Vivacious vidalias

For years I never understood the hype around vidalia onions...an onion is an onion....but with my new found appreciation for these marvelous flavor enhancers, I've learned otherwise.

My first encounter with the vidalia was 7 years ago in New Bern...I bought a bottle of vidalia onion dressing from the Tryon Palace gift shop and it was delicious - on the bottle there was a notation about vidalia onions and the state of Georgia, but it just seemed like marketing to me.  This spring I bought a vidalia onion hot sauce from Carolina Cider Company and that was good as well - a little sweet for spice aficionados but good nonetheless.

My daughter has declared Eritrean food to be her favorite, with Indian a second runner up.  I made timtimo Tuesday and qulwah Saturday.  My husband chopped the onions just like Abay does and I cut up half a chuck roast (about 2 lbs). Although substantially meatier than what would traditionally be served, the qulwah was absolutely delicious.  Qulwah is generally prepared similarly to a stir fry but I simmered it a bit and it was scrumptious...the veggies on the side weren't bad either - I sauteed onions, a bit of tomato paste, and added vegetables normandy, seasoned, and added a bit of turmeric for color. I realized that the vidalia onion is more than the onion du jour, it is a must have staple.

This budding obsession with vidalia onions has the potential to become problematic.  Vidalias are a seasonal item that are only grown in a particular region - like Basmati rice, the climate and soil give it distinguishable attributes.  That's almost funny when you think of it - seasonality and locality have almost been ameriolated from our food system.