November 07, 2008

Do onions make you cry?

NO! You probably haven't dated one yet...

It does make me teary-eyed and here's the explanation why...

When an onion is cut, the ruptured onion cells release enzymes which break down nearby sulphur compounds into oxides and acids. These re-form to make a gas. This gas moves into your eyes and then mixes with your tears to form sulphuric acid.

Check out here for some suggestions to have fewer tears.

4 comments:

Subash S L said...

Hello Minu, Any suggestions for not getting teary-eyed when you cut onions. I think there are a few that I came across but have forgotten them. Thanks for being a reader/follower of my blog.

Minu said...

Hello Subash, The link below offers some suggestions...

http://pinchmysalt.com/2007/10/24/how-to-cut-an-onion-with-fewer-tears-a-photo-tutorial/

But then the best way to avoid tears, I would say, is to get the task delegated...it works ;)

Thanks for reading my blog. I have been following your blog since ISS last season and it definitely makes an interesting read

Subash S L said...

Hi Minu, ...pinchmysalt.com was cool. I thot' there were some other tricks besides these. By the way I haven't forgotten ISS 2008 though it didn't sink into me like ISS 2007 did. But did you watch Friday's duet performance between Vivek and Gayatri on ISS? It was really something. It is the topic of my latest post. You don't want to miss.

solaiman said...

Thanks. There are several ways to cut an onion. We can slice an onion, dice an onion, Lyonnais onion, chopping onion, onion ring etc. Keep a kitchen towel or tissue paper or wet cloth under the cutting board for more control and safer when you cut an onion.
Actually cutting an onion is a kitchen basic. Here I found the site described detail on how to cut an onion easily without tears and why onion makes us cry and also choosing the right onion for food preparation.