onion

The onion (Allium cepa L., from Latin cepa "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. Its close relatives include the garlic, shallot, leek, chive, and Chinese onion.This genus also contains several other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion (Allium fistulosum), the tree onion (A. ×proliferum), and the Canada onion (Allium canadense). The name "wild onion" is applied to a number of Allium species, but A. cepa is exclusively known from cultivation. Its ancestral wild original form is not known, although escapes from cultivation have become established in some regions. The onion is most frequently a biennial or a perennial plant, but is usually treated as an annual and harvested in its first growing season.
The onion plant has a fan of hollow, bluish-green leaves and its bulb at the base of the plant begins to swell when a certain day-length is reached. The bulbs are composed of shortened, compressed, underground stems surrounded by fleshy modified scale (leaves) that envelop a central bud at the tip of the stem. In the autumn (or in spring, in the case of overwintering onions), the foliage dies down and the outer layers of the bulb become dry and brittle. The crop is harvested and dried and the onions are ready for use or storage. The crop is prone to attack by a number of pests and diseases, particularly the onion fly, the onion eelworm, and various fungi cause rotting. Some varieties of A. cepa, such as shallots and potato onions, produce multiple bulbs.
Onions are cultivated and used around the world. As a food item, they are usually served cooked, as a vegetable or part of a prepared savoury dish, but can also be eaten raw or used to make pickles or chutneys. They are pungent when chopped and contain certain chemical substances which irritate the eyes.

View More On Wikipedia.org
  1. Morning Glory

    Bloomin' Onion

    Have you ever made it? Came across this whilst looking for something else - so pretty! Photo from https://hostthetoast.com/baked-bloomin-onion/ (made in the oven) Video here on how to do it (deep fried) View: https://youtu.be/WG05FfeitsY
  2. Morning Glory

    Recipe Caramelised Onion and Coffee Chutney

    This 'easy to make' chutney is great with cheese or cold meats or perhaps with a burger. The coffee adds a beautiful depth and complexity of flavour to the sweet onion. No-one will guess the secret ingredient! Ingredients: serves 4 - 6 (makes 4 heaped tbsps of chutney) 2 large onions, sliced...
  3. medtran49

    Recipe Foil packet sausage, potatoes, cabbage and onions

    An easy meal. Packets can be made up the night before or early in the day, then just popped in the oven and cooked while you have time with the family, watch the TV, whatever you want. They can also be cooked on the grill with minimal attention, just flipping about every 15 minutes. Sour...
  4. Yorky

    Pork, sage and onion stuffing.

    My mum used to make pork, sage and onion stuffing for the turkey at Christmas. Although I've never cooked it myself, I thought that I'd give it a go. My mum used "skinned" sausage but I intend to use very finely minced pork. Fresh sage is not available here so I'll need to use dried. So my...
  5. Yorky

    Onion Powder - Is it necessary?

    I am planning on making enchiladas this coming week and the recipe that I am following calls for ½ tsp of onion powder. I don't have any onion powder but I could make some. However, given that the tomato sauce (to make the enchilada sauce) contains a whole onion and the fried minced beef also...
  6. medtran49

    Recipe Spinach garlic pasta with Marsala, sweet onion, garlic sauce

    This is DEFINITELY not a date night meal unless you both really like garlic. The good thing though is no vampires will want to be around you! Pasta 1-1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus more as needed 2 eggs 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 pound fresh spinach, blanched, cooled slightly...
  7. Yorky

    White Onion Sauce?

    I came across this many years ago and thought it may complement Yorkshire fried chicken. However, I really don't know how to make it. I'm thinking of starting with a base béchamel sauce but do I fry the onions, boil them or just add them raw? Is there anything else that I should add (in addition...
  8. Wandering Bob

    onions, lemon and mint

    Apart from learning more new things than my aging brain can easily cope with, some of the posts on this excellent forum are making me remember dishes that I cooked a very long time ago - and had completely forgotten about. I remember cooking an Indian meal for a dozen friends about 20 years...
  9. flyinglentris

    Recipe Creamed Pearl Onions

    Creamed Pearl Onions is a very simple recipe using Heavy Whipping Cream. Ingredients: Procedure: 1) Skin about 8 ounces of Pearl Onions. 2) In a frying pan, pour about 1/4 cup of Heavy Whipping Cream. 3) Begin to Heat at 275 degrees F. 4) Add in the Pearl Onions. 5) Cover the pans...
  10. medtran49

    Recipe Chicken cutlets with roasted pearl onions, grapes and balsamic glaze

    4 chicken cutlets or 2 breasts halves sliced in half horizontally and pounded until thin flour panko bread crumbs 1 egg Oil for frying S and P Arugula (I used spring mix because the store was out of arugula, but arugula tastes better 1/4 cup balsamic 1/2 cup EVOO 1 tsp Dijon mustard 1 tsp honey...
  11. Elawin

    Recipe Swede, Onion and Apple Bake

    Serves: 2 Ingredients: 25 g butter 1 medium onion, finely sliced 75 ml white wine or apple juice 200 g swede, peeled and finely sliced 1 sweet apple, cored and finely sliced Handful of dried fruit (I used sultanas) Plain yoghurt, cream, or custard to serve Method: Preheat your oven to...
  12. Morning Glory

    What type of onions do you use?

    I noticed in the Shallots thread that some people said the onions they normally use were red onions. This was something Rick Stein (UK chef) remarked on during his TV series: Rick Stein's India (that nearly all onions used in cooking in India seemed to be red onions). In the UK I think that...
  13. GadgetGuy

    What do you usually eat with your burger? Fries, Onion Rings, Tater Tots?

    For me, it is usually fries or onion Rings. :wink:
  14. Kake Lover

    Recipe Baked apple filled with spiced onion and sultanas

    Ingredients a large whole Bramley apple a sweet onion 1tbsp sultanas 1 oz Demerara sugar 1tsp ground cinamon 1 oz butter 4 fl oz apple juice or water Method Finally chop the onion and fry gently in most of the butter until soft. Mix with the sugar, sultanas and cinamon. Rinse and dry the...
  15. ElizabethB

    Recipe Sweet Onion Dim Sum

    I candied a lot of sweet onions for the Onion Desert Challenge. Another offering tomorrow. I had a random thought to make a sweet onion desert Dim Sum. I only made the three so the recipe is haphazard. For Candied Onions see tomorrow's submission for Sweet Onion Bread 3 TBSP. Candied...
  16. Herbie

    Recipe Apple and onion shortcake

    So the challenge to make a sweet dish from onions got me thinking. First I was going to make an apple and onion bread pudding as bread puddings can be sweet or savoury, but I wanted to be more creative. My mum used to make strawberry shortcake so I thought I would try this: Shortbread to BBC...
  17. C

    Recipe Chocolate Barbecue Sauce

    Ingredients 2 tbsp. unsalted butter 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 small yellow onion, minced 1 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped 1 1⁄2 cups ketchup 1⁄3 cup packed brown sugar 1⁄4 cup brewed coffee 2 tbsp. honey 2 tbsp. cider vinegar 2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 2 tsp...
  18. C

    Recipe Savoury Beef Trifle

    Not your average trifle! Ingredients For the mash potatoes 1.5kg (3lb) white potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks 30g (1oz) salted butter, diced 200ml (1/3 pint) whole milk, warmed For the mince layer 1 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, chopped 1 celery stick, chopped 1 garlic clove, crushed 1 tbsp...
  19. C

    Recipe Onion Custards

    Onion Custards Ingredients 2 tbsp. butter 2 c. finely chopped yellow onions 1/4 tsp. herbes de Provence 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. Freshly ground pepper 4 egg yolks 1 1/2 c. half-and-half Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a medium skillet, melt butter. Add yellow onions and cook until soft and...
  20. Morning Glory

    The Wild Card Challenge: make a dessert from onions.

    The Wild card Challenge is a new addition to CookingBites. The concept is simple and non-competitive. No deadline is set. But when things peter out, a new topic is set. Its all about wild and wacky ideas and/or thinking out of the box. And who better to host the challenge than our very own @The...
Back
Top Bottom