Do you cry while chopping onions? More than likely you do. You might even have experienced the burning sensation so badly that you’ve had to step away from making dinner to compose yourself.
But now a supplier in Lincolnshire is importing “tearless onions” from Spain, claiming the product causes minimal, if any irritation.
The brand, called Sunions and developed in Nevada and Washington in the US, has been dubbed a “game-changer” by producers after being certified “tearless” by the Ohio State University sensory evaluation centre and the German chemical multinational BASF.
“These ground-breaking onions didn’t happen by accident and are a product of more than three decades of farming, research and development,” the producer says.
Onions inducing tears in humans is down to biochemistry. Simply put, slicing into the plant releases sulfuric acids as liquid, which quickly vapourizes and finds its way into your eyes. It’s this that brings discomfort as your brain senses an irritant and responds in turn.
The vegetable wouldn’t ever cause permanent damage although brandishing a knife with tears streaming down your cheeks might be a concern.
There have been innumerable kitchen hacks floated over the years. Some swear putting a spoon in your mouth prevents tears, others believe chilling the vegetable first is a proven method. More sensible suggestions include increasing airflow in the room, using a sharp knife to crush less of the vegetable (releasing less liquid), while learned cooks know to avoid slicing through the root too early as this is where much of the chemical compound is held.
Still, maybe the only tried and tested work-around is donning a pair of swimming goggles. Slice enough onions in a pub kitchen as a teenager – I did this, sometimes for hours at a time – and the idea soon becomes inviting.
Some onions, at least those bought from the supermarket, seem to have softened in intensity in recent years. The best from farmers’ markets are the most likely to sting the eyes but then practised cooks are generally more used to it and have probably built up some immunity.
Still, even if suffering varies from onion to onion, cook to cook, there are some for whom Sunions will be an enticing proposition, even at an inflated price.
Newly in Waitrose, a bag of three will set customers back £1.60, which is more than a traditional onion bought loose — by far the most cost-effective shopping tactic — but will at least prevent those disruptive tears.
Robert Oldershaw, from the onion specialist Moulton Bulb, is working with growers overseas to import tearless onions into the UK market. The group packs and supplies around 100,000 tonnes of alliums each year.
“We routinely measure the pyruvic acid content, the biochemical marker of onion pungency,” says Oldershaw. “We also conduct blind tests where panellists cut up various varieties, hold them to their eyes and inhale to see whether they make them cry. We won’t release Sunions to retailers until they pass these tests.”
I put them to the test
When trying Sunions out for the first time, I went one further than just chopping – in the name of science, you understand – and rubbed the raw vegetable on my face. No tears came. None at all.
But there must be a catch? I found the new variety of onions to be particularly sweet and a little lacking in flavour. Does removing the stinging component also lessen the punchy flavour?
So they’d work well in a salad, and aren’t at all unpleasant, but if I were cooking properly — a stew, a soup, a stock and so on — I’d still go for a regular variety, the stronger the better.
For me, good food is worth the strain.
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