Cipolla dorata di Parma

History

The “cipolla dorata” (or golden onion) was brought to Parma by a seed salesman from Pavia in 1896. It has been written that “the farmers outside of the city, were taken by the incredible productivity, flavor and taste of the onion, and then quickly substituted it for the old local variety that was characterized as a big, flat bulb, with a dark skin that sprouted easily and was hard to store.” The golden onion was first sold abroad in 1900. Still today, about half of the onions grown in Parma are of the cipolla dorata variety.  Now, its cultivation has been reduced, even if it now grown outside Parma along the Via Emilia to the foothills between the Taro and Enza rivers.