Red Onion Marmalade from Medicina

The Medicine onion is registered with the collective mark of the Chamber of Commerce. It is cultivated on a total area of 700/800 hectares, distributed in 6 municipalities in the province of Bologna. (Medicina, Castel Guelfo, Castel San Pietro Terme, Ozzano Emilia, Dozza and Imola). Almost 10% of the national production is attributable to the brand Cipolla di Medicina, which has about 150 agricultural producers with 500 employees. The expected production in this typical area is estimated at 35/40,000 tons, divided as follows: Golden (55%), White (35%), Red (10%). The Golden is certainly the most famous, is used for frying or fried, the sweetest and most delicate Red is used to flavor salads or to accompany boiled meats and cheeses, the White being more crisp is used for soups, omelettes or baked. The harvest runs from June to September.

The Red Onion Marmalade of Medicina is prepared using the Red Onion of Medicina; this raw material of excellence, combined with a long and skilful craftsmanship process, creates a true delicacy of yesteryear. It has a dark red colour tending towards violet, with a penetrating and persistent aroma and a sweet-and-sour but very delicate taste.

The reputation of the 'Medicina onion' dates back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries when its cultivation increasingly took hold as an open-field crop in the suitable soils of the Medicina area following the crisis in hemp farming, a symbolic crop in the Bologna area. From the second half of the 1930s, onion cultivation took a decisive step forward, spreading and progressively concentrating in the plains of the province of Bologna, the epicentre of which became the municipality of Medicina. As early as the 1960s, the marketplace of Medicina became the reference market for setting production prices for the entire province of Bologna, other areas of Emilia-Romagna and neighbouring regions. Almost all the traders and brokers in the sector flocked to the two weekly markets, so to give this market greater professionalism and prestige, a special 'Sala Contrattazioni' was set up. Inside this room, during the two weekly markets on Thursday and Sunday, all product transactions took place and prices were recorded by the Bologna Chamber of Commerce. In the same years, producers in the area formed two cooperatives that accounted for 70 per cent of production. The notoriety and distinction of the onion in question has roots that are lost in time. The first evidence of cultivation in this area dates back to the end of the 13th century. Later, in the 16th century, Pier Crescenzi with his work 'Ruralium commodorum libri duodecim' and Baldassarre Pisanelli in his valuable 'Trattato della natura de' cibi et del bere' praised its characteristics in cooking and medicinal properties. A decisive testimony of the traditional cultivation system is reported by Vincenzo Tanara in his famous 1664 treatise 'L'economia del cittadino in villa' (The Economy of the Citizen in the Villa); in this work, the experiences of the peasants of the Bolognese plains are reported, describing the agronomic techniques of the time, recalling how the sowing of this vegetable could be carried out at the end of August or in February and March, a calendar that is still followed today. In the same period, Pius V's secret cook, the Bolognese Bartolomeo Scappi, recorded nine onion recipes in his treatise on gastronomy. In addition to its undisputed reputation, the 'Cipolla di Medicina' boasts particular characteristics linked to both soil and climate factors and the centuries-old experience of farmers in the specific area. In 2004, in view of its growing importance in the town's economy, the Consorzio della Cipolla di Medicina was founded to promote it.

Characteristics

The color is dark red tending to purple, with a penetrating and persistent scent; a bittersweet taste but very delicate.

Pairings

It goes perfectly with cheeses, preferably aged, enhancing the taste without overpowering the aroma; it is also used in combinations with various types of tasty meat such as pork, game or game.

Red onion, sugar, lemon juice.