What do tearless onions taste like

I wrote a previous blog post about Happy Chop Tearless onions being released in Australia.  As mentioned in my previous post, this is not a GMO and is not an F1 hybrid, it is a stable variety that is meant to breed true to type.  

There are two things I wanted to know about tearless onions: are tearless onions really tearless, and how do tearless onions taste.  

I have since been able to buy some tearless onions, eat them, and thought I would write a review of them.  Unlike the previous post, I took all of these photos.  

What do tearless onions taste like

Are tearless onions really tearless?

I can confirm that the tearless onions were tearless.  I cut them, I handled the cut pieces, I ate some raw as well as ate some cooked, and they were indeed tearless.  Even rubbing a little onion juice below my eye did not cause any irritation.  They are completely tearless.  

Tearless brown onion

What do tearless onions taste like? 

When eaten raw, tearless onions taste very sweet, and a little oniony.  My kids ate some raw, and kept coming back for more.  They were crunchy, almost like eating a mildly onion tasting apple.  They were really enjoyable raw.  I plan to grow some so my kids can eat them raw - never thought I would say that about an onion.  

I fried some tearless onion to see what they were like.  My house smelled like cooking onion, the texture was the same as any onion, all of which is good.  The taste was mild and not very oniony when they were cooked.  They were still quite sweet at this stage, but the onion taste was very mild.  

I have not grown any yet, so cannot comment on how the leaves taste.  I am guessing that they would be sweet and milder than onion chives.  I need to grow some out before I can know for sure.  

Tearless onion

Onion base growing roots

As you can see in the photos above, I cut the base off the onion we ate, and am attempting to sprout it.  So far the roots are growing well, and the leaves have not done much growing yet.  Often, sprouting the base of an onion will flower and set seed.  This variety is said to breed true to type as it is a stable variety and not an F1, so I hope to grow more of these rather than having to buy them.  

So, now you know what tearless onions taste like.  What fun!