Kitchen Must Haves: Fresh Onions and Garlic

There is nothing like the smell of fresh onion and garlic being sautéed in any kind of oil—though I’m partial to olive oil. I remember many times Momma making me help with the meal during my early teenage years, and I was never excited about it. I would have to do sou chef work (e.g. chop and prep) and I did not like cutting onions—but WHO WOULD? Momma would give me many ideas on how to make the experience better—let the onion sit in cold water first, use fresh onion only, hold a (unlit) match between my teeth while I chop, or try not to breath in too deeply. NONE of them seemed to work, though I have never tried the match one. Someone should let me know if it is a thing! I just learned to chop faster and made sure I did not hurt myself in the process. But I digress. I would save cutting the garlic for last giving myself something to look forward to. I am not a fan of the sticky texture, or how hard it can be to peel the cloves. But it is still better than chopping onions.   

 Once I had everything prepped for Momma to do her thing, all I really remember is the smell. You could smell onion and garlic throughout the entire house. It’s an overwhelmingly fresh scent that lets you know that at the very least, the meal started off right. All the annoyance and angst of teenagehood would evaporate as soon as I smelled onions in the air. At this point, and Momma knew it, I was all in and had to see the meal through. I just felt so calm. I would start to open up about various childish, teenage things to Momma. Typically it would be my issue with not being seen as “black enough” and how it has affected my social standing at the school I attended. I wasn’t allowed to speak Ebonics at home, thus my tongue did not know how to fix itself to sound authentically cool...I tried though. As we talked, she would direct me on how to create the meal at hand...I always wondered if she would jump in to help, but she didn’t...well, not until the end when she added seasoning. I guess onion and garlic was something of our own truce: just two women looking to create and feed, a mother passing along the spirit of kitchen play and a daughter coming into her own space and understanding.

 So, when in doubt, start with onion and garlic. Typically, when a recipe lacks vegetables, I add onion and garlic (e.g. eggs, rice, taco meat). Even if I am going to create something on the spot, know that I usually start with these two things. I am not here to tell you how to keep your kitchen, I’d like to suggest one enhancement though—keep fresh onion and garlic on hand.

 Happy Cooking Y'all :)