Wipe those tears away!

Onions are one of the most versatile ingredients in cooking, appearing in everything from cocktails to appetizers to desserts. Whether you prepare them raw, steamed, sauteed, deep-fried, boiled, or caramelized, you'll have to slice or dice them for many recipes. Unfortunately, onion preparation causes grief for many a budding chef, even to the point of omitting onions from their cooking. To avert this culinary tragedy, this 2torial shows the efficient ways of slicing and dicing, so you spend your time eating and not crying.

Before you begin

You're going to need a sharp knife and a clean, level cutting board: using anything less will slow the learning process considerably. Some folks dedicate a cutting board for cutting onions and garlic, as their strong flavors can be absorbed into the board and transferred to other ingredients (fruit, for example). Other folks can't be bothered with a separate cutting board and haven't had any problems with intrusive onion flavors. Try just one board and expand to two if you think it's necessary.



Some terms: Positioning an onion correctly makes it easier to prepare, and positioning requires you understand the parts of the onion. The most important reference point is the root end: the tough, hairy end of the onion. On the other side of the onion root is the onion top, and the line between those is called the axis. The axis represents the direction that the onion layers grow in; since you'll need to cut lengthwise (with the axis) and widthwise (against the axis), it's important to locate the axis.