Whats about onions.

With few exceptions onion has become an essential part of cooking in almost every culture across the globe.Members of the onion family have been cultivated ever since people started to form communities and grow their own food.There is no country where this indispensable vegetable in one form or the other is not grown.

Onions belong to the allium family,which contains more than 300 species. The pungent onion smell is caused by the presence of allicins ,chemicals that include volatile sulphur compounds,which are released by the action of enzymes when any part of the plant is cut or bruised.It is these compounds that make the eyes water when an allium is chopped and which gives onion that are used for cooking their characteristic flavour and bite.Its believed that researchers in New Zealand are working on a tear-less onion.

From the earliest records it appears that onions have always been regarded as important foodstuffs and imbued with religious and symbolic meanings.Onions can be found in important tombs and paintings.The relationship of the onion family to people throughout history is marked by contradictory attitudes.While they are revered and praised and popular in dishes around the world they are also frowned upon and rejected by many cultures and social groups.In ancient India only the lowly castes ate onions,the honourable castes stayed away from it.Despite the beliefs that the devil in onions present in their fiery bite and effect on the palate would incite men to lust and carnal desires,people fell prey to the temptation and everyone irrespective of castes fell for this wonderful thing,onion. And fighting the long religious and social taboos the onions have successfully established a niche in the gastro world.The growing love affair that the world had with Indian curries especially after World War11,did escalate the demand for onions.

However onions and their relations are often taken for granted and tend to be used simply as the basis for whatever savory dish we are preparing.One should celebrate the onion family not just as kitchen staples,but as star attractions in their own right.

While for most onions are just accompaniments and basic ingredient for curries we lose out on the availability of onions in different varieties ,colours, and sizes .Some are better suited to roasting, others to frying some are delicious when cooked while others are better for chopping slicing and eating raw.There are yellow onions, red onions, white onions, cipolla onions, shallots ,grelots, pickling onions,potato onions etc..There are many ways of cooking onions all of which will produce very different results both in the flavor of the onion and in the dish in which it is used.frying onions can be quick frying or slow frying,sweating ,caramelizing,paste cooking,roasting,pickling.Doubt if any of us gave a thought to how versatile our onion can be.

Other than they being kitchen mates,there goes some useful old wives tales too...
It soothes a dry and painful cough ,a spoonful of honey mixed wth a little crushed onion.
It was once recommended that a roasted onion be applied to the affected ear for earaches.
Believed to cure baldness, rub the sap of a cut onion mixed with honey on the bald patch until the skin reddens.
A cut onion is said to attract all infection from the air into it and will kill airborne infection.
..............Whether one loves the melting sweet taste of slow-cooked onions or whether one deteste the piquant flavor it,onions have come a long way.....so cheers.....