Maybe
this has happened to you. You, the clueless but determined cook, head to
your friendly neighborhood supermarket in search of an ordinary onion
for that really simple recipe you got from Mom. Easy sneezy, you figure,
even for a novice cook. You wander towards the produce department,
secure in the belief that you know exactly what you’re looking for.
Fifteen minutes later, you’re staring dazed at a mountain of
onion-shaped bulbs, trying to figure out if you need the yellow or the
white or the red. Or maybe the sweet. So much for easy.
And when it comes to some of the more exotic species of the
onion-flavored ilk, things can get really confusing. The myriad onion
varieties can be bewildering enough, but toss in the possibility of
scallions, green onions, shallots, or leeks into the mix, and it’s
enough to send the novice cook running for take-out – anything to
avoid having to figure out what’s what, and whether you need it. Ah, the many members of the onion family.
What’s the deal?
onion basics
red,
yellow, white, sweet
-- what's
the
difference ? tell
me
how do you chop
an onion? tell
me
what's
the difference between
scallions + green onions? tell
me
what
are shallots? tell
me
what
are leeks? tell
me
.
|
. |
Trial-and-error
has its place in the learning process of cooking, but let’s face it, we could all save ourselves a lot of time
– and the waste that comes from having to toss those inedible
accidents in the garbage – if we’d just ask when we don’t know
something. Your know-it-all big sister will probably laugh at you if you
call her up in a panic because you don't know how to boil water, since
hey, that’s what siblings are for. But I’m here to assure you that
it’s far sillier to avoid cooking altogether just because you feel
like you’re too old to admit you don’t already know how. Still, I know you’ve got that pesky pride. So here's your
source for answers to those really stupid food questions that
you’d never take the risk of embarrassing yourself to ask out
loud. Got a
stupid food question? Don't be shy ... ask! |