Vidalia Onion Fig Sauce

Stonewall Kitchen Vidalia Onion Fig Sauce

Stonewall Kitchen's Vidalia Onion Fig Sauce is a dark grilling sauce in which sweet Vidalia onions, apple, and fig are simmered together. Balsamic vinegar and a hint of curry provide a counterpoint, turning all that sweetness into something savory.

Vidalia Onion Fig Sauce is a fruity grilling sauce from Stonewall Kitchen in York, Maine, intended for duck breast, game, and dark meats. Sugar, apple, and fig form the base, complemented by Vidalia onions, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and orange.

Dark, fruity, sweet, and savory all at once

The fig provides the jammy, almost heavy fruitiness, while the apple underneath keeps it bright and restores acidity to the sauce.

The Vidalia contributes a sweetness you would hardly expect from a vegetable, while balsamic and apple cider vinegar provide balance. Soy sauce and a touch of curry lay a savory foundation beneath, distinguishing the sauce from a simple compote.

It flows more easily than a barbecue sauce, coating the meat in a glossy veil rather than covering it up. It has a dark brown color, and the very scent from the opened jar conjures images of pans with slowly braised vegetables. If you warm it up briefly, it becomes even thinner and easier to spread.

For duck breast, game, and cheese

Robust, dark meat is its natural habitat, as fruity accompaniments have always paired well there. The apple, listed third on the ingredients list, is the secret helper that few would expect.

For duck breast and game birds, venison, lamb, or a dark beef roast, a spoonful on the side is perfect. If you brush it onto the roast in the final minutes, it glazes into a fruity, shiny finish without burning.

On a cheese board, it meets bold blue and mountain cheeses; in the autumn, the same sweetness suits roasted pumpkin, and it adds a festive touch to a simple pork tenderloin. For something smokier and lighter, try the Smoky Peach Whiskey Sauce, and browse the rest of our selection in the Grill and BBQ Sauces collection.

The Vidalia onion and its low-sulfur soil

The Vidalia onion is named after the city of the same name in the US state of Georgia, where it has been grown since the 1930s and where only onions grown there may carry that name.

The soil there contains unusually low levels of sulfur, and because sulfur compounds are responsible for pungency, this variety is mild and truly sweet. You can eat a Vidalia in slices raw without tearing up, which is exactly why it serves as the foundation for this sweet sauce.

Stonewall Kitchen builds upon this. The bulb's mild sweetness meets the dark fruitiness of the fig, and what would quickly become sharp and pungent without the right soil remains round and deep here.

Warm for duck breast, cold for cheese

On an autumn evening, it sits beside a rose-roasted duck breast, and the kitchen smells of onions, fruit, and rendered fat. Outside it gets dark early; inside, the meal lasts accordingly longer.

A spoonful of warm sauce from Stonewall Kitchen on the meat gives a Sunday roast a festive twist. It works just as well cold, served with a slice of aged cheese and a glass of bold red wine. Once opened, the jar from Stonewall Kitchen will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator.