Ode to Onions
"Knock Knock!!" "Who's there?"
"Onion". "Onion who?"
"Onion glad you booked into an Alma Plate cooking class?!"
Except that last time we cut onions in class while making Caramelised Onions Soup, everyone started crying! Onions really are powerful. If you can manage to get through the painful tears, onions make a wonderful addition to so many dishes.
Slow cooking of onions can turn them in to a sweet, sumptuous vegetable, with an almost dessert like quality. Onions are a foundation of Indian Curries, and many other world cuisines. We are using onions again this Saturday in our Curry and Chai class . Spots are still available - so if you are keen then find out more or book here.
The onion (Allium cepa) belongs to the lily family, like garlic. There are so many different types of onions - often denoted by their colour - brown, white, red, yellow, green. Globe onions are the round bulbous type pictured above. Chives, leeks and shallots are all different types and shapes of onion. Originating in Central Asia, onions are loved for both their culinary and medicinal uses.
Globe onions are best stored at room temperature, away from light (since light encourages them to sprout), and in a perforated container. Best not to store them with the potatoes though, as the gas exchange between these two veg will spoil the onions. The general rule is that the more pungent an onions is (like the yellow onions), the longer it will store, because the compounds that make it taste sharp also happen to be a natural preservative. Storage onions can last a good 3 months before getting soft or taking on new life as a sprout.
Green onions should be kept in the refrigerator, in a veggie comparment, where they should keep for about a week.
To help keep away the tears, you can chill onions for an hour before chopping, or invest in onion goggles. Or you can just tough it out - no pain no gain?
Good quality onions have lots of rings. Too much nitrogen during growth can result in dense bulbs with less rings. The onion pictured below has ample rings and is nice and juicy. It's a little mis-shapen - but we're not all perfect. It is also starting to want to sprout evidenced by the greening centre core.
Onions are a pantry staple. They last really well, so are great to pull out when the fridge and pantry are pretty bare and will jazz up any meal.
Photo Credit: The onions pictured above in this article were purchased from farmers at Northey Street Organic Market. Pictured below is a delicious Onion soup - you can find the recipe here.
Enjoy!
