# Who decided onions go on almost everything? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 7, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873 "2011-08-07T22:32:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/21 "2011-08-07T23:53:35Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Maybe the OP has just eaten too many raw onions; you need a bit of heat to leech out most of the sharpness, leaving only the sweetness behind (onions, after all, are as sweet as apples). I actually prefer raw onions. I eat them plain or with cheese. And of course on sandwiches and hamburgers. Cooked onions have a tendency to get a gross, squishy texture. I want crunch. ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/22 "2011-08-08T00:54:04Z")
I love onions in all forms, in all ways. All alliums, as a matter of fact. There can never be too many. I also start the cooking of almost any meal with some sort of onion – if not an “onion” then a shallot or scallion or leek … I feel really, really sorry for people who don’t like them, whether the flavor or just “the flavor’s OK but I hate the texture” people. I see how that can be a burden given our culinary culture, but really … they’ve been around for millenia, and they’re part of just about any/every cuisine where they are remotely available in some form or another. They’re an aromatic and, like salt, enhance everything savory. If ya don’t like 'em, you don’t like 'em, but they ain’t going away. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/23 "2011-08-08T00:56:51Z")
People do put onions on everything. Think about it – where spices are at a premium, a little flavor can go a long way. Plus, some of us just like the taste. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/24 "2011-08-08T00:57:08Z")
mmmm, the awsome blosson, onion rings, onion strings…down to the onions and cilantro in my Pozole soup. Love 'em! ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/25 "2011-08-08T01:01:38Z")
Count me as an onion lover. Green onions, Red onions, and yellow/white onions are all so good in there own way I consider them as three categories of ingredient. Although I have to admit I am pretty close to literally putting them on everything now. kind of got myself into a loop. I always buy onions and green peppers, So I always have onions and green peppers, so I make most meals out of recipes that use onions and peppers, cause those are the veggies I have on hand, and if a recipe requires something else, I probably won’t have it on hand. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/26 "2011-08-08T01:06:17Z")
Most of the stuff I cook starts with dicing an onion and a bell pepper… ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/27 "2011-08-08T01:06:43Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > If they are so good why don’t more people just eat onions on their own? Like apples, oranges, peaches , plums, grapes, blueberries, and so on. When I’m grilling I do. I’ll take an onion, slice it thick, put some butter between each slice, wrap it in foil and toss it on the grill for about an hour (timed so it finishes with the food). It’ll go on the burgers, I’ll eat what’s leftover…right out of the foil. Then, I found I could make the whole process simpler by just putting the entire onion, skin and all, directly on the grill for an hour or so and it sautes itself right in the skin. When it’s done you just slice off an end and the whole thing sort of plops out, ready to be eaten. The nice thing about doing it that way when you have a group is that the outside is really cooked, the center is still a bit sharp and the middle is sort of half sauteed and everyone can chose the part that’s cooked to their liking. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/28 "2011-08-08T01:07:34Z")
Preach it, OP. (I also don’t like peppers, FYI. :D) ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/29 "2011-08-08T01:14:50Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I like the flavor onions gives to dishes, but hate goddamn onion chunks. A lot of times I’ll take a recipe with onions (i.e. Chicken Noodle Soup), put the onions in, and then remove them during the straining process. Onions themselves are just vile, but onion powder, onion salt, and onion flavoring are good. This. I actually like the taste of onions but cringe at the thought of eating a chopped piece of one. Whether its fresh onions in a salad or tiny bits in a McDonald’s double-cheeseburger, I always try to avoid them. Sadly in Japan, they seemed to have caught the notion that most non-Japanese foods must have onions. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/30 "2011-08-08T01:28:59Z")
I love onions but raw onions don’t love me back. Now in any recipe calling for raw chopped onion or raw green onions, I chop them as required and zap them for 30 seconds or so in the microwave. That cooks them just enough they don’t tear up my stomach. Caramelized onions make anything better. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/31 "2011-08-08T01:33:01Z")
**Bijou Drains** , I know you said you hate onions in all forms, but just to check, have you ever had caramelized onions? I like raw onions, but I believe they should be chopped small and used sparingly, just to impart a bit of a kick. I can be freer with cooked onions, though I still prefer small bits. Ahhh, but when you cook an onion down until it’s a deep golden brown, it hardly tastes like an onion. It takes a half-hour, maybe 45 minutes, but it’s so worth it! The result is soft and sweet and luscious, and goes really well on a hamburger or on top of a steak. And with lots of other things, too. ETA: See? **Cub Mistress** agrees with me! ---
**Author:** ![cardinal\_fang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal_fang/32/15316_2.png) [@cardinal\_fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cardinal_fang)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/32 "2011-08-08T01:36:10Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > My wife’s basic rule of cooking is as follows: “Unless you’re baking a cake, first sautי one onion”. I like that rule. Ha! A former colleague of mine would describe going home from work to find his wife sautéing an onion. He’d ask her what she was cooking. She’d reply, “I don’t know yet.” ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/33 "2011-08-08T01:45:30Z")
I made an amazing curry tonight out of potatoes and caramelized red onions. And I don’t mean “browned onions”, where you put 'em over too much heat and they turn black at the edges and yellow in the middle. I mean “12 red onions, sliced thin, thrown in with a stick of butter, put on the lowest heat, and then forgotten about for 3 hours.” Basically, 12 red onions which have reduced down to a cup or so of concentrated mahogany-colored sweetness. GodDAMN it was good. ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/34 "2011-08-08T01:49:36Z")
> [@](#): > > I like the flavor onions gives to dishes, but hate goddamn onion chunks. A lot of times I’ll take a recipe with onions (i.e. Chicken Noodle Soup), put the onions in, and then remove them during the straining process. Onions themselves are just vile, but onion powder, onion salt, and onion flavoring are good. Yep. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/35 "2011-08-08T02:03:57Z")
What I don’t understand is Vidalia onions. What’s the point of an onion that doesn’t taste like onion? We eat onions because onions are tasty. And as for garlic, my philosophy is that, if it makes sense to ask the question “Should I put garlic in this?”, then the answer is “yes”. There are plenty of other vegetables I like, and anything I cook will have other veggies in it. But _everything_ has garlic and onions. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/36 "2011-08-08T02:10:06Z")
Do onion haters like cilantro? ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/37 "2011-08-08T02:14:48Z")
Dislike them raw, absolutely love them cooked. They go with almost anything savory. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/38 "2011-08-08T02:24:52Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > do you know that any food cooked without onions can make your ears drop off? Oh, that’s why mine fell off! Whew. And here I was thinking it was because of what the priests told me when I was about 12. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/39 "2011-08-08T02:30:01Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Do onion haters like cilantro? Good question! I love onions, and garlic, too, but I loathe cilantro. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873/40 "2011-08-08T02:51:22Z")
I like them but I wish they’d make onions that go away after an hour. I feel like I can only eat them raw on a friday before a weekend of solitude. When they’re cooked down they are a totally different taste. Now garlic, that’s onion’s evil twin. I will only use it for background flavor and then it comes back out of the dish. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-onions-go-on-almost-everything/591873.md?page=3)