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| Window #9 |
The Onion Man was back today! He always turns up in Hampstead around this time of year. The first year we were here, we saw a man on a bicycle dripping with strings of onions and thought perhaps he was some sort of carnival act. I don't remember if I bought any onions that first year, but I have bought a string or two of shallots, onions, and garlic every year since — at least every year that I see him when he passes through Hampstead. Wearing his beret and striped Breton shirt, he parks his bicycle near the Tube Station on Hampstead High Street or in front of the Chemist/Natural Food Store in South End Green. Every year he says he will be back in January, but I don't think I have ever seen him after Christmas.
This link to Wikipedia on Onion Johnny offers the whole historical-cultural story of the Breton onion trade.
Wikipedia claims there are very few Onion Johnnies, although the numbers are growing, so I feel blessed that we have one. My onion string looks a little sparse, so I might have to try to catch him and buy another. The shallots are especially good, big and fat and pink, so I bought two strings because recently I have been reading lots of recipes that include shallots.
Three cheers for traditional agriculture. . .
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