{"id":1040,"date":"2026-09-22T04:32:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T04:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bellavitafoods.com\/blog\/?p=1040"},"modified":"2026-09-22T04:33:04","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T04:33:04","slug":"what-makes-cipolline-borettane-italys-most-underrated-onion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bellavitafoods.com\/blog\/fruit-and-vegetable\/what-makes-cipolline-borettane-italys-most-underrated-onion\/","title":{"rendered":"What Makes Cipolline Borettane Italy’s Most Underrated Onion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you ask most people outside Italy to name an Italian onion, they will say Tropea. <\/strong>And fair enough \u2014 the Red Tropea<\/strong> is extraordinary and deserves every bit of attention it gets. But there is another Italian onion that quietly does something completely different, and almost nobody outside of Italy talks about it seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cipolline Borettane.<\/strong> Small, flat, golden, and so naturally sweet it practically caramelises<\/strong> itself before you have done anything interesting. This is the onion that Italian home cooks reach for when they want something the Tropea simply cannot do and it is genuinely about time the rest of the world caught up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What They Actually Are<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Cipolline Borettane<\/strong> are small, flat onions, almost disc-shaped<\/strong> <\/em>\u2014 with pale straw-yellow skin<\/strong> <\/em>and a mild, sweet flavour<\/strong><\/em> that sets them apart from every round onion you have ever cooked with. The name comes from Boretto<\/strong>, a small town in the province of Reggio Emilia in the Po Valley<\/strong>, where they have been grown for centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are not a new variety or a food trend. They are a deeply rooted part of northern Italian<\/strong> agricultural life that has survived precisely because they do something nothing else does quite as well. That kind of staying power usually means something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Flavour Is the Whole Point<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

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The Cipolline Borettane<\/strong> has a noticeably higher natural sugar<\/strong> content than most standard onion varieties. This is not subtle \u2014 you feel it the moment they hit a warm pan. They caramelise faster, deeper, and more evenly than round onions, turning jammy<\/strong> and golden<\/strong> without any added sugar or especially long cooking time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their flat shape also helps more than you might expect. Maximum surface contact with the pan means every part of the onion is touching the heat at once. The result is even browning, consistent texture, and a depth of flavour <\/em><\/strong>that standard onions take considerably longer to reach \u2014 if they get there at all. It is a small design detail that makes a real practical difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why They Are Different From Other Small Onions<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

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Pearl onions<\/strong> and shallots<\/strong> often get mentioned in the same breath as Cipolline Borettane. The comparison does not really hold up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n