Ogre associations aside, we’re big fans of the onion. Now, this is not exactly a controversial sentiment. Onions, in their cooked form, serve as the backbone of so many dishes, from French onion soup to marinara sauces. Onions are even one third of the holy trinity of vegetables known as mirepoix, a combination of onion, celery, and carrots that serves as the base for a great number of soups, roasts, and sauces. But have you ever given raw onions a chance? Let’s go beyond the finely chopped raw onions found in tuna salad or on top of chili dogs. Rarely do raw onions get their chance to really shine in a dish. In fact, they’re often shied away from.
On one hand, this aversion is completely understandable. After all, raw onions can taste sharp and overpowering thanks to their high sulfur content. If the incorrect onion type is used, eating a raw onion can be unpleasant, to say the least. However, this doesn’t mean that raw onions should be completely avoided. In fact, raw onions might just prove to be your next go-to food, since they offer a bite that few other ingredients do. You just have to find the proper vehicle, so to speak, for your raw onion, and pick the best onion for your own preferences. Raw onions can take center stage in sandwiches, salads, and even, if you’re brave enough, all on their own. Perhaps the safest raw onion to start with is the sweet Vidalia onion.
Vidalia onions are the best choice for a sweet raw snack
While most raw onions do often have a strong, sulfuric taste, this needn’t be a negative. Raw onions’ pungent, biting taste is the perfect treat for those craving a snack that bites back. For those seeking that sensation without all the intensity, the Vidalia onion, which is grown in Georgia, is known for its sweet, less pungent taste. The sugar content is this kind of onion is similar to what you’d find in an apple, so for those who can stomach it, it’s possible to munch on it raw, no sandwich needed. In most situations, though, a sandwich is the perfect way to eat raw onion.
Southerners have been enjoying sweet onion sandwiches for generations. Like other odd ball Southern sandwiches — such as the unlikely pairing of pineapple and mayo and even the more digestible tomato and mayo (which is one of the best tomato sandwiches in existence) — this sandwich is simple and, you guessed it, mayonnaise forward. It is made with a healthy helping of Vidalia onions, two slices of white bread slathered in mayo, with a small sprinkle of salt and pepper, and parsley. The star of the show, of course, is the raw onion, which is both tangy and sweet, and plays well off of the equally tangy mayonnaise and the herbaceous parsley.
Conversely, if you’re ready for a bit of a challenge, you can always try centering the more intense red onion in your sandwich. Red onions have a more concentrated, bitter flavor thanks to their high sulfur content. If you prefer a stronger taste, you might want to make yourself a red onion sandwich, but eating raw red onions like apples is not for the faint of heart.
