Don't cry: Alice Zaslavsky's no-tears onion soup

The author of "In Praise of Veg" thinks onions are underrated. Her cooking tips – and handy recipe – will turn you into a fan, too.

You don't have to weep to make this onion-rich soup. Source: Ben Dearnley

Alice Zaslavsky loves onions, and she always has.

“I grew up in Georgia, which has a very veg-heavy cuisine, and combined with a Soviet-Jewish kitchen, means we got to cook with a lot of onions. So for me the smell of onions – raw or cooked – meant something delicious was coming,” says the cookbook author and radio presenter.

“Any time that I cook anything savoury, the smell of onions sweating in a pan takes me back to the kitchen of my grandparents, of my parents. It’s almost ingrained in my soul, like well-worn wallpaper.”

Every savoury dish that Zaslavsky cooks begins with onions. “It might be a shallot or it might be spring onions, but there will be an allium element because they’re the thing that builds the body and the savouriness of a dish.”

And it would be unimaginable to make a salad without some form of onion. Even a breakfast salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, and capsicum would be incomplete without Spanish or white salad onion.

“The onion brings the salad together. It makes it sweeter, and it gives it a sharpness that makes all the other flavours really zing.”

Alice Zaslavsky has been pro-onions for her whole life. Source: Ben Dearnley

Not everyone loves onions as much as Zaslavsky does, and she’s peeled back the layers to understand why that might be.

“A lot of people undercook onions and don’t get the best out of them. If your onions are undercooked, they don’t break down enough. That’s the number one thing, and the reason people undercook them is because they’re impatient, and also because they’re afraid of burning them.”

Zaslavsky says to cook your onions for at least eight to 10 minutes if you want them to sweat until they’re translucent.

Any time that I cook anything savoury, the smell of onions sweating in a pan takes me back to the kitchen of my grandparents, of my parents. It’s almost ingrained in my soul, like well-worn wallpaper.

“Pop them in a pan with your chosen fat on medium-low heat, and wait until you can hear them sizzle. As soon as you hear the sizzle, turn down the heat and put a lid on for eight to 10 minutes, and they will sweat in the pan without burning.”

This alone will improve your onion game, but she has several more tips that will ap-peel.

How to cut onions

The angle of your slice will impact how much the onions break down: 

• If you want your onions to keep their shape (for example, in a piperade or a stir-fry), slice with the grain of the onion. 
• If you want your onions to break down, slice against the grain. That way, the fibres of the onions will break down more as they cook.
• For salads, also slice against the grain to make rings or half-moons. The exposed flesh will soak up more of the dressing. 

How to cry less when you cut onions

The reason why we cry when we chop up onions is that slicing them releases volatile organic compounds (the defence mechanism of alliums), which go up to our noses. Here’s what you can do:

• Breathe through your mouth.
• Work in a well-ventilated area or next to a window.
• Use a sharp knife, to minimise bruising of the onion flesh (which releases the volatile organic compounds).

How to take the sting out of onions

Salad onions and red onions are the sweetest, then brown or yellow onions. Also, older onions are a little bit more astringent than young onions, which are nice and sweet.

Alice Zaslavsky in an onion field. Source: Ben Dearnley

Here’s how to make your (nicely cut) onions more mellow for salads:

• Soak them in ice water.
• Quick pickle them with hot vinegar, water, sugar, and salt.
• Sprinkle some salt and/or sugar on them.

What stops onions from cooking

Acid stops onions from cooking, so don’t deglaze your pan with wine or add anything tomato-based to the mix until your onions are properly cooked.

How to caramelise onions

Saving the sweetest 'til last, caramelising onions is when you cook them until they are golden brown. Sweating onions until they are translucent is done with the lid on; caramelising onions is done with the lid off.

With the lid off, you encourage the onions to evaporate as much moisture as possible. As this happens, the sugars start the Maillard reaction, which is where the sugars activate with heat and turn the onions golden, then brown. Give them an occasional stir while they’re cooking to ensure there’s not a crust forming at the bottom of the pan.

To celebrate the humble onion, why not try Alice’s no-tears onion soup?

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No-tears onion soup

Onion soup was once thought of as food befitting only peasants, and so isn’t it the ultimate irony that these days it is often more likely to be associated with the fanciest of French restaurants? This silky, slippery broth is so much easier to make than the original, because it involves no peeling, let alone slicing! A luxury indeed.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 25 g unsalted butter
• 1 kg brown onions, skin left on, halved lengthways, ends removed
• 2 garlic bulbs, skin left on, halved horizontally
• 6 dried bay leaves
• ½ bunch thyme, leaves picked, plus extra to serve
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 tsp salt flakes
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 1 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
• 4 cups beef, chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar
• 1 baguette, torn into big chunks, or 4 chunky bits of stale bread
• 150 g grated gruyère (or cheddar)
• Finely chopped chives, to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C.
2. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large flameproof casserole dish over medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, allspice, pepper and salt flakes and cook for 2 minutes, or until fragrant.
3. Stir in the wine, then cover and bake for 1 hour, or until the onion and garlic have softened.
4. Set the garlic bulbs aside until cool enough to handle. Slip the skins off the onions using tongs.
5. Place the dish back over medium-high heat and scatter the softened onion flesh with the flour. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 5 minutes, until golden.
6. Squeeze the garlic flesh from the bulbs into the dish. Pour in the stock, vinegar and 2 cups of boiling water. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for 5–10 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced slightly.
7. Preheat the oven grill to high. Arrange the bread on top of the soup and scatter with the cheese and extra thyme. Grill for 8–10 minutes, or until the cheese is golden and melted.
8. Serve immediately, scattered with chives.

Note
• For a shortcut version of this recipe, thinly slice the onion and garlic (the smaller you cut them, the quicker they’ll cook). Sweat them in a pan with the oil and butter until translucent, then let them caramelise while you warm some stock with the bay leaves, thyme and allspice (or even a herbes de Provence blend). Grill the bread with a slice of cheese on top for 5 minutes, or until the cheese melts. Remove the aromatics from the stock, then ladle them into bowls with the caramelised mixture. Taste for seasoning, then dip your cheesy breads in. No sweat!

If you have oniony broth leftover, pour it into some hollowed-out stale bread rolls, sprinkle with Gruyère or cheddar cheese and grill until oozy. YUM!

Recipe and images from In Praise of Veg by Alice Zaslavsky (Murdoch Books, $59.99).

 

'The Mostest' is an SBS Food column that sees comedian and food enthusiast Jennifer Wong be your guide. Read as she goes searching to uncover who we are as cooks, who we are as eaters and what we enjoy most. Expect history, incredible tips, must-make recipes and anecdotes all surrounded by food. Love the story? Follow the author here: Twitter @wojennifer, Facebook @jenniferwongcomedian, Instagram @jenniferwongcomedian.