Onions

I recall giving a practical cooking class and then watching in horror as many of the poor students battled to chop onions with a chef’s knife without chopping themselves! It is too easy for a chef to assume such skills can be picked up immediately but a little direction may be helpful.

Begin by peeling the onion, trimming the root end without cutting it all off; this ensures the onion will hold together as it is chopped. Insert a paring knife into the skin and first layer of the onion at the root end and cut down to the stem. The skin and first layer of onion will pull off easily. Cut the onion in half from the stem end to the root, then place one half, cut-side down, on a board. This is where a really sharp knife comes into its own, not only to slice the onion but to do it safely.