Onion Cry No More

So my brother in law has been back in town this past week (hence the silent blog, we have been very busy scurrying about). He has been living in London for a year and will be there for at least another year. That's right, phrases like "chip chip cheerio", "ello mate", "I live in a flat", "bloody ell", and "lets get pissed" are quickly becoming part of his vocabulary. All of which we imitate and make fun of relentlessly of course.

Unlike most bachelors, Yacine actually likes to cook and learn new cooking skills. It is one of my most favorite things about having him to visit. He has even taken a few cooking classes in Jolly 'Ol. One of the little tidbits that he brought back to teach me was how to cut an onion without crying. I don't really use onions, unless they are well cooked in a soup or something, mostly because raw onions taste disgusting, but this was a very good piece of cooking advice non the less. You will usually find me holding a few matches in between my teeth, which only works about half the time. No more!

So here is what I learned. It is actually the base of the onion that holds most of the amino acid sulfoxides. This is the enzyme that makes you cry when released into the air. Avoid the base.

To avoid the base, make the cuts into the onion but do not go all the way from end to end. Start by making cuts going towards the base, but stopping about an inch or so shy of the base. Cut from the top layer all the way through. See picture below to help clarify:

Next make a few horizontal cuts. Again stop cutting a few inches before the base. Lastly, cut the onion on the last axis. You will be left with your diced pieces. P.S. Those are my brother-in-laws way too short finger nails. It's a problem, but hopefully one that a little Internet humiliation will cure.

You will be left with a bunch of dice onions for your soup, pasta, etc, and the core of the onion.

...and no tears! Okay, the picture does look like there is one tear welling up, but in real life, there wasn't. :)

I hope this little tidbit helps you as much as it helped me!

Until next time...