“Onions are like tulips,” explains journalist Mark Kurlansky, “because they're flowering bulbs, and each layer feeds a different sprout.” But once the bulb flowers, it's no longer edible.
Onions are hardy and can grow anywhere from the desert to the Arctic. They do so with a mechanism that was likely devised to protect them from mammals, Kurlansky explains. When you cut an onion, it releases gases that are attracted to your eyes, causing them to tear. Kurlansky recommends wearing glasses or running a faucet to stop the tears.
In his latest book, Onion Cores: Peeling the Unusualest Common Foods – With Over 100 Historical Recipes, Kurlansky explains how onions were believed to prevent scurvy and baldness. Onions were also believed to be an aphrodisiac, which led authorities to pass sexist ordinances to keep people from going wild with lust. In Ridgeland, South Carolina, women under 200 pounds couldn't be seen wearing shorts and eating onions in restaurants or public picnics.
Excerpted from “Onion Cores: Peeling the Unusual Common Food – Featuring Over 100 Historical Recipes” by Mark Kurlansky
Born in Nice in 1880, Henri Charpentier served as chef and later manager of some of the world's great restaurants, including the Savoy in London and the Delmonico in New York. In 1948, he opened a 14-seat restaurant in Redondo Beach, south of Los Angeles, where reservations had to be made at least a year in advance. He cooked for the rich and famous, and his most famous invention was the crêpes Suzette, which he created for the British royal family, who dined with a certain Suzette. He also served a traditional Parisian onion soup, but with red onions and Parmesan cheese instead of Gruyère to please President Theodore Roosevelt. In his memoir, The Rich and the Great, or a Life Like Henri, he writes at length about his relationship with President Roosevelt and about Teddy Onion Soup. Henri was also one of the last people who really wrote recipes well.
He always seemed to order onion soup, and when I first came I was skeptical that my soup would be as good as the one I had had in France.
Henri's way of making it is to slice three peeled red onions diagonally. I place these slices in a casserole with a tablespoon of hot butter, which releases all the juices of the onions into this bland substance. Properly, this is done over low heat. The process is done when the onion slices turn golden brown. Three onions are enough to flavor the soup for two people; four will serve four or five, but when I'm feeling hungry, I need six onions. Henri makes his onion soup rich, but even I like it well cooked. The smell of raw onions is quite barbaric, but well cooked onions are not unpleasant, but rather pleasant.
Once the onions are just the right color, add about a quart of cold chicken or beef consommé. Bring this to a good boil for 30 to 45 minutes. Finally, toast a slice or two of bread or a handful of croutons and let the heat of the oven melt the Parmesan or Swiss cheese. Gently pour the cheese-laden raft into the boiling hot soup, cover the pot and place in the oven for 10 minutes. This step adds cheese flavor to the soup, so it's the most important part. When serving the soup, garnish it with a saucer of grated Parmesan for those whose palates aren't as delicate as yours or mine.
“Henri,” Mr. Roosevelt said more than once, “I think I like your onion soup better than the one I had in France.”
Well, I myself wouldn't say it's better, I'm happy to know it's just as good.
From the Core of the Onion: Peeling the Unusual and Common Foods – Featuring Over 100 Historical Recipes, by Mark Kurlansky, published by Bloomsbury Press. Copyright © Mark Kurlansky, 2023. All rights reserved.
Cod, salt, salmon and milk are some of the foods that inspire Mark Karlanski's work. Photo by Silvia Plachy.
“The Core of the Onion” features historical recipes for the vegetable that have thrived around the world. Photo courtesy of Bloomsbury.
