No-cry onions - yes it is possible

I would not have believed it, but it is actually possible to peel and dice onions without ending up a bawling mess.

Possibly the most useful take-home from yesterday's cooking lesson at 3 Seeds, this tip has turned my world upside down, so I simply have to share. And no it doesn't involve goggles, running water or any such tricks. Just an onion and a knife.

First thing - do not top-and-tail the onion. This lets the juices out into the air. Turn the onion upside down, so the hairy bit - the roots - are on top of the "head", which we'll call "north". Use a knife to cut off just enough of that north end to allow you to peel off the skin and outer layers, pulling down towards the stalk "south" end. Do not cut the south end off.

When peeled, then lay the onion on its side and cut in half north to south. Then cut the south end off one half and a bit more of the north end to remove any remaining base. And then slice it up. BUT do not slice it in the traditional east-west way making rings. Slice it north-south. Repeat for the other half.

Far less juice is released this way. And importantly, far less juice is released during cooking, thereby retaining the flavours for your consumption, rather than releasing them during the cooking for little more than the fragrant pleasure of your dinner guests and neighbours.

So not only can you now incorporate onions into your meal without the drama, you also get a far better end product to boot.

As part of the cooking lesson I diced four large onions using this method, all without tears.

Let me know how you go?