onions were subject to import restrictions and were obliged to be traded through a single company.