I like cooking and baking. I see it educational to know what are the things that we eat, so today I will start to post some fun and facts about food. Food is a part of our everyone's life.
Feel free to add some other facts that you may know about the topic that I will be discussing. Today, I'll talk about Onions...
Onions is a rich source of vitamin C, manganese, potassium and phosphorus.It has low caloric value and high content of dietary fibers. One can enjoy it raw, cooked or pickled.
You may find them in different colors, white onions, yellow onions or red onions and cutting onions seems to be always associated with crying. Why is that? the reason is that cutting into it releases sulfuric acid, which reacts with the moisture in our eyes to create a tearful reaction. They say that to avoid this when slicing onions is to cut them under running water, or while submerged in a basin of water, or some says chewing gum, eating bread (calms the nerves sometimes), lighting a candle, or splashing a little white vinegar on the cutting board before starting to work with onions. Personally, I think it is more like what kind of onions are you using.
Here are some facts that I found, do you know that?
- Onions have been a part of the human diet for more than 7,000 years
- Ancient Egyptians worshiped onions, believing their spherical shape and concentric circles within symbolized eternity. In fact, onions were often placed in the burial tombs of pharaohs, as they were believed to bring about prosperity in the afterlife
- Don't feed your dogs with onions, why? because onions can weaken a dog's red blood cells, leading to anemia that, in severe cases, could result in death (oh no!)
4.In the Middle Ages, onions were an acceptable form of currency, and was used to pay for rent, goods and services — and even as gifts.... wow can we still do this? LOL - Onions can be a strong weapon in a woman’s battle against osteoporosis as she goes through menopause
- Onions can also be beneficial in treatment of cataracts and even cardiovascular disease
7.According to The Guinness Book of World Records, the biggest onion ever was grown by British farmer Peter Glazebrook, who harvested a monster-sized onion in 2011 that weighed just under 18 pounds (approx 3.6 kilos) - According to ancient Greeks, onions were eaten by athletes as a strength-booster in the very first Olympic games during the first century A.D
- New York or currently nicknamed as "the Big Apple", used to be called the "Big Onion" because it was the kind of city where you could peel off layer after layer without ever reaching the core.... ??!!
- Onions are currently the 6th most popular vegetable crop in the world, judging only by its production
- Yellow onion is the most popular type of onion. It takes staggering 75% of the world’s onion production.
- You can get rid of onion breath by eating fresh parsley
So what is the difference of Yellow, Red, and White Onions?
Yellow onions or sometimes called as brown onion, "allium cepa" , are considered to be the all-purposed onions. It adds an excellent taste to any food, and typically when a recipe calls for an onion, we normally used yellow onions without really thinking about it. Yellow onions have a yellow, thin, paper like skin on the outside and white in the inside. It has a higher sulfur content than a white onion. It is normally available all year round.
White onions have a sharper and more pungent flavor than yellow onion. They are more tender and have a thinner, more papery skin. Have all white skin, and normally used in Mexican cuisines, specifically as an accompaniment to cilantro in street tacos and in a variety of salsas
Red onions are normally used in non-cooked dishes, like in salads or sandwiches. They are the most mild sweet onion. Red onions have a deep purple outer skin and reddish flesh, these are really the odd-guys out in the onion family. They are fairly similar to yellow onions in flavor, though their layers are slightly less tender and meaty.
So which onion do you like?