To sweet or not to sweet?
REALCUISINE | Julianne Glatz
Q. It seems like you always say to not use supersweet onions in your recipes. Do you just not like them, or is there another reason? Joyce C.
Actually, I like super-sweet onions such as Vidalias, Mauis, or Walla Wallas a lot. They’re perfect for salads, sliced or chopped for sandwiches – in any preparation that calls for raw onions.
But you’re right that I don’t think they’re the best choice for cooking. The reason is the same one that makes them so perfect to use raw. Such varieties have a much milder flavor as well as sweetness. Translated, that means they have less flavor. As anyone who’s ever bitten into a hamburger only to wince because the onion is overwhelmingly powerful will say, that’s a good thing.
Cooking, however, softens the flavor of even the strongest onions, making them flavorful without being overly assertive. Using super-sweet varieties when cooking can make the dish bland and boring. I love onion rings (although I only let myself order them occasionally). But several times lately, they’ve been a waste of calories, even though they’re hand battered in house. The onion flavor was virtually nonexistent, undoubtedly because supersweet types were used.
Another reason not to use super-sweets in cooking is that they have a higher water content than regular yellow, white or red onions.
That’s part of what makes them so mild (the other factor is lower sulphur). The higher water content can lead to a dish having more liquid than it should. Then it’s either served watery, or has to be cooked much longer to get it to the proper consistency, which can affect other components of the preparation.
Caramelizing onions in a dish – cooking them long and slow to bring out their satiny, unctuous texture and rich taste – is a favorite technique of mine, whether it’s for onion marmalade, the soups below, in stews or side dishes or hundreds of other recipes. The carameliz ing
relies on the onions’ natural sugars. Yes, super-sweets have more sugar. But regular onions have plenty of sugar, too, and the water issue makes the super-sweets difficult-toimpossible to caramelize.
Try making a recipe with cooked onions using super-sweet varieties one time, and regular varieties the next, and I bet you’ll understand (and agree) that each are good – but have different uses.
Contact Julianne Glatz at realcuisine.jg@gmail.com.
