Dry Those Tears!

I cry EVERY time I cut up an onion. And the worst part is not being able to rub your eyes, because there is onion juice all over your hands!! However, I was watching The Food Network this weekend (of course!)- and I saw the best tip! I tried it today and it really worked. (Up until the last few slices- but I think it was user error.)

So, onions have that hairy root tip that holds the whole thing together. I have always cut both ends off to make a flat surface to stand it up on, and then cut it in half and go from there (because that's how Giada does it, duh!). But Chef Ann Burrell says that if you leave the knobby root attached to the onion, and cut it up like that it will not make you cry. Just slice the onion half all the way to the tip, then slice it through the middle, and then finish slicing it perpendicularly- is that a word? (Makes it easier to handle, too.)

She didn't go into the food science behind it- I wish she had! I bet that's where all of the aromatics (that's an actual organic chemistry thing- they happen to produce an "aroma" so that's their classification!) are- close to the root- so if you leave it in tact they don't leech out?

I will try this again next time I chop an onion- which will be soon. Onion goes in everything! By the way- use yellow onions instead of white; they have way more antioxidants!