When you go to the market, all you really need to know is whichonions will do what you want. Do you want them sweet or hot? Willyou eat them on a hamburger or in a stew? Will they be sliced rawinto a salad or caramelized for pasta sauce? Will they be creamed asa side dish for dinner or diced and added to meatloaf?
You usually can substitute one variety of onion for another withlittle noticeable change in flavor. But that's not to say there areno differences, because there are. But unless you have a remarkablyeducated palate, the effect isn't dramatic when you substitute asweet onion for a hot one in a stew. Small boiling onions work justas well as pearl onions in a cooked dish.
Other substitutions may pose a problem. For example, manypeople don't like a thick slice of a raw, hot storage onion on theirburger. But if you don't have a sweet onion in the refrigerator, athinner slice of Spanish onion will do, or even a slice of red onion.
For your salad, if you don't have a red onion, use a yellow ora white. It just won't be as colorful. Or substitute the bulbs ofgreen onions, or better still, a plump-bulbed green "creaming" onion,if you have them.
Because onions are seasonal, certain types may not always beavailable. Storage onions can be found anytime, as can red andSpanish onions. On the other hand, sweet onions usually are inmarkets only from April through the summer (although there is now afall release of Vidalias that have been stored in a low-oxygenenvironment).
Here is a list of the most popular varieties.
Yellow storage onions: The most common cooking onions, yellowstorage onions are hot and usually make you cry. They are a dryonion with a faint sulfur flavor that lingers on the tongue. Theirheat disappears with cooking. This onion is the workhorse of cookery- good in any heated dish.
White (storage) onions: These onions are hot, but with aslightly sharper, cleaner flavor than yellows. They also tend tohave a slightly shorter shelf life because they lack the pigment thatprotects them from mold and because they have proportionally morewater than the yellows.
Spanish onions: Spanish onions are large yellow storage onions.They usually have a slightly higher water content, and so generallyare hot, sweeter, somewhat crisper and more perishable than storageonions.
Red onions: Similar to Spanish onions, their flavor is sharp,sweet and pungent and their texture is a bit coarser, with a verythick wrapper. Uncooked, red onions make a handsome addition to allsorts of salads. But, when cooked, they lose some of their color,sometimes taking on a greenish hue.
Boiling onions: Usually about 2 inches wide, boiling onions arevery small yellow or white storage onions. They taste hot beforecooking and are best when left whole and boiled or simmered in astew.
Pearl onions: These onions are between 1 and 1 1/4 inches wide,with a thin, white wrapper. They're crisp with a surprisingsweetness, and only after chewing does a little sharpness kick in.Pearls are very good marinated or pickled. You can easily substitutesmall storage onions for them in any cooked dish.
Green, or creaming, onions: These are fresh onions with a largewhite bulb still attached to their long green quill, or stem.Sometimes these are scallions that have been allowed more time in theground. Most often they are fresh young bulb onions, picked beforematurity. They have a clean, crisp flavor, and although somewhathotter than thin scallions, they're good raw or cooked.
Specialty sweet onions: Specialty sweet onions are very high inwater content, low in heat and high in sweetness. They're extremelycrisp and fairly perishable. These are the onions that most oftenare sold under a regional name (Maui, Vidalia, Walla Walla) and havea limited season.
Usually yellow, the smaller ones are often slightly hotter thanthe large ones. These onions are excellent raw and delicate whencooked, and they caramelize nicely. Try them for your next onionrings.
The sweet onions include:
The Texas Sweet, sometimes called the 1015Y, so named becauseit's traditionally planted on Oct. 15, is crisp, probably 85 percentwater. It explodes with flavor when you bite it, releasing loads ofsugar. It has little sulfur, yet enough onion character that youknow what you're munching. The 1015Y is available from March toJune.
The Maui tastes almost as if it's been soaked in sugar syrup.Crisp and full of water, Mauis seem almost thirst-quenching. Alittle heat sets in as you chew - not much, but enough to lingerawhile. Although hard to find, Mauis are available year-round.
The Arizona impresses first with its sweetness. It isn't quiteas full of water as the Maui, not quite as crisp, not quite as hot.Its overall sweetness gives it a lovely refreshing finish. It'savailable May through June.
The Vidalia is very sweet and crisp. A hint of heat tends tolinger just a moment after chewing. When we tested one that had beenwrapped in foil and refrigerated for six weeks, we were struck by thefact that its sweetness and fine texture were unchanged. Only theheat had diminished with time. Baby Vidalias come to the market inDecember, and mature onions are available from April through June.
Walla Walla Sweets arrive in markets in July. They'reastonishingly sweet, with barely enough sulfur to confirm thatthey're onions. They're as delicate as a chilled jicama, and asrefreshing. They are available in July and August.
Leeks: Leeks have a tough green top that is discarded. Youdon't often hear of people munching raw leeks - and for good reason.In flavor, the garden-variety leek is like an offbeat onion - veryhot, coarse and chewy. The heat persists, and as you chew, the leekreleases a bitterness and a more complex flavor than almost any otheronion, mellow and astringent at the same time.
When cooked, leeks develop a warm, oniony flavor. When choppedand sauteed, they become almost buttery in texture. A yellow storageonion can be substituted for chopped leeks, but the flavor won't bethe same.
Scallions: Scallions have a white bulb that is mild in flavorand enjoyable cooked or raw. When chopped, the greens make ahandsome garnish. Scallions are a common ingredient in Chinesecuisine; the bulb is cooked to add flavor; the raw green tops arechopped and sprinkled on at the end as a garnish (the scallion topburns very quickly when cooked in a stir-fry).
Chives: These are the gentlest of all alliums. Their tendergreen stems have a delicate onion flavor that is vastly diminished bycooking. So, chives are best added raw at the last minute andusually are used snipped into small bits using kitchen scissorsrather than a knife.
Chives are far more tender than scallions and sweeter, too.While they are clearly oniony, they have not even a hint of heat.Minced scallion greens may be substituted for chives as a garnish,but scallion tops are significantly less pleasing in flavor andtexture.
Garlic: Available year-round, garlic is best when fresh. Whilethere are many varieties, the most common are pink-headed garlic, sonamed for the color of its exterior, and white-headed garlic.
While there are minute differences among varieties, all freshgarlic should have a pungent, sharp flavor, a tinge of sweetness anda lingering aroma. If the head is sprouting, the garlic will bebitter.
The flavor is released when the clove is cut, and mashing it issaid to make the taste even stronger. Because of its pungency, it isgenerally, but not always, cooked.
Elephant garlic: A very large form of garlic, elephant garlic issaid by some to be an ancestor of today's leek. While each clove isvery large, the flavor is actually milder than that of ordinarygarlic.
Shallots: These are like tender, delicate onions in flavor andaroma, and they come in a variety of sizes. They make a superb basefor sauces and a splendid addition to omelets. Cooked whole, theyhold their shape and caramelize beautifully, making them an excellentaddition to anything braised or roasted.
Like leeks, shallots aren't good eaten raw. A raw shallottastes nothing like a cooked one and is hot enough that you wouldn'toften try it. Shallots are usually more expensive than the otheralliums.
The following dish makes the most of onions. A paste, ortapenade, of roasted onion, black olives and sun-dried tomatoes keepsthis roast chicken moist during cooking and imparts a lusty flavor.
Tapenade, a thick, zesty Provencal spread, features ground blackMediterranean olives and olive oil and usually is served in a crock,accompanied by fresh, chewy bread. At Zack Bruell's acclaimedCleveland restaurant, Z Contemporary Cuisine, a crock of tapenadeawaits diners at every table. Zack likes his tapenade with lots ofoil; we prefer it with less - it's up to you. Butterflied chicken with roasted onion tapenade Serves 4
1/2 cup Zack's roasted onion tapenade (recipe follows)
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano leaves or 1 1/2 teaspoonsdried
1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) chicken, split down the back, backboneremoved
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher (coarse) salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Minced fresh chives for garnish 1. Blend together tapenade, parsley and oregano in a small bowl. 2. Press chicken flat. Season the underside with some olive oil,salt and pepper. Place, skin side up, on a rack in a roasting pan.Carefully loosen skin with fingers. Generously spread tapenademixture under skin, all the way down the thighs. Rub skin with theremaining olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and lots of pepper. Letstand at room temperature for 30 minutes. 3. Roast chicken in a preheated 500-degree oven for 15 minutes.Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and roast until tender, about25 minutes longer. To test for doneness, gently insert the point ofa knife into a thigh. When juices run golden yellow, chicken isdone. 4. Cut chicken into quarters. Sprinkle with minced parsleyand chives and serve. Zack's roasted onion tapenade Makes 1 1/2 to 2 cups
1 large Spanish onion, unpeeled
About 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 packed cup pitted Kalamata olives
2 to 4 tablespoons oil-packed or water-softened sun-driedtomatoes, drained
3 plump garlic cloves, peeled 1. Rub onion with 1 tablespoon olive oil and wrap in foil. Bake ina preheated 375-degree oven until very tender, about 2 hours. Removefoil and let onion cool to room temperature. 2. Peel onion and cut into chunks. Place in a food processor fittedwith the metal blade. Add olives, 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoesand the garlic. Pulse (quickly turn machine on and off) untilpureed. Taste, adding more tomatoes if desired. With motor running,gradually add 1/4 cup olive oil or more if desired. 3. Scrape mixture into a clean container. Cover and refrigerate.Bring to room temperature before serving. Stir in more oil, ifdesired.
