Don't do this......

[Kayelle]

This is just one example how new cooks shouldn't rely on youtube cooking.
DO NOT CUT UP AN ONION LIKE THIS.

Actually my mother would cut an onion up like this when I was a child, till she needed several stitches when I was a teenager. Disclaimer..she didn't look or talk like this however and her kitchen was always neat, clean and tidyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXZqRp3bZJE

 

[taxlady]

 

[Whiskadoodle]

Yes, don't pick up onion chunks to make smaller dice straight out of the frying pan. You'll burn your fingers.

I think I like Julia Child's method. Peel onion. Leave root end intact. Cut cross wise parallel lines the width of the onion. Turn onion 90 degrees. Make cross cut lines again. Slice onion in downward strokes and the diced onions just uniformly fall off cleanly. She uses a cutting board and sharp knife. I try, the dices are not uniform and inevitably, I am slicing and dicing partial slices that somehow never fall away into a perfect pile.

 

[Kayelle]

Yes, don't pick up onion chunks to make smaller dice straight out of the frying pan. You'll burn your fingers.

I think I like Julia Child's method. Peel onion. Leave root end intact. Cut cross wise parallel lines the width of the onion. Turn onion 90 degrees. Make cross cut lines again. Slice onion in downward strokes and the diced onions just uniformly fall off cleanly. She uses a cutting board and sharp knife. I try, the dices are not uniform and inevitably, I am slicing and dicing partial slices that somehow never fall away into a perfect pile.

I like Julia's method the best too Whiska. You cut the onion in half root to top first though, right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1vz1j4etcQ

 

[FrankZ]

That's the only way I know how to cut onions...

 

[GotGarlic]

I like Julia's method the best too Whiska. You cut the onion in half root to top first though, right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1vz1j4etcQ

Yikes. Do you really cut the top and bottom off with the onion in your hand? I put it on the cutting board for that. And cut from top to bottom with the flat end on the board.

Btw, it's not Julia Child's method; it's traditional French haute cuisine codified by Marie-Antoine Carême in the early 19th century. She learned it in culinary school in Paris.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Is she cutting up that onion, or whittling it?

 

[dragnlaw]

and Julia, having learned the technique in France, brought it to millions of women in North America.

 

[Kayelle]

Yikes. Do you really cut the top and bottom off with the onion in your hand? I put it on the cutting board for that. And cut from top to bottom with the flat end on the board.

Nope I don't do that either.


This is very interesting. I think the first time I saw it done that way was after my mother had stitches for cutting them up like Brenda. Then I later saw it on the Julia cooking show. I don't have a clue how mom learned it, as she was before Julia and never went to Paris.

Thanks for the info...

Btw, it's not Julia Child's method; it's traditional French haute cuisine codified by Marie-Antoine Carême in the early 19th century. She learned it in culinary school in Paris

So true dragon...

and Julia, having learned the technique in France, brought it to millions of women in North America.

 

[taxlady]

I cut that little, dirty bit with all the little roots, off while holding the onion in my hand. I use a pairing knife for that and don't press hard. I usually rotate the onion as I cut of that dirty bit. The rest, gets done on the cutting board. I also put the cut top on the board and cut the onion in half from the root end.

 

[Whiskadoodle]

mais oui, l'oignon. Did I not say cut the onion in half before dicing. Good thing you're all paying attention. I do leave the root end attached until the end. Works for me.

 

[taxlady]

mais oui, l'oignon. Did I not say cut the onion in half before dicing. Good thing you're all paying attention. I do leave the root end attached until the end. Works for me.

I leave the root end attached. I just cut off the dirty bit with all the tiny "legs". I only cut a very thin bit off. I have cut through that part while cutting the onion in half and found streaks of dirt on the cut sides of my onion. The dirt got dragged through the onion by the knife. I leave enough of that end that the onion doesn't start coming apart.

 

[Kathleen]

Never having been naturally graceful, I would have taken a trip to the ER for stitches if I cut the onion as she did. I cut onions in half lengthwise, then snip off the stem end. Cut down the length toward the root on the counter and then dice by cutting across keeping all bleed-able parts out of the way. Is that Julia's method? If so, it has kept me stitch-free for a decade or so.....


Like Taxlady, I will cut off the root hairs though otherwise they fall off in my dice.

 

[GotGarlic]

and Julia, having learned the technique in France, brought it to millions of women in North America.

Of course. She was before my time, and my interest in cooking, though. My grandmothers weren't good cooks, my mom didn't enjoy it, so she didn't teach me anything or even let me hang around the kitchen, so I knew very little about cooking when I left college and got married. I started to learn when I was home for six weeks recovering from surgery and discovered the Food Network. Rachael Ray was my first real cooking teacher [emoji38]

I'd bet there are a lot of people who know about her as an icon, but didn't learn directly from her how to cook.

 

[dragnlaw]

oh dear, guess I'm aging myself when I say I saw some of her TV shows and absolutely loved them. She took the mystery out of cooking. I don't believe I was cooking at that time but I always thought she was great!

 

[GotGarlic]

I already know that you and Kayelle are about 15 years ahead of me I've seen a few of her shows, but way after they originally aired.

oh dear, guess I'm aging myself when I say I saw some of her TV shows and absolutely loved them. She took the mystery out of cooking. I don't believe I was cooking at that time but I always thought she was great!

 

[Andy M.]

I learned most of what I know about basic techniques by watching TV cooking shows. Jacques Pepin was my "go to" for techniques and processes. He made everything seem effortless.

 

[taxlady]

I learned a lot of cooking from The Joy of Cooking and from TV chefs, starting with Wok with Yan. Julia Child and the Frugal Gourmet come to mind, as well.

 

[Kayelle]

I learned most of what I know about basic techniques by watching TV cooking shows. Jacques Pepin was my "go to" for techniques and processes. He made everything seem effortless.

+1...there's just none better than JP. He has the perfect classic skills, not to mention, his good looks, unassuming and charming debonair style. What a class act he is.

 

[taxlady]

+1...there's just none better than JP. He has the perfect classic skills, not to mention, his good looks, unassuming and charming debonair style. What a class act he is.

One of the things I like about Jacques Pépin is that he is not pretentious, which is unusual for a chef of his status.