Love and History from an Onion
By Caroline Vega, Foodie of All Trades, Guest Blogger
This is a no tissues necessary tale of an obscure onion saved from extinction less than 25 years ago that has sprouted such an interest, not only with myself, but has taken the southwest culinary scene by storm.
The onion has sent me on a journey to the far reaches of the Tohono O’odham reservation, high into the sacred Baboquivari Mountains, where few could ever visit, to the present, where Chef Claudio Urciuoli of Prado grilled I’itoi (pronounced e-etoy) Onions for my dinner.
How has an onion managed to captivate and enthrall you might ask?
Lets peel away some layers and learn more about its roots.
Its journey to the Southwest began in the late 1600’s when Jesuit missionaries coming from Spain shepherded the onion across the ocean. It adapted wonderfully to the arid environment and was soon a valuable food source and also used for medicinal and ceremonial purposes. The first harvest was completed on the soil rich “bajadas” or slopes of the Baboquivari Mountain. This mountain was considered the birthplace of the Hohokam people, the ancestors of today’s Tohono O’odham (The Desert People). I’itoi,or Elder Brother, was the creator of the desert people and still resides watching over his people high up in the mountain in a cave where few can ever visit.
The delcious I'itoi Onion
I first discovered the onion in the Native Seeds Search store, located on free-spirited 4Th Avenue in Tucson. This non-profit, along with prolific founder Gary Nabhan, have been dedicated to saving traditional native southwest crops from extinction since 1982. Their seed bank boasts over 1800 varieties of heirloom seeds, many which were on the verge of extinction. Gary personally carried away the first gift of I’itoi onions, which had been kept alive by just one Tohono O’odham woman who lived in the middle of the reservation. Since then, tens of thousands have been distributed to Native American communities and it is a favorite of backyard gardeners.
My cousin is Tohono O’odham and in 2002 he agreed to take me to visit the sacred cave of I’itoi and look for the onions. As we hiked up into the cliffs I looked furiously for onions, but to no avail. I resigned myself to having my mother grow them in her backyard and we enjoyed them in salsa and salads.
I moved to Phoenix a couple of years later and promptly forgot about them. But when I saw them on the menu at Zinc Bistro, their story instantly was brought forth from the recesses of my memory and I realized the onion had followed me. I could not forget that easily.
As the sun set today, I watched it warm the bands of color painted across Camelback Mountain. Cool water gurgled in the pretty mosaic tiled fountain at the Montelucia Resort. I was tucked inside Prado, an amazing Spanish restaurant where Chef Claudio Urciuoli applies his passion and mastery for “Slow Food.” A dish of grilled I’itoi Onions placed specially on the menu by Chef Claudio was prepared for me. My first bite of the onion gave me the vivid image of the land, soil and sky where it had grown; a taste of the monsoon rains and the dusty clay desert soil that blows across the land.
Glorious Super Food.
A taste of sunshine so bright and endless and of darkened skies before the rain falls. In essence I had come or perhaps the onion, had come full circle.
Arriving with Spanish in the 17th century, saved from extinction by one woman’s passion and now served at the exquisite Spanish influenced Prado, it reminded me of the sacred symbol to the Tohono O’Odham – the Man in the Maze. I’itoi represents the man and the winding circular maze represents life. But the center of the maze does not represent the end. The I’itoi onion has lived on in spite of it all and now it thrives. It has reached the center of the maze and been reborn.
The winding maze of life
Modern Cuisine
Saved from extinction
Full circle
The desert surrounds us here,humble in its cloak of earthen brown and it does not always freely give away it secrets. The desert beckons though, eager to share if you seek.
