Vidalia Onions and Creole Tomato

[Yvette]

Two fold question
1. Why are some Vidalia onions so hot, not in a good way, instead of sweet. Have they sat too long? How do you pick a good sweet one. I am tired of throwing away much to hot onions that I wanted to put in my salad.
When they are cooked, they are okay, but I remember the days of just eating them raw.

I have bought Texas Sweet, Vidalia, Peru Sweet and others, but I still run across this problem.

2. Is is me,or are the Creole's not as good as ever. I bought some this weekend at the Creole tomato fest. Put them in the widow to finish ripening. Still, no taste...bland, bland, bland. At $5.00 a pound, I just ended up tossing them too.

Bad week in the produce department for me.

On the other hand.....I went to Rouse's today, Vets store. They had a case of oyster and crimini mushrooms. $6.something a pound, only need a handful, cost me $1.19 and a beautiful supply of poblomo peppers. I am on a mission to make wild mushroom/poblomo/spicy shrimp over polenta this week. Got a combo of different recipe's, I usually just wing it. Hope it comes out good.

[Low-N-Slow]

1. Why are some Vidalia onions so hot, not in a good way, instead of sweet. Have they sat too long? How do you pick a good sweet one. I am tired of throwing away much to hot onions that I wanted to put in my salad.
When they are cooked, they are okay, but I remember the days of just eating them raw.

I have bought Texas Sweet, Vidalia, Peru Sweet and others, but I still run across this problem.

2. Is is me,or are the Creole's not as good as ever. I bought some this weekend at the Creole tomato fest. Put them in the widow to finish ripening. Still, no taste...bland, bland, bland. At $5.00 a pound, I just ended up tossing them too.

I've always heard that the flatter the onion, the sweeter it is supposed to be. I got some Vidalias at Rouse's the other day that I used in a salad with tomato, basil, kalamatas, feta and a Greek vinaigrette, and they were fine. Creole tomatoes are no longer my tomato of choice, either. Even letting them ripen further out on the counter doesn't seem to help, flavor-wise.

[Yvette]

Agree with the flatter ones...I did that. Still some were so hot. Ones I had tonight were great....bought flat ones today. I just want to know if there is another trick, thanks for responding.

Tomato of choice? I am dying for a really ripe delicious one. Heirlooms from Whole Foods are great, but not in my neighborhood.

Sometimes I decide to cook, sometimes not, so I prefer a close grocery I can go to on the spur of the moment.

[Mrs. Fury]

I have found that the cherry or grape tomatoes I grow are sweeter than any store bought. The creoles (even my Liuzza Farms grape creoles) are just not as good as last year. Guess I have to plant more next year. I only have one plant which does not produce nearly enough to feed us.

I agree that the flatter the onion the sweeter it is. I've had good vidalias lately.

[buzd]

Hornworms devastated what promised to be a better than usual tomato crop for me. However the cayennes are producing prodigiously, and the tabasco plant has about 50 peppers ripening right now. I have a few more yellow and orange bell peppers on the plants now, too.

I would love to know where to get some really excellent tomatoes - the farmer's market tomatoes have been pretty good so far.

[Isabella Maja]

I've been getting my tomatoes at the Farmer's Market.
Red, ripe & lush. Mmmmmm.

Yvette, when you get the tomatoes that are not ripe enough or to not your liking to eat raw, roasting them in the oven will bring out their sweetness. Nothing you don't already know, but just a reminder. Great topping for pizza, to add to beans, soups, etc. Ditto that for the onions too. Both are good on a sandwich or in a frittata.

I know it doesn'† solve your problem, but at least you wouldn't have to throw it out.

[Oyster]

Agree with all on the Creoles. I think they are currently very much sub-par to the Creoles of the old days. If you can recall, they used to be ugly, with splits all over the top. Now, hardly any are split. They are all beautiful. This was brought about over the course of the last 15-20 years, as grocers complained that they were too ugly to sell. LSU Ag Center then began working to make them "a better tasting/pretty tomato", and IMHO, screwed them up royally. Years ago, you would slice up a platter, and they would leave a huge puddle of water and seeds. Now, they have been made meatier, more tasteless, and alot less of the great tasting juices which gave them their great flavor. Look great in the market...taste compromised in the process.

Progress? Not in my book. I miss the old days of Creoles.

[edible complex]

it's all in the alluvial...I always liked Johnny Becnel's 'cause he has good dirt.
I found someone at the St. Martinville Farmer's Market yrs back selling creoles that tasted just like JB's. this guy worked for him and was able to start his crop from some of JB's vines. must have had good dirt down there too, as these were mighty fine tomatuh's.

I'm in the Ozarks right now, and their maters won't be happening until mid-July. hoping to get a preview sooner to see how they compare.

my summer salad is vidalia or 1015's, creoles, blue cheese, olive oil, balsamic and a little S&P or substitute the blue for buffalo mozz and add basil. ahhhh!

[The Bear]

The way to assure a sweet onion is not to buy Vidalia. I have never had a sweet one. I think 50% are grown somewhere else and labeled Vidalia. 40% may be grown in Vidalia county but by people that know nothing about farming just in it for the money. The rest are probably ok. To get a sweet onion is to find the biggest 1015 or Walla Walla you can find. The bigger the sweeter.

[NoNoNanette]

I picked up a bag of "Sweet MS" onions at Super Walmart in Picayune last week. Had never seen 'em before. Glad I took the chance... as sweet as could be... nibbled on slices with a salt shaker in hand.