Witty Wednesday - Onions

Did you know?

·  Ancient Egyptian Pharos were burried with onions as a symbol of eternity.

·  Apicius, the Roman author of one of the first ever cookbooks made use of onions in many of his recipes

·  Pilgrims took onions to America on the Mayflower only to discover that the Native Americans already used them extensively for food, clothing dyes and even as toys

·  Orthodox Hindus and Jainas do not use onions or garlic in their cooking because they believe the strength of the taste confuses the other flavours

·  Libya has the highest consumption of onions in the world with around 30kg per person consumed annually

·  The Latin name for onions is “Allium Cepa”. Who else is relieved that the English name is easier?

·  Onions are from the Allium genus (which is a flowering plant to those of you who, like me, did not study plant biology).

·  Onions help to relieve coughs, colds, asthma and bronchitis (it’s probably not a good idea to just eat them raw though).

·  Onion skins have been used in some dyes for things like wool.

·  You cry when onions are cut because some compounds are released that irritate the lachrymal glands in the eyes which causes tears to be released.