Sweet Onions and Calçots

Onions have a special meaning in Languedoc. They are grown and eaten in huge quantities, and villages such as Citou and Lézignan in the Hérault have their own varieties. One of the two settlements bearing the name of Lézignan is actually called Lézignan-la-Cèbe (Cèbe being a Frenchification of the Occitan ceba, onion). In the Gard, a wedding was not complete unless the brothers and sisters of the bride and groom ate raw onions, to ensure that they would meet their sweethearts in turn. The symbolic onion also meant that the marriage would be a happy and long one.