Never cry while cutting the onion again -The science-sponsored trick actually works

I stood at the kitchen counter, making dinner. Tears rolled down my face. I sniffed and tried to wipe my eyes with my fingers. I didn't cry for spilled milk and didn't cry for a broken heart. I cried because I cut a particularly hip onion– It has such a strong aroma to scent in my apartment. So many recipes start with the onions that, if you cook at all, you have undoubtedly experienced the unpleasant, light-up effects of onions. But why does this happen, and is there a way to minimize the irritating effects of vegetables on the tear ducts?

When the onion experiences cell damage, such as cutting, their cells experience aliinase, an enzyme that produces sulfur compounds. In his book About food and cookingHarold McGee, a food science writer, notes that this is the protective mechanism of the vegetable. According to McGee, plants “compensate for their ability to chemical synthesis” and “produce thousands of strong flavors, sometimes toxic,” to withhold predators from attack. The purpose of the sulfur compounds released by the onion is to “annoy and hold their attackers” through their mouths, nose passageways and irritation of the eyes.

These compounds are particularly strong at room temperature. In his cookbook Vegetable tableDietary Nik Sharma He writes: “The Alliinase enzyme produces the most effective chemicals at warmer temperatures; cold temperatures reduce the activity of this enzyme.” So, to minimize the light-inducing effects of the onion, Sharma simply cools the onion for an hour or two before using them.

I read about the method Vegetable table Shortly after publishing the book in 2023, and I was curious to try myself – so I cooled an onion for an hour before slicing it. Miraculously, I didn't throw a single tear. Although I was skeptical, I'm now a transformed believer who never cut the onion without cooling it first. I have to note that this is completely anecdotal; I did not test it scientifically or systematically against other techniques, but in my personal experience it works extremely well. The onion may have been annoyed and held back once, but thanks to this simple trick, it will no longer do it.