How to chop onions
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The Onion
Among the most popular vegetable, the onion is a key ingredient of most
kitchens in the world, able to give flavor and finesse to every dish
The onion is probably the best known in the vegetable world,
appreciated by men for over four thousand years. Belonging to the
family of Liliaceae, onion - whose scientific name is Allium Cepa - is
certainly one of the most widely used vegetable in cooking. It is
believed that the onion is originally from Asia, but when it comes to
plants known from time immemorial, it becomes difficult to identify a
trusted source, even for the fact that the original plant from which it
derives can be settled, or have changed so deep to make them different.
Looking at the varieties of onions that exist today, are primarily
differences in the forms: a single bulb, a group of bulbs, large bulbs,
small bulbs and green tops. These differences certainly affect the
botanists, but also the cooks who have to choose the most suitable for
any particular culinary preparation. Virtually all the onions are grown
to a few distinct species
The red onion of Tropea, typical Italian onion
The red onion of Tropea is the name given to the red onion (Allium
cepa) grown between Nicotera, in the province of Vibo Valentia, and
Campora San Giovanni, in the municipality of Amantea, province of
Cosenza, on the Tyrrhenian belt. Is mainly produced between Briatico
and Capo Vaticano. The specific substances in the
soils of this area make it sweet and not bitter.
This vegetable contains vitamin C, vitamin E, iron, selenium, iodine, zinc and magnesium. The shape is round or ovoid.
The bulb has many beneficial effects, one of them is the power against sclerosis that benefits for the heart and arteries, and prevent
the risk of heart attack.
It consists of several concentric tunics of flesh-colored jacket
with white and red, and is cultivated in these areas for over two
thousand years, imported by the Phoenicians, and for over a century,
now linked to tourism, contributing to socio-economic development of
the area. The sweetness of the vegetable depends on the stable microclimate in winter, with no sudden changes in temperature for the action
of mild carried by the proximity of the sea, and fresh and loamy soils,
which determine the characteristics of valuable product.
One of its properties is to be a natural sedative, useful to facilitate sleep.
Recently it was discovered that contains nitrogen oxide, the
molecule involved, among other things, the mechanism of the erection. [No
source] Plinio il Vecchio, in Naturalis Historia, refers to the red onion
as a remedy to cure a number of evils and physical disorders.
Onions should be purchased hard without external stains and with little sprout if you do not want to find them empty and soft, to preserve it long time keep it in a dark place, cool and with good ventilation but not overlapping stretches adjacent to each other.
First check the two ends of onions, cutting them off with the root.
Then proceed to the onion peeled remove off the first coat: seized part of it between the blade of a boxcutter and thumb, pulled towards the opposite end and remove it completely.
If necessary, remove the same way the second coat.
Slice the skinned onion in two exact half leaning the blade of a knife and cutting at the apex towards the base.
Place half onion with the flat side down and with a boxcutter cut into slices in the longitudinal, but did not get to affect the root and then to separate the slices.
Repeat the same operation, but this time cutting the onion in a horizontal direction.
You can slice the onion by cutting perpendicular to those previously made, choosing the desired thickness.
This way you get small diced onion suitable for fry slightly brown onion in oil or butter.
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sukkran says:
10 months ago
thks for this tip. it is helpful to me.