The Roscoff Onion is a culinary treasure hailing from the coastal town of Roscoff in Brittany, France. Renowned for its subtle sweetness and distinct pink hue, this onion variety has graced the tables of gourmands and chefs alike for centuries.

We can't overlook the indispensable role onions play in French cooking, especially in the iconic Soup L’Onion, a beloved classic that epitomizes the heartwarming essence of French comfort cuisine.

But what about the indispensable role they’ve played in French culture? Well, the Onion Johnny is a great example of how important the simple, eye tearing, vegetable the onion is. It might be a staple in many recipes and cuisines around the world but to French culture it’s iconic.

Onion Johnnies are onion farmers from the Breton region of France. Traditionally they were farmers who travelled on bikes selling their onions door to door in the UK, especially in Wales. In many places in the UK, the onion Johnny was the only contact an English person would have with a French person.

Dressed in a striped Breton shirt which is famous around the world as a blue and white striped shirt as well as a beret. They’d often be portrayed riding bicycles that have onions or garlic hanging from them in strings or braids. The largest onion would take pride of place at the end of these braids and is referred to as penn kapiten – the Captain

They became so popular in the UK that the image of this blue and white stripped-shirted, red beret-wearing man with an onion reef wrapped around his neck was a stereotypical image of the French portrayed in the UK.

Henri Ollivier is said to have been the first onion Johnny after a successful first trip in 1828. Henri faced with a three-month road journey to Paris to sell his onions thought it would be quicker to just sail to Plymouth instead and try his luck with the English.

Onion johnnies in the future found that selling their onions to the English was more profitable than selling to the French. They would bring their harvest to the UK across the English Channel in July and store them in rented barns.

Then they would sell their harvest door to door throughout the UK and return home around December or January. At the time they could have sold their produce in Paris but the roads and the railways were so bad in the 19th century that crossing the channel was a shorter and easier trip.

Life was still hard for the Onion Johnnies, who would leave their homes and their families for months to live in a country where the lifestyle was totally different. They were usually housed in the warehouses where the onions were stocked, so their skins became impregnated with the smell, which made socializing outside their own circle very difficult.

There was also the weather to contend with: the onions often rotted in the humid climate, and when the Channel was rough, entire cargoes could end up at the bottom of the sea, often taking the lives of onion sellers, too.

Wales was a popular destination for the onion johnnies as they were all Breton-speakers. Breton is a Brythonic language related to Welsh and Cornish and the Johnnies tended to find the Welsh easier to speak with than the English.

Johnnies would cross the channel on ferries or small sailing ships and steamers. This crossing could at times be quite hazardous and in 1905 just off the coast of Saint-Malo the steamer SS Hilda in thick fog and snow on her return journey from South Hampton dashed onto rocks and sank. Of the 105 on board 99 perished including 70 johnnies on board who lost their lives.

The 1920s was considered the golden age for the onion Johnnie. In 1929 there were over 9,000 tonnes of onions imported from France to the UK and sold through around 1400 onion johnnies.

But this peak was followed by an extreme low due to the Great Depression and the devaluation of the pound in the early 30s. Trade suddenly fell and in 1934 it was reported that there were less than 400 people now importing onions to the UK and overall there were under 3,000 tonnes that year.

Then in WWII onions became amongst other goods subject to import restrictions and were obliged by the UK government to be traded through a single company.

By the ’70s the number of johnnies had dropped to 160 who were trading just over a thousand tonnes of onions and then by the turn of the century in the 2000’s this number had gone down to just 20 johnnies.

In 2005 Jean Le Roux brought some chefs and onion lovers in London to tears as he said aurvoir and became the last onion Johnnie selling onions in London.

Now in 2022, the Johnnies association had only 7 members and only 2 of those made the trip across the channel that year. Brexit and the decline in the pound and also the covid pandemic have been factors in this latest decline.

The main onion for the onion johnnies was the Roscoff Onion. Roscoff onions have been protected under the French Appellation D’Origine Controlled (AOC) designation since the 19th of October 2009.

Roscoff is a town and region on the north coast of Brittany. There are over 3,000 inhabitants that are known as Roscovites. The name Roscoff comes from the Breton language word ros meaning promontory, and from goff which means blacksmith.

Roscoff onions are actually pink onion that was imported from Portugal in the 16th century. The pink ocular of the hue is due to the seaweed-fed soil of the region in which they’re grown.

Lovers of the onions say that they smell fruity, have a crisp texture, and are very juicy with intense and complex aromas. Some say they are sweet and slightly spicy.  Culinary one of the best uses for the roscoff onion is for salads. The Roscoff onion can be used as a vegetable, side dish, or as a condiment and can be eaten raw or cooked.

Roscoff onions are prized by many of the world’s best French chefs. In particular, Raymond Blanc says that it’s the best onion for the making of onion soup.

Every year there’s a two-day festival the fete de L’oignon (onion festival) held in the summer in August. There’s dancing, music and of course, food all with onion taking pride of place.

People see the image of the onion Johnnie around the world now but particularly in the UK as the typical image of a Frenchman. Often in marketing photos and souvenir merchandise in the Brittany region, the Onion Johnnie figure will take pride in place.

Many of the onion-sellers were called Yann, a common Breton name which is the French equivalent of Jean and the English equivalent of John. The British soon took to calling them “Onion Johnnies.” The Johnnies didn’t mind and happily adopted their new English nickname.

There’s even an Onion Johnnie museum at 48 Rue Brizeux, Roscoff. The Maison des Johnnies et de l”oignon de Roscoff opened in 2004 and is a celebration of all things Onions in Roscoff and France particularly the Onion Johnny.

Today, with a revived interest in locally grown produce, Roscoff’s onions have taken their place back on the list of France’s much-loved culinary traditions in my opinion and so the men in striped shirts who once sold them are now also due a revival perhaps.

Life of the Onion Johnnies has inspired many musical artists in France. The Group Tonnerre de Brest wrote a song Les Johnnies, Tri Yann sang Vivre Johnny, vivre and the EDF trio sang Onion Johnny.

Fun fact. There’s a house in Roscoff on Place Lacaze Buthiers that has a gargoyle depicting an Onion Johnny with a string of onions on it.