When I only had to feed myself and didn’t have to systematically cater for teenagers and guests, I never really gave much thought to onions. I knew they were cheap but ignored how much they really costed, I rarely bought more than one or two at a time and used them right away for some exotic recipe that was out of my usual routine.
When I was fourty-three onions took my life by storm and held me captive ever since.
No Senegalese meal can be prepared without a couple pound of onions, if they are not the superstar ingredient of the dish they are at least in the background.
Today, I buy five kilos of onions on Monday and on Friday I need to fill up the basket again. National dishes based on onions are at least five out of ten/twelve and in my household it is strictly forbidden to swap/substitute ingredients from the original recipe, deviating from the most traditional version is not appreciated and it is unimaginable to have international cuisine for lunch.
That is why the budget item with most value for money in our household is a cook, someone who makes the Senegalese family happy (and also my humble self, who only has to feed herself like in the good old days).
When the onion is not directly implied in the preparation of the dish, it shows up at the end, like the raw onion rings sparkled on a plate of roasted mutton. And what about onion sauce, raw and/or caramelized, on fish and chicken? Or some onion hot sauce for the dumplings? Can I pour some on your PB&J sandwich? Wanna dip some focaccia in ? I met people who eat capellini and onion sauce (two on top of my insufferable food list) and my daughter sometimes is hesitant between Nutella sandwich and rice and onion sauce for her afternoon snack.
Because of its consistent presence in our pantry and my poor organisation (I often get to dinner time with no fantasy to concoct anything fancy), I learnt to appreciate the smelly and versatile bulb and today it timidly shows up also in the dishes I only make for myself. I still haven’t learn to drown them in oil and sprinkle them with the killer hot sauce but I have recently tried them on pasta (and it’s not as bad as it sounds).