Weep with joy

  • By Ronnie Fein / Special to The Stamford Advocate
  • Tuesday, September 7, 2004 9:00pm
  • Life

P eople complain that onions make them cry, but surely these are tears of joy.

Think about how much flavor onions add to food. Consider the character, potency and pungency they give to recipes that would otherwise be horribly humdrum.

The onion, a vegetable for all seasons, is particularly worthy during the summer thanks to your outdoor grill.

Enhanced by smoky fires, the vegetable’s natural sugars blossom. It is no longer ferocious, but more laid-back.

Set grilled onions next to a grid-seared steak or atop a burger, either plain or drizzled with a few drops of good red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar.

Think how attractive they would look as a bed for grilled fish; red onions under snapper, for example, or bright green scallions under salmon.

Grilled onions will give stature to a plain old salad, from simple greens and tomatoes to classic potato salad.

They also bring a new dimension to sandwiches. Place them on bread or in a wrap; grilled onions are so moist you won’t need butter or mayo.

There’s no running out of ideas here. You can use any leftovers in an omelet or frittata. Or to make a relish.

The grilling part can be tricky. Smaller varieties can fall through the grate, but cippolines and shallots are worth the extra care. Both are juicy, sweet and less caustic than familiar yellow onions. Grill these varieties whole, turning them occasionally with tongs. If necessary, place a smaller grate beneath them, or skewer them like kebabs. They don’t take long to cook, about 10-15 minutes. Scallions, to be grilled whole as well, take less time, 4-6 minutes, depending on thickness.

Larger onions best for grilling are the sweet varieties: Vidalia, Bermuda, Maui, Walla Walla, Spanish and plain reds (purple). They’re soft, so cooking time is minimal, and the flavor is not as sharp, so it lingers less on your tongue and more in your memory.

Be sure to brush open surfaces of whole or sliced onions with a film of vegetable or olive oil to keep them from sticking to the grill. Season them with salt, freshly ground black pepper and some freshly minced herbs. Oregano, rosemary, thyme and summer savory are particularly well-suited. Spice rubs and marinades are fine, too; however, if the dressing contains vinegar or citrus juice, don’t marinate the onions for more than 30 minutes. More time than that and the acid will “cook” the vegetable and it will have an off taste and texture.

We use onions so ubiquitously that we sometimes take them for granted. No trendy item, onions have made their mark and preserved their value throughout history.

Thousands of years ago, Chinese doctors used them to cure high blood pressure.

In the Renaissance, people thought onions might ease the pain of a dog bite, cure acne and prevent baldness.

Capt. James Cook brought onions along on his sea ventures as a means of avoiding scurvy.

Would civilization have turned out differently if old, reliable onions weren’t available? The Pyramids in Egypt could not have been erected without onions to feed the slaves who built them.

Alexander the Great might not have conquered the world – he relied on onions to nourish his troops.

Perhaps even our own Civil War would have taken a different turn had not Gen. Ulysses S. Grant written a note to the War Department that he would not dispatch troops who had not received their rations of onions.

Onions may not be a cure-all or a panacea for peace. But they surely are winners when it comes to the dinner table. And when grilled, onions are good medicine for the palate.

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