Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Controversy

I try not to touch on too many controversial subjects on my blog. I have friends who have very differing opinions on a lot of things, yet we manage to remain friends. I've decided I can no longer keep quiet on this front. I may make some enemies here, but I'm prepared to defend my position...to the death*. Here goes nothing...

If you don't cook with onions, you're a wimp.

There I said it. No onions? Wuss. "I don't like onions!" Weenie. "Onions smell so bad!" Get over it!

Onions are the one thing in my pantry (actually, I keep them in my fridge veggie crisper) that I'm never without. If an onion  can possibly be used in a dish, I'ma be there with it. They can bring a tang to a dish like no other. They can even bring a little heat with the right onion. Yet, when you cook them down, they have the most mellow, sweet, and savory taste. They are very versatile and bring flavor out in almost every meat, especially meat of the beef and pork persuasion.

I bring this up, because whenever I'm chopping an onion (which let's face it, is practically every day), I always have this nagging voice in my head. I shall not name names. But an old friend of mine (we are no longer friends...I won't say it's because of onions, but it didn't help the friendship any) claimed she was the best cook in the eastern hemisphere (See?! That should tell you right there how smart SHE was). She was very prideful of this fact. Yet, she was also prideful of the fact the she didn't use onions because "they're gross!!" Did I ever throw in her face that you CAN'T BE A GOOD COOK without using onions? Nope. Never. I'm too good a person for that. Did I start bringing my onion-laden dishes to our get-togethers and relish in the praise they received? You betcha. Because onions are hella good, I'm telling you!

So be down with the onion. If you're afraid of them, I'll let it slide if you give them another try. Be adventurous. You've never heard Wolfgang Puck say "onions are icky!" That's because they're a cook's best friend. And I need a friend, because I ditched that other chick.

*of a small vegetable