Höri-Bülle

The Höri-Bülle

The Höri-Bülle is a red onion (Bülle is the name commonly used in the local Alemannic dialect for onion) that is traditionally grown on the Höri peninsula on Lake Constance . Höri-Bülle has been registered with the EU as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) since March 11, 2014 .

description

Appearance

Hearing sleeve with a typical bulbous shape, halved and quartered

The outer skin has a rather light reddish-brown color, which, unlike dark red varieties, does not rub off when cut. In the cross-section you can see light red separating layers between the individual onion skins. The typical flat, bulbous shape of the Höri-Bülle is particularly suitable for braiding traditional onion braids . Their slightly softer consistency makes them sensitive to pressure and requires special care when harvesting traditionally. This also limits the shelf life.

taste

The taste of the Höri-Bülle is mainly characterized by its delicate aroma and mild, unobtrusive sharpness. This makes it suitable for raw consumption, making it an ingredient in the sausage salad popular in the region . Their spiciness unfolds during cooking without losing the characteristic red color.

Cultivation

Growing area

The cultivation of the Höri-Bülle is limited to the eponymous region, the Höri peninsula . This is located at the western end of Lake Constance between the German Radolfzell and the Swiss Stein am Rhein . The main focus of onion cultivation is the municipality of Moos with the districts of Moos, Iznang, Bankholzen and Weiler. The mild climate in the immediate vicinity of Lake Constance , which acts as a heat store, and the dark bog soil favor vegetable cultivation, which still clearly shapes the landscape here.

Cultivation method

The Höri-Bülle is only propagated through its own offspring. Seeds are not commercially available. In the vegetable farming families it is mostly the older generations who devote themselves to the labor-intensive breeding and care of the seeds over the year. After the harvest in August, when sorting the onions, the best and most beautiful onions are kept aside for breeding. In the middle of March these bulbs, which are already sprouting, are planted; four each around a stick, on which the long shoots with the flower umbels are later tied up.

If seeds have formed on the green umbels in summer, they are cut off and dried. The ripe, deep black colored seeds are rubbed out and washed by hand. The chaff and "bad" seeds float on top, good seeds sink. This process is repeated several times. Then they are dried for several days. Sifting sorts the seeds by size. The seeds can be kept for a maximum of two to three years, although the quality deteriorates over time. The seeds are sown in March. Weeds must be weeded three to four times during growth. Since the onions are relatively sensitive to pressure, they cannot be harvested mechanically from August onwards. Only the soil under the onions is loosened. The harvest is done by hand. The roots and withered stems are cut off, the tubers cleaned and spread out to dry until they are sold. The Höri-Bülle can only be stored until March / April, which is a disadvantage compared to commercially available varieties.

Additions

In the years 1856–1890 the area under cultivation for the entire municipality of Moos for the Höri-Bülle was 7–16 hectares. That corresponded to an average cultivation amount of 30 to 65 tons. The proportion of onion cultivation area in the total cultivation area for herbs, vegetables and onions was between 45% and 65%. The cultivation of onions (Bülle) was particularly important until the 1970s: the Höri-Bülle was the characteristic agricultural product for the Vordere Höri. The current cultivation area is an estimated 3 to 4 hectares.

The strong mechanization in agriculture, especially in downstream processing in retail and food production, such as B. Sorting systems, peeling and cutting machines have led to a sharp decline in the cultivation of Höri-Bülle in the last 10 to 15 years. Their oval shape is difficult or impossible to process for these machines. Due to poor storage life and more complex cultivation (seed extraction, hand harvest), the amount of cultivation is steadily decreasing. In August 2008, the Höri-Bülle was accepted as a passenger into the Ark of Taste at Slow Food Germany in order to make a contribution to the preservation of this special onion variety.

Sales markets

Historic sales markets

For centuries, the main sales markets were the onion or boll markets in September in the Swiss cities of Stein and Schaffhausen on the Rhine and Rorschach on Lake Constance. The transport took place with covered wagons and on ships.

At the Schaffhausen onion market before 1912 in Gaienhofen am Untersee alone, 675 sacks, around 70 t, were loaded onto a Swiss steamship in the last days of August and transported to Schaffhausen. There the market price per hundredweight fell from 6 francs to 2.5 francs.

As a result of changed German-Swiss border and customs conditions on the Untersee and the Rhine, the Konstanz onion market has increasingly developed into a central collection and sales point for the onion farmers of the Höri, the island of Reichenau and the Konstanz growing area in Tägermoos (on Swiss soil ). The Böllemarkt traditionally took place in conjunction with the Konstanz Autumn Fair on the first Monday in September. Traders and bulk consumers bought the majority of the onion harvest there. The Höri farmers sold the remaining stocks in autumn and winter at the weekly markets in the towns of Radolfzell on Lake Constance and Singen (Hohentwiel) .

New sales markets

Hearing sleeves with a typical bulbous shape, bought in Iznang, Höri, Untersee

While in the past the focus was on sales in large quantities via the onion markets, today the majority is sold in small quantities via direct sales, weekly markets and gastronomy. You can also find Höri onions in the Black Forest and Württemberg, in Villingen , Tuttlingen , Rottweil and Ebingen . Butchers and restaurants are mostly buyers, although the yellow Palatinate and Zittauer and the white Italian onions have recently appeared as sharp competitors .

In the catering trade and with butchers, the Höri-Bülle is being replaced more and more by other types, which can be processed more quickly due to their size and are easier to store. When selling to retailers, the problem of EU standardization arises for the Höribauer: the flat, wide shape of the Höri-Bülle does not fit into the classifications of the standard, for which the diameter is decisive.

On the main road through the towns of Moos and Iznang there is a sale directly from the vegetable pavilion or from the vegetable shop. Some producers also send the Höri-Büllen.

Historical aspects

Vegetable and onion cultivation on the western part of Lake Constance goes back to the 8th century and is documented by the historians of the Reichenau monastery . The historian of Reichenau Abbey, Gallus Öheim von Radolfzell, reports that under the famous abbot Walahfrid Strabo (809-849) 50 subservient vine people from the then richau (now Swiss) town of Steckborn am Untersee to improve the meals for the monks of Reichenau in the monastery gardens there also had vegetables, namely “porrum” and “loch” (these are leek plants) and also “zibel” (onions), “bawen”, which means to plant. Accordingly, onion cultivation on the Untersee dates back to the 9th or 8th century.

Later, the independent farmers on the Höri grew onions as the main vegetable, which was sold in the onion markets in nearby Switzerland and in Konstanz in the autumn until the 1990s. For this purpose, the onions were transported to the respective cities on boats. Butchers and innkeepers bought their annual need for onions there, and stock management was also widespread in private households for a long time. At the same time, the weekly markets developed in the nearby towns of Radolfzell and Singen, which are still mainly supplied by the Höribauer farmers.

Traditional relations with the region

The special importance of the cultivation of the Bülle for the Höri peninsula was emphasized in 1976 by the establishment of the Bülle Festival in Moos as an annual event on the 1st Sunday of October. For this purpose, onion braids are braided from Höri-Bülle and partly mixed with yellow onions (Stuttgart giants) , whereby the flat shape of the Höri-Bülle is particularly suitable for plaiting. Mainly onion products are served: onion soup , cakes , dinnele and the like. In many areas of cultural life in the region, the relationship to the Bülle is still visible as a traditional value: The hamlet of Weiler, for example, has a guild of fools called “Büllebläri” (-bläri from blären = to cry). A sailing regatta for the Bülle Cup is held on the Untersee every year . The dialect word Bülle, regionally also Bölle, generally applies to onions in the Alemannic language area. The word certainly goes back to the Old High German “zwiebolle” and is certainly related to the late Latin “cepa”, from which the Italian “cipolla” originated.

Movies

Bülle-Fest on the Höri on YouTube

literature

Erwin Keller: Kleines Bülle Breviary . 2nd edition, 1996, municipality of Moos

Local history of the municipality of Moos, 1997

Hubert Neidhart: Stories and recipes from the Green Tree . 1st edition, 1998, Naturerbe Verlag, ISBN 3-931173-10-0

Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1465/2003 of August 19, 2003 amending Regulation (EC) No. 1508/2001 laying down the marketing standard for onions . In: Official Journal of the European Union . L, number 210, August 20, 2003, pp. 4-5.