Leave me voice mail feedback at: 971-208-5493 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kitchencounterpodcast Twitter: @TKCpodcast Email: feedback@kitchencounterpodcast.com Peeling Back the Layers Imagine an ingredient that has been around as long as civilization itself, and is used heavily in almost every culture and cuisine in the world. The builders of the pyramids of Egypt ate it for nourishment. At other times in world history, it was considered so valuable that people would pay their rent with it, or give it as gifts. Ancient Greek athletes would eat it in the belief that it enhanced their athletic prowess. Roman gladiators would rub it all over their bodies to firm up their muscles. Doctors prescribed it to alleviate snakebites, coughs, and headaches.* In modern cooking, it helps to give many of your favorite dishes a depth of flavor that can't really be achieved by substituting any other ingredient. Behold, the mighty onion! Wait, I'm sorry. Did you think I was going to say bacon? Or chile peppers, quinoa, kale, or goji berries, or any number of other fad food items that have gained and lost popularity over the years? Interesting as they may be, so much has already been said about them. And none of them have the staying power of the simple onion, nor are there many other ingredients so universally incorporated into so many cuisines. I wanted to take some time today to talk onion. I'm going to focus on the bulb varieties commonly found in the United States, and not so much green onions (scallions), shallots, or other close relatives. Many people seem to have a love/hate relationship with onions. I count myself among them. I was that kid that would always find the tiniest bit of onion in something my mom had cooked and refuse to eat the rest of the dish (even if I had already eaten most of it already without complaint). While my opinion has changed on cooked onions, I still can't stand eating raw onions. Put raw onions in a salad or on a burger and you've practically ruined it in my mind. But I understand the power of the onion. There is a reason that every major cuisine in the world uses it extensively. There's a reason why it's part of the "holy trinity" of cajun cooking, or one of the primary ingredients in mirepoix in French cuisine, or soffrito in Italian cooking. In order for you to harness the savory powers of onions, it's helpful to know the four main varieties of bulb onions and their uses. Yellow (or Spanish) Onions The yellow onion is the most commonly used variety in American cuisine. When you see a recipe that calls for onion, yellow onion is most likely what you need. Thin-skinned and mild, yellow onions are great for all around use, and are the onions I use more often than the others, by far. Sweet Onions Sweet onions often look like the common yellow onion mentioned above, but are usually less round and more squat and oval shaped. They contain less sulfur than yellow onions and therefore taste much sweeter. There are several well known varieties of sweet onions, including Walla Walla, Vidalia, Maui, Bermuda. White Onions Delicious when lightly sauteed, white onions are the go-to onion when cooking Mexican and Latin American cuisine. Next time you whip  up fajitas use a white onion along with your peppers. Red Onions Sharp-flavored and colorful, red onions are often used raw as additions to chili, salads, or any dish that could use a pop (or rather a punch in the face) of pungent flavor. I rarely use red onions as I don't care for my onions raw, but if you do then this is the onion for you! No More Tears One of the reasons many people dislike working with onions are the tears and stinging eyes that come with chopping them. There are dozens of tips (some more effective than others) on the internet about how to solve this problem, and some are downright crazy (chopping onions under running water? Yeah that sounds easy). My favorite trick if you have this problem is to put your onion in the freezer for 10-15 minutes