Organic California Granulated Onion

Description

The onion, Allium cepa, is also known as the common onion or bulb onion, and is used as a vegetable and a spice. Onion is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium, another member of the Allium genus is garlic. Dehydrated Onion is a spice most often used only when the fresh alternative is unavailable. Because they’re dehydrated, they have a long shelf life (we recommend about 12 -18 months).

In 2012 (the last reporting year), annual per capita consumption of dehydrated onions in the US was 1.4 lbs per person while total onion consumption was just over 21 lbs per person. Nearly all the onions consumed in this country are fresh (93%) which is remarkably different than garlic, which is primarily consumed by Americans in a dehydrated form (75%).

Onions are called Basal (Arabic), Cong tou or Yang cong  (Mandarin), Oignon (French), Zwiebel (German), Pyaj, Piyaj, Pyaz, Piyaz or Ganda (Hindi), Tamanegi or Wakegi (Japanese), Cebola  (Portuguese), Luk or Luk repchatyj  (Russian) and Cebolla (Spanish).

Onion History

Names of onion in Romance languages (including French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish) derive from late Latin cepa "onion" and examples include Italian cipolla, Provençal cebo and Romanian ceapă. The Bulgarian name kromid is borrowed from Greek kremmidi, which has a long history in Greek language. It was used by the Greek poet Homer, who made multiple references in his epic poem, The Iiad, of the Greek heroes consuming onions and leeks more than 3000 years ago.

The exact origin of onions is still unknown, but food historians believe that they are likely indigenous to prehistoric Afghanistan or Persia. Onions are believed to be one of the world's oldest crops. On the Great Pyramid of Giza, inside the largest and oldest of the 3 great pyramids built in Egypt around 2500 BC, there is an inscription telling of how onions, garlic and radishes were given to the slaves building the pyramid.

Both onion and garlic are featured prominently in a collection of Babylonian recipes from Mesopotamia. Babylon (located about 60 miles south of Baghdad in modern-day Iraq) was the ancient city that stood for nearly two thousand years as the center of Mesopotamian civilization. The Babylonian recipes date back to 1750 BC and are now kept at the University of Yale and are known as "Yale Recipes". The 35 recipes written on two clay tablets show that onion and relatives (garlic and leek) were characteristic flavors of ancient Babylon and appear in almost every recipe, usually in mashed form to be stirred into the foods.

Bulb onions were brought to this country by the first settlers to North America, they found the Native Americans were already fond of using wild onions either raw or in a variety of cooked dishes. According to diaries kept by the Pilgrims, bulb onions were one of the first things planted, as early as 1648, once land was cleared for farming.  

Today, dehydrated onion powder, granulated onions and onion flakes are very popular in other parts of the world most notably in Germany, Japan, Libya, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Russia and Spain.

Libyans consume more onions than any other country in the world with an astounding average per capita consumption of 66.8 pounds.

Onion Cultivation

Onions are tolerant of cool weather, but can also thrive in hotter temperatures and are widely cultivated throughout North America, with the largest producing states in this country being California, Washington, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and Georgia. Sweeter varieties of onions tend to be grown in the southern states, with the more pungent tasting onions grown in the north. California harvests 75% of all domestic onions cultivated for use as dehydrated onions in the US.

The organic onions that are used in our Organic Granulated Onion are grown in California.

During the drying process, dehydrated onions go from an initial moisture content of around 86% down to approximately to 7%. It takes 9 lbs of fresh onions to make 1 lb of dehydrated onions. Granulated Onion is made from ground, dehydrated onions, typically the pungent bulb onion variety, and possesses a strong odor.

Food Snobs

Many home cooks and self-proclaimed "lovers of food" look down on dehydrated onion as a shortcut for lazy cooks, or as a cheap alternative to “the real thing”. We get that, and whenever possible we almost always choose fresh onions in our meals - yellow, white, red, and even shallots (a cousin of both garlic and onions). While fresh onions are tough to beat, we often find that granulated onion brings together other flavors and provides a subtle completeness that while harder to put your finger on, does make the dish taste better.

How to Cook with Granulated Onion

We like to use Organic Granulated Onion when we don’t have fresh onions around and we can adjust the flavor a bit by adding differing amounts of the dried onion. Sometimes these can also be used to give your dish a bit more assertive flavor.

Granulated Onions are perfect when you are looking for desirable onion flavor, but you don’t need the texture. Also ideal to use when time is of the essence, as the flavor is so good nobody but you will know the difference (unless you tell them). Onion granules are easier to measure than Onion Flakes, and they don’t cake like Onion Powder. Because of this, we like to use them in rubs and seasoning blends.

Use granulated onions instead of onion powder if your recipe calls for more bulk and thickness. Granulated onions are often used in packaged meats, canned and frozen foods. While granulated onions can be added directly to most foods, it is best to rehydrate them before adding to dishes that don't have sufficient amounts of liquid in them, or if you’re adding later in the cooking process.

To rehydrate you can place them in a small bowl, cover the granulated onions with luke warm water and let them sit for about 15 minutes, then drain off the excess water. You can also mix them with just enough cool water to make a smooth paste which can then be adding to the dish towards the end of cooking.

Dehydrated Onion Conversions

If you're looking to convert a recipe from fresh onions to dehydrated onions go with 1 small onion = 1 teaspoon onion powder or granulated onion = 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes.

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