Cipolla Rossa di Tropea — Red Onion Preparations of the Tyrrhenian Coast

Tropea, Vibo Valentia province, Calabria — the cipolla rossa di Tropea has been cultivated on the narrow Tyrrhenian coastal strip between Nicotera and Pizzo since ancient times; Greek and Roman sources reference the Calabrian coast's sweet onions. IGP status granted in 2008.

Cipolla rossa di Tropea IGP is the sweet, brilliantly crimson onion of the Calabrian Tyrrhenian coast — grown in the marine-influenced sandy soils between Nicotera and Capo Vaticano, harvested from June through September. Unlike standard red onions, the Tropea onion is remarkably sweet (low sulphur content from the coastal soil) and can be eaten raw without the harsh bitterness of inland onions. The primary preparations: consumed raw in salads with just olive oil and salt; made into cipolle sott'olio (pickled in olive oil with peperoncino); made into a slow-cooked condiment (marmellata di cipolla di Tropea — onion jam) for cheese and cured meats; or used raw atop bruschetta. The raw eating of sweet onion is the most radical demonstration of the onion's quality.

Cipolla rossa di Tropea raw, sliced thin and dressed with olive oil and salt, is one of the simplest pleasures in Italian cooking — the onion is brilliant crimson, almost translucent, and astonishingly sweet. There is almost no sulphur bite; eating a slice raw produces only sweetness and a light, clean onion flavour. It is the demonstration that terroir applies to vegetables as much as wine.