I added a poll. But let’s talk about navigating through a world where the majority of Western dishes use onions.
Onions are a third of the Holy Trinity (onions, green bell peppers, and celery)
My mother learned early to finely dice onion and limit how much she used. I use onion powder and Dehydrated Onion Flakes in my cooking.
Any fast food order requires asking them for no onions on my burger. There’s no avoiding the onion in prepared dishes like pot roast, chili, meatloaf and Salisbury steak. I have a sour, burning in my throat for hours after eating anything with a lot of onion.
I generally will not eat them raw (sometimes like on a burger or a little in a salad but mostly not) but when cooked…Yum!
ETA: My GF will never, ever eat any allium raw but she’s fine with them when cooked. There’s a big difference between raw and cooked when it comes to these.
EETA: Of course, if you (general you) do not like them in any form then fine. Don’t eat them. I would guess it takes some work to avoid them when eating out at a restaurant. When you are at home…no problem.
My love for onions and garlic is matched only by my hatred for bell peppers, be they green, red, yellow, or orange. I have an aquaintance who is allergic to onions, and therefore really just can’t go to restaurants. Anyway, as someone who dislikes food that others love and is found everywhere, you onion-haters have my sympathy.
Hard to believe cooked onions could give anyone throat burning, though raw ones might in sensitive sorts (for a distinctive burn, trying chewing potent raw garlic varieties).
When I get the occasional sub at Subway, I always ask for extra onions. As for garlic, I identify with the meme I recently saw where someone was reacting to recipes calling for limited garlic and showing how much garlic they actually added (the photo showed a huge tray of garlic bulbs).
Alliums are good people. Does the OP object to chives?
They way many people cook with onions overwhelms all other flavors to my pallette. That and the texture of onions is just plain wrong IMHO, either too slimey or too big.
They are OK in soups when properly proportioned. But never in a salad. I hate when people dice them up to where they are too difficult to remove.
In short, onions suck and I would be happy to never see another one.
How do you feel about green onions (scallions) or garlic? They likely would not have the texture problem you object to. Their flavor is still there of course.
I love onions, but they don’t love me. If I eat beyond a threshold level my fructose malabsorption kicks in and I’m off to the toilet. Soups (which I love) are the worst, since the stock base invariably contains onion and the broth happily speeds through my small intestines to the colon (outracing the solids from the soup which would help buffer things), where all hell breaks loose. Sometimes I just eat and bear it because I love onions so much…
I was really surprised to read this poll and see that it’s by size, and not by degree of cooking. Because that’s the big differentiator for me. I can’t really tolerate raw onions, but cook them until they are soft and sweet and i often like them. And keep cooking until they are brown and a little crunchy and I’ll eat them like candy.
That sounds like you have some kind of biological sensitivity to them. I’m similar with peppers (green, red, sweet, hot, and it’s much worse if they are cooked) and i sympathize. It can be hard to avoid a noxious food that’s a simple, cheap (and thus, really common) way to “boost flavor”.
How do you do with other alliums (Garlic, chive, shallots, scallions, leeks)? Allium sensitivities are fairly common. I can think of at least three friends who need to avoid them.
I’m not a fan of raw onions whatsoever. I’ll always order salads, burgers and sandwiches specifically without them and will remove them if they get added anyway. I think onions completely ruin a pizza and can’t just be picked off and forgotten about. I agree with @Si_Amigo for the most part - they overwhelm everything.
As I’ve gotten older I do appreciate what onions bring to a dish. I do love them diced and cooked into a meatlof or on my McDonald’s cheeseburger (you can see where my palate lies). I appreciate them in a quiche but don’t add them to an omelet.
I’m coming around on grilled onions and will sort of pick off half and eat the rest. I do fear what they do for my GERD. I’ve been known to enjoy a good blue cheese burger with grilled onions. I have yet to say “yes” to grilled onions on a cheesesteak (which I rarely eat anyway).
Lucky for me my boyfriend loves onions and will eat whatever I discard.
I’m with @Dr.Drake on bell peppers tho. Holy shit, do they ruin everything.
I’ve known at least one person who wouldn’t eat a dish if onions had even touched the plate. I didn’t know anyone even disliked onions before I met him.
Myself, I love onions. If you’re cutting onions, I’m grabbing rings of them off the cutting board and eating them. The best tacos come with both chopped raw onions and grilled onions, and I can easily make a dinner out of onion rings.
I’ve known a few people who would get into gastrointestinal distress if they ate anything with onions. I’m starting to suspect that I might do the same when I eat too many, but I’m not willing to go long enough without onions to really find out.
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