Replacing Onions & Garlic - allergy problem

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rask3 said:
There is a cooking tradition which avoids both onions and garlic. Both are considered to stimulate passions, though I can't figure out how these could do that. This cuisine is followed by many Brahmins (the upper caste in India). Maybe you could google and find out more about their cooking methods.


Rask

Rask, an aside: your post led me on a very interesting search for the derivation of the term "Boston Brahmin".

I'd always wondered what it literally meant ("the purest people":rolleyes: ) and where it came from (evidently, Oliver Wendell Holmes coined the phrase in an 1860 article for "Yankee Magazine", referring to the powerful families in Boston during that era).

Another curiosity satisfied!

Lee
 
Paki means similar also.
which never ceases to amaze me when you see these ignorant bigoted grunts calling pakistanis "Pakis" as an Insult?

Paki means Pure.

I think if they Knew this (or cared to learn how to read) they would probably stop, until then I think it`s hilarious from an acedemic and linguistic standpoint :)
 
Turnips have a bit of onion flavor going on. I've seen concentrated onion & garlic juice, if it's a fiber issue, if not it's probably the last thing he needs.
 
I too wonder if it's an actual "allergy" & not just indigestion.

While my husband does like cooked garlic, he finds onions - scallions in particular- indigestable & has a lot of trouble with them. So while I do still use them in recipes, I cut the amount in half & make sure they are well-cooked. This seems to eliminate the problem.
 
It sounds like it's probably an allergy, which is why he's allergic to both onions AND garlic. Onions and garlic are of the same family, and an allergy to one is often indicative of an allergy to the other. She said all types of onions, so I'm assuming she's tried the milder ones as well, leeks, chives, etc. If those produced the same reaction as garlic or regular onions then I'd say its an allergy. If it was lesser, then it might simply be a gastrointestinal sensitivity, as a few have suggested, and it might be worth looking into managing the reaction rather than finding substitutes. I'm fairly certain that onion/garlic is an uncommon allergy, and so you'll have a heck of a time finding good substitutes.
 
a sympathizer

You poor thing, I am also allergic to onions and garlic, but with added allergies to dairy, pork, beef, mollusk, crustacean, and a whole slough of obscure fruits lol.

I generally lean a lot on basil and cumin to flavour dishes. If you wanted to contact me, I could send you some recipes. I come from a long line of people with those allergies, so I could ask around in my family for something suitable :).
 
My mam has colitis and it triggered by anything in the onion family and we are really struggling also to find tasty food for her, she is not vegetarian but her food is really bland, even packet rice has onion powder in it so we could do with some help also
Thanks
 
Heya, Db, I have an allergy to the onion family as well. Unfortunately for me it's pretty bad and reaches the entire onion family. I can't even have chives or onion powder in small amounts without having some pretty bad intestinal upset.
On that, I have found asafoetida powder to be an excellent substitute for the onion flavor, be careful though! It's very potent so it takes VERY LITTLE to get the flavor you need.
If I remember correctly, it's a type of fennel, but very often used in indian cooking. Finding asafoetida powder can be difficult and you may not find it in local markets, but you can track it down online.
Garlic on the other hand, I haven't found any proper substitute for yet and it was in searching for one that I found your post here.
I've come to use the asafoetida powder for onion taste along with cooked down celery for the texture in dishes I would rather have not just the flavor to.
 
Garlic or onion replacement

Dear dbdbdb
It is very likely you cannot find the exact replacement for onion or garlic, however there are some Chinese herbs mainly ones in the common five spice mix 五香 you can try. I know for certain in Asia that some people use the herb Toona sinensis 香椿 to replicate the slight tast is garlic. For Asian cuisine many dishes can be done without garlic onion, all you need is some imagination, and a lot of research.alot of slow cook recipe could bring out flavour without onion or garlic, for example oden when a radish is cooked long enough it can tast sweet and savoury.There are plenty of aromatics that can create a new dimetion in the recipe you make try as many as you like and you will be pleasantly surprised on how many things taste good without garlic or onion.lastly don't be afriad to try something a little out of the box. Good luck
 
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