Hi.
Wondering if NZ produces White Onions commercially? I tried to contact the Onion association no response.
The ones I have seen (usually at xmas time) are USA (Hawaii Usually), but I'd like to source locally if possible and more times of the year (I prefer them in almost every instance to brown/yellow onions).

I buy them from N. World they seem to have them in stock most of the time, I bought a couple this morning but they are $4.99 kg as opposed to about $1.50 for the brown ones. They were peeled today as the red onions often are.

May I ask which New World? I have asked mine and they say they are entirely supplier dependant and that supplier only supplies a couple of months a year.

I shop at New World Kumeu (Auckland), I sometimes shop at Albany too so I will keep a look out. I imagine places like Farro or up our way Boric's would have them too. I take it that your NW didn't have them last week when mine did - I would have thought they would have a central supply to all the stores rather than local but who knows?

I bought some a few weeks ago and wouldn't do so again. Several of them appeared sound on the outside but were rotting from the inside. Two which were sound I used and they were very mild (almost absent) in added flavour to the finished dish. Jamie Oliver's Friday night Meatloaf...which I highly recommend!

I don't think they are really a cooking onion, they're more like the Vidalia onion which is very very mild and is used raw, in salads or barely cooked. I love white onion but I have never used it in cooked dishes - too expensive for a start On the issue of being iffy inside, maybe its the weather .... I've had quite a few brown onions in the last few weeks have a few petals going rotten about halfway down. They look fine on the outside then when you cut them open they are starting to go bad.

I love onions and I wish we had more selection in vege shops and supermarkets. A couple of years ago I went to some length to find the little raw onions about the size of a large marble to use in Boeuf Bourguignon and Coq au Vin. Overseas they are sold like frozen peas in the supermarket but here we can only get them pickled in jars. There is a fellow in the south island who grows all sort of varieties including those little ones and his wife reads this forum but unfortunately they only do smallish amounts and sell them at farmers markets and they have quite a short shelf life apparently. Last year my son in law grew some for us but we only got enough for one decent dish each. Like heirloom tomatoes they are a beautiful product and I would love to see more variety available and I would pay good money for the privilege.

Interesting, Danube, thank you for all that above. I didn't have any other onions on hand when I made Jamie's Meatloaf - I tend to be an impulsive cook - I didn't have fennel or mozzarella either, but improvised and it was so good that I will do it again and stick more faithfully to his recipe. I feel as you do about variety and would love to see more exciting potatoes available as well as onions. I mostly avoid nightshade vegetables so when I decide to indulge I want them to be really delicious.

Stephanie39 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
...would love to see
> more exciting potatoes available as well as
> onions. I mostly avoid nightshade vegetables so
> when I decide to indulge I want them to be really
> delicious.

I agree. We grew our own potatoes for the first time last year, Pink Fir Apple, Jersey Benne and Agria, and I was astounded by how delicious they were when fresh from the ground. I normally eat only very small quantities of potato and not very often, but these were so delicious that we were having them every day (and I put on weight...). If you have any space it's well worth while planting some, even if it's just one plant in a bucket.

I am envious TPANDAV. Pink Fir Apple were on my mind when I wrote my post. Where, I wonder, does the name come from? I've only read about them in my Gourmet Traveller mags. Pine cone shape perhaps? Many years ago when I lived in Wellington I used to make an annual pilgrimage to Foxton to buy Foxton Reds. Very knobbly and full of eyes but wonderful. Dense waxy yellow flesh that was utterly delicious.

I haven’t been able to find out where the name comes from, other than the obvious link to the pinkish skin. It’s a French variety from the mid 19th century.

I had previously only eaten them in Australia, but a couple of years ago we found some for sale at the Tokoroa Community Gardens, snapped them up and kept a few to plant. They are just gorgeous.

The potatoes sound lovely, if only we could buy them, it seems we all need to get into the garden! Networkn I bought my vegetables from a local veg shop Kumeu Gardens today and they had white onions for $3.99 a kilo the same price as they had the red. (better quality than the NW ones too) I asked the owner if they were available all year round and she said they're not always at the markets but mostly and they try to keep them in all the time if they can.

Thanks, my local NW eventually managed to get some in, but as someone else mentioned, they aren't very high quality, I expect because of the time of the year. I assume they are US ones, and I thought they were a year round crop but it doesn't seem like it.

I read an interesting tip today about storing onions. Use a leg cut from an old, clean pair of panty-hose. Drop an onion in and tie a knot above it. Do this with all your onions, tying a knot between them. Hang it in a light, airy place and when you need an onion, cut the bottom one off just below the knot. Keeping onions in the dark encourages them to sprout.

I think it was in the NZ Herald, an article called 'Throw Away Your Fruit Bowl'.

Now that’s a good idea.

we have a square black plastic bin on wheels, which sits in the pantry, under the bottom shelf on the floor. One for onions and the other for potatoes. George has drilled small holes in the lid for ventilation

Danube, are the onions you mention pickling onions? They have them often at Fruit World in Auckland (Greenlane) where I shop. I actually made pickled onions from them this year, and have used them before in the dishes you mention. What I would really love to see are shallots at a more reasonable price. They have a lovely flavour, but $10 a kilo is too much for me.

We grew shallots for the first time a couple of years ago (always grown onions and spring onions but not shallots....) and were surprised at how easy they are to grow and the good amount you get, the lovely flavour, etc, and now grow them each year and use them kind of like small onions......delicious in the oven.....

J1, I am full of admiration for your gardening expertise, but sadly it's not a solution for me as I reliably kill anything green.

CarolynC it sounds as if I could do with you here as I have an awful lot of green weeds in my vegetable garden at the moment.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/05/2018 03:14AM by Dawn.