Blue bow - a mysterious guest from Crimea

For several centuries, the sweet blue onion has held the proud title of one of the main attractions of the South Coast. This semi-legendary vegetable was first bred relatively recently: it was born only at the beginning of the nineteenth century as a result of the crossing of purple flat varieties that naturally inhabit the Portuguese island of Madeira and sweet varieties from sultry Spain. Since then, literally every person who has visited the South Coast of Crimea at least once seeks to bring from their vacation not only souvenirs, positive impressions and memorable photos, but also several bundles of Yalta onions. However, despite the fact that the price of blue onions is getting higher and higher every year, only a small percentage of the total volume of vegetables that are issued by cunning sellers for real Yalta onions may have a similar name.

This state of affairs is due to the fact that a real Yalta onion in the best sense of the word does not grow throughout the South Coast, but only in a few villages, in particular, in Opolznevoe, Zaprudny, Maly Mayak, and Pushkino. Naturally, just the bulbs can be grown anywhere with a suitable temperature regime, but only a vegetable from the above-mentioned places has a characteristic sweet taste without the slightest admixture of pungency or bitterness. Why this happens is difficult to explain.

To get a real sweet Yalta onion, you need to know a few rules. So, you need to buy it only from farmers or in the markets, while bulbs with thick and juicy scales, painted in a slightly pinkish shade, should be chosen.