The way folks are slicing onions for stocks is driving me nuts

Was helping a new cook on the line last Wednesday and watched them slice an onion pole to pole for a mirepoix. I get it, you see it done on cooking shows and it looks neat. But for stocks and braises you want slices that break down even and release flavor fast, not these long stringy pieces that stay tough. I pulled up a stock I had going and showed how the traditionally sliced onions had basically melted versus the ones they did. Has anyone else noticed this taking over or am I just a grumpy old timer about it?

3 comments

3 Comments

amy_anderson1mo agoMost Upvoted

My aunt used to work at this little Italian place back in the 80s and she swears they'd just roughly chop everything for stock because it all ends up strained out anyway. She'd get on my case about uniform cuts for soups but would throw half an onion in for stock and call it a day. I still think about that every time I see someone doing the fancy vertical slice thing for a stock pot. Reminds me of the time I tried to peel a butternut squash with a vegetable peeler and ended up bandaging three fingers. Point is, a lot of that TV technique is for presentation not flavor extraction. You're not being grumpy, you're being practical.

knight.felix1mo ago

Wait, she peeled a butternut squash with a VEGETABLE PEELER? That is insane. I tried that once and literally threw it across the kitchen after the second cut. Ended up baking it whole and scooping the guts out like a pumpkin. No, absolutely not, you need a chef's knife for those things. They're basically rocks with string insides. That peeler trick only works on TV where they edit out the bandages. I give your aunt all the credit in the world for stock shortcuts though. Those peels and ends are getting strained anyway, she's not wrong.

miller.emery1mo ago

Right there with you. My dad ran a diner for years and would just chuck whole carrots and celery ribs into the stockpot, rinse the dirt off but didn't even bother peeling. Tasted fine every time. All that fancy knife work is just for the camera.