Onions from Fuentes del Ebro: The gentle onion that won’t make you cry.

The secret behind the flavor of these onions, according to the Aragon Center for Agricultural Technology (CITA, in Spanish) is, in large part, the composition of the soil they’re grown in. The earth here is low in sulfur which results in levels of pyruvic acid below mmols per liter. By comparison, other onions contain more than 10 mmols. These sulfuric compounds are the culprits that make onions spicy, cause your eyes to water when cutting them and that can even cause a bit of indigestion.

This onion is perfect for tossing in salads because of its sweetness as well as its crunchy texture and the moistness of its inner layers. They’re best served with tomatoes, black olives and, of course, extra-virgen olive oil.