Weekday Mailbag

A question came in last night as to why Alsatian onion tart is considered a wintertime dish as opposed to a summer one, since onions are harvested in the summer months. The answer is, while I don’t know much about onions, I believe that it’s only the sweeter varieties (like Vidalia onions from Georgia) that are harvested that early. Other varieties, I believe, are harvested at different times of year. However regardless of when they’re taken in, when properly stored an onion — at least if it’s of a firmer and drier variety — will keep for months. This is undoubtedly what makes onion tart a winter dish…because it’s a food that would have been available, fresh, at that time of year.