I used to cut the onion, carrot, and celery very fine, brunoise, but a Marco Pierre White video sold me on grating the onion (and any garlic). It occurs to me that the way a food processor quickly turns vegetables into mush might actually be good in this situation. I think I’ll try it. Anybody here gone beyond onions to grate or FP into mush the carrots and celery (or the pepper when making Cajun dishes)? The grated onions (and garlic) definitely improve tomato sauces. When I was in school this was not taught. Anybody who has been in cooking school recently encountered it?
Not for Cajun, but for indian food. One of my grandmothers grated onions for some dishes (the ones where browning was not a feature) and always grated tomatoes. She insisted the flavor and texture were better. My dad always did tomatoes this way too.
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How do you keep from blinding eye-watering when grating onions?
FP makes it pretty tear-free.
Different onions elicit different reactions l, different people react differently too.
I don’t recall my grandma or dad ever tearing up, and no machinery involved, just a grater.
Me, I’m a weeper. Putting the onions in the fridge helps. Or wearing glasses.
I use a food processor for sofrito but not for mirepoix or Holy Trinity.
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Carefully select onions that are sweet and have not dried out. They seem to cause fewer tears.
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