French Recipes, Podcast Episodes and France Travel Tips!
Onion Johnny
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.
A to Z of French Herbs - Chives
Chives in French are spelled Ciboulette and are also known as Cive. Their scientific name is Allium schoenoprasum and are a species of flowering plant in the Amaryllidaceae family which are a group of perennial bulbous plants that interestingly are bisexual apparently, how a plant is bisexual I have no idea but hey each to their own. You go chives!
Chive in English derives from the French word Cive from ceps the Latin word for onion. In the middle ages, the chive was known as a rush leek. In 80 A.D. by Marcus Valerius Martialis in his "Epigrams". “He who bears chives on his breath, Is safe from being kissed to death”.
The Romans believed chives could relieve the pain from sunburn and even a sore throat. They believed eating chives could decrease blood pressure and act as a diuretic. Dutch farmers in the 19th century fed their cattle chives to give the milk a different taste and Romanians used chives in fortune telling and hanging dried chives around the house to ward off disease and evil.