Monday, February 2, 2009

Blushing Rule #9: Raw onions must be soaked in milk

Onions. If they are going to be served raw for any reason, even if they are sweet onions, must, must be soaked in milk for ten minutes, drained, and gently dried before serving. If you fail to remember to do this and you carelessly toss those onions into a salad or dip, you could seriously hurt someone. Someone... like the Hostess, who may never ever again eat another raw onion.

4 comments:

Toby Worthington said...

Quite right, Hostess.
Raw onions must be tamed, else they'll dominate in a most unwelcome way.
Marcella Hazan recommends several baths of ice water, Madhur Jaffrey gives the same advice, but is anyone listening? We still encounter those nasty sliced (in advance) onions reminiscent of tawdry salad bars.
Never heard of the milk bath until now, but if you say so, it must be followed.

Snooky doodle said...

didn't know this. Good I visited your blog :)

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

I've heard of soaking red onions in ice water to tame them, but I've never tried milk. Sounds good. Now.....if only you could eliminate the tears. Alton Brown says put onions in the refrigerator for an hour before slicing. I've tried that and it helped a little. Any advice?
Sam

The Blushing Hostess said...

Turn your head and grit your teeth? I've never found a cure for this - not glasses, not candles, its all a lot of wasteful nonsense... though I do see Michael Chiarelle using that chopping gadget...