Andora Belendina Onion

The Belendina is a very large and sweet red onion, shaped like a flask, which can reach up to a kilo in weight. In the plain around Andora, along the border between the provinces of Savona and Imperia in Liguria, the climate and alluvial soil of the Merula Valley have created the ideal conditions for its cultivation.
Little is known about its origins. According to popular legend, it came from the sea, brought at the start of the 19th century by Settimio Denegri, a young sailor-turned-farmer from a Turinese family that owned a large stretch of land in Andora.
Gradually the onion spread to all the local vegetable plots, but in the 1960s its cultivation began to decline, in part because many fields were swallowed up by urbanization.
The onion was only saved thanks to a farmer, Trentino Bellenda, known as Trentin, born in 1926, who began cultivating it, producing seeds and distributing them to other farmers in Andora. The name of the variety is a tribute to his dedication.
These days various producers are able to autonomously reproduce the seed. The onions are sown at the start of August and planted out in the fields between February and March. After the harvest, between May and August, the bulbs are left in the field to dry for a week, then stored in dry, well-ventilated rooms.
Sweet but piquant, with a less-intense fragrance than the more celebrated Tropea onion, the Belendina is used in many recipes from along the Ligurian coast. The variety is very versatile, and can be roasted, grilled, baked or battered and fried. It is also excellent as a topping for focaccia or raw, either in salads or simply dressed with extra-virgin olive oil and salt.

Season

They are harvested between May and August, first as green onions and then as ripe onion bulbs