VIDALIA ONIONS

THE HISTORY of this vegetable is special not just because it is a distinct hybrid of onion, the yellow granex, but because by growing that variety in thirteen specific counties, in that particular soil (sulfurous and sandy), and in that climate (warm and mild), hand-harvested around the town of Vidalia, in southern Georgia, Vidalia onions have become famous for their sweet flavor. Vidalia isn’t the only place in the country that can grow sweet onions, but folks down there paid attention; they worked hard and gave their onion value. I think I like the story of Vidalias most because I believe in celebrating a sense of place.