Yellow
The all-rounder of the sauté.
Onion
"The quiet foundation of half the kitchen."
Aromatic BaseVersatileGlobal Cuisine
Usage Tips
If you want it milder when raw, slice it thinly and let it sit in cold water for a few minutes. It will lose some harshness without becoming flat.
For properly softened onion, cook it over medium-low heat with patience. Do not chase colour at first: aim for tenderness, translucency and sweetness.
If you want to caramelise it, do not rush. Deep sweetness comes from time, evaporation and gentle cooking, not from adding too much sugar.
"Without onion there is no base; without base there is no kitchen."
Curiosities
Onions make you cry because cutting them releases sulfur-containing volatile compounds that react with the moisture in your eyes.
Its flavour changes radically through cooking: it can go from sharp and crisp to sweet, silky and almost jammy.
Yellow, white or red: each type has its own balance of intensity, sweetness and texture.
Value per 100g
Value per 100g
Light but essential
40kcal
9g
1g
0g
Carbohydrates9g
Proteins1g
Fats0g
Fiber2g
Glycemic Index
10
Flavour with very few calories
It is very low in fat and calories, yet it brings fiber, sulfur compounds and antioxidants, making it a humble vegetable with enormous culinary impact.
Layers, sweetness and character
Types of Onion
This is the most versatile onion for daily cooking. It offers a solid balance of strength, sweetness and caramelising potential. It works especially well in sofritos, stews, stocks, roasts and long sauces.
Red
Colour, freshness and character.
It is often more visually striking and a little friendlier in raw preparations. It works beautifully in salads, pickles, tacos, sandwiches and dishes where colour contrast matters as much as flavour.
White
Clean, juicy and direct.
It has a juicy texture and a more direct profile, making it very useful in fresh sauces, quick stir-fries and cuisines where a cleaner, brighter onion note is desired. It also fits well in Mexican preparations and ceviches.
A bulb built for the season and for storage
From Field to Pantry
Onions are grown through clearly marked cycles. During vegetative development the plant forms leaves and structure; later, under the right light and temperature conditions, the bulb begins to swell underground, storing reserves and flavour.
Harvest usually comes when the tops fall over and dry out. Then comes curing: a key process that allows the outer layers to close, form a protective skin and help the bulb keep for weeks or even months without spoiling easily.
That is one reason onions have always been so valuable: they do not just provide flavour, they also store well, travel well and help sustain everyday cooking with a simple pantry.
Bulb Formation
Outer Curing
Long Storage
Discover its history
A History in Layers
A journey through time discovering the roots and evolution of this ingredient.
1
From Asia to the World
The onion is one of humanity's oldest cultivated crops. It is believed to have been domesticated in western or central Asia and, thanks to its hardiness, storage capacity and easy transport, it spread early through trade and agricultural routes until it became a truly universal ingredient.
2
The Symbol of the Nile
In ancient Egypt, its concentric layers turned it into a symbol of eternity and renewal. It appears in tombs and funerary offerings, and it was part of the everyday diet of workers and farmers because of its strong flavour and excellent keeping qualities.
3
Rome and Popular Cooking
Greeks and Romans consolidated its cultivation throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. Onion entered everyday cooking as a humble, affordable and reliable vegetable, able to enrich broths, stews, breads, sauces and pottages even when little else was available.
4
The Queen of the Sofrito
Today it remains a core ingredient in kitchens around the world. In Spain it supports sofritos, stews and omelettes; in France it builds stocks and soups; in Asia it appears in curries, stir-fries and aromatic bases. Few vegetables can transform a dish so deeply from the bottom up.
The onion is one of humanity's oldest cultivated crops. It is believed to have been domesticated in western or central Asia and, thanks to its hardiness, storage capacity and easy transport, it spread early through trade and agricultural routes until it became a truly universal ingredient.
In ancient Egypt, its concentric layers turned it into a symbol of eternity and renewal. It appears in tombs and funerary offerings, and it was part of the everyday diet of workers and farmers because of its strong flavour and excellent keeping qualities.
Greeks and Romans consolidated its cultivation throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. Onion entered everyday cooking as a humble, affordable and reliable vegetable, able to enrich broths, stews, breads, sauces and pottages even when little else was available.
Today it remains a core ingredient in kitchens around the world. In Spain it supports sofritos, stews and omelettes; in France it builds stocks and soups; in Asia it appears in curries, stir-fries and aromatic bases. Few vegetables can transform a dish so deeply from the bottom up.
