The Core of an Onion: Peeling the Rarest Common Food―Featuring More Than 100 Historical Recipes
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- Create Date：2023-11-11 01:21:42
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Mark Kurlansky
- ISBN：1635575931
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Summary
From the New York Times- bestselling author of Cod and Salt ， a delectable look at the cultural， historical， and gastronomical layers of one of the world's most beloved culinary staples - featuring original illustrations and recipes from around the world。
As Julia Child once said， “It is hard to imagine a civilization without onions。”
Historically， she's been right-and not just in the kitchen。 Flourishing in just about every climate and culture around the world， onions have provided the essential basis not only for sautés， stews， and sauces， but for medicines， metaphors， and folklore。 Now they're Kurlansky's most flavorful infatuation yet as he sets out to explore how and why the crop reigns from Italy to India and everywhere in between。
Featuring historical images and his own pen-and-ink drawings， Kurlansky begins with the science and history of the only sulfuric acid–spewing plant， then digs through its twenty varieties and the cultures built around them。 Entering the kitchen， Kurlansky celebrates the raw， roasted， creamed， marinated， and pickled。 Including a recipe section featuring more than one hundred dishes from around the world， The Core of an Onion shares the secrets to celebrated Parisian chef Alain Senderens's onion soup eaten to cure late-night drunkenness; Hemingway's raw onion and peanut butter sandwich; and the Gibson， a debonair gin martini garnished with a pickled onion。
Just as the scent of sautéed onions will lure anyone to the kitchen， The Core of an Onion is sure to draw readers into their savory stories at first taste。
As Julia Child once said， “It is hard to imagine a civilization without onions。”
Historically， she's been right-and not just in the kitchen。 Flourishing in just about every climate and culture around the world， onions have provided the essential basis not only for sautés， stews， and sauces， but for medicines， metaphors， and folklore。 Now they're Kurlansky's most flavorful infatuation yet as he sets out to explore how and why the crop reigns from Italy to India and everywhere in between。
Featuring historical images and his own pen-and-ink drawings， Kurlansky begins with the science and history of the only sulfuric acid–spewing plant， then digs through its twenty varieties and the cultures built around them。 Entering the kitchen， Kurlansky celebrates the raw， roasted， creamed， marinated， and pickled。 Including a recipe section featuring more than one hundred dishes from around the world， The Core of an Onion shares the secrets to celebrated Parisian chef Alain Senderens's onion soup eaten to cure late-night drunkenness; Hemingway's raw onion and peanut butter sandwich; and the Gibson， a debonair gin martini garnished with a pickled onion。
Just as the scent of sautéed onions will lure anyone to the kitchen， The Core of an Onion is sure to draw readers into their savory stories at first taste。
Reviews
Witch-at-Heart
，
The Core of an onion is an interesting read。 It takes you through the history， myths and thoughts of the times of one of our most enduring food staples。 Although it is a bit wordy at times （I expected more recipes and less works history） I honestly learned quite a bit and was fascinated by the different types of dishes that were made using different kinds of onions throughout both history and regions around the world。 Interesting read if you want to learn more about the history of onions。
Rhonda Lomazow
，
Mark Kurlansky has written a wonderful ode to the onion。 He takes us layer and layer of its history it’s value in our cooking。Really enjoyed the recipes。an interesting fun read。#netgalley #bloomsbury
Susan
，
To use a food metaphor， this felt like a word salad about onions。 It starts off with several quotes from plays， poems， etc to onions without any connection。 There were lots of interesting facts about onions thrown in。 My favorite was how coffee， onions， and sugar were considered a cold remedy。 Hopefully your nose is stuffed because that sounds horrible if you could smell/taste it！ But there was a lot of bouncing around without any natural progression to the course of the book。 And then it finish To use a food metaphor， this felt like a word salad about onions。 It starts off with several quotes from plays， poems， etc to onions without any connection。 There were lots of interesting facts about onions thrown in。 My favorite was how coffee， onions， and sugar were considered a cold remedy。 Hopefully your nose is stuffed because that sounds horrible if you could smell/taste it！ But there was a lot of bouncing around without any natural progression to the course of the book。 And then it finished up with a bunch of recipes without much discussion about their place in society， the people connected to them， etc。 I would have preferred fewer recipes and more background。 Overall， lots of interesting information but it felt a lot like a rough draft。Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA for a copy of the book。 This review is my own opinion。 。。。more
Cindy
，
This was an interesting little book！ The first part is a history of people cultivating and eating onions and the last half or so was a little cook book， of sorts。 It was charming reading though， not just a list of ingredients and instructions like most modern cook books use。I love onions and think they make most savory dishes better so it was fun to see how their use has evolved through the last few centuries of history。
Nina
，
Almost certainly more than you’ve ever wanted to know about onions but presented in a truly entertaining， informative way with some fine looking recipes which I have yet to try。
Magen
，
Who knew a history of onions could be so interesting？ I definitely have to read more by Mark Kurlansky because you can feel how passionate he is through his writing and I need that in my life。 There’s history， recipes， tall tales and small ones—all about onions！ Absolutely fascinating， a great read， especially if you love learning new/odd things。Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review。
Bozhena Levine
，
Thank you Bloomsbury and Goodreads for the advanced review copy of this great book。 This is another well researched， well written culinary history by Mark Kurlansky。 This time he focuses on the humble onion， highlighting its historical， cultural， and culinary significance。 Multiple historical and modern recipes are dispersed through the book。 Overall， this was a wonderful， an very informative read。
Susan
，
A worthy successor to Mr。 Kurlansky’s earlier landmark treatises on cod， salt， milk， and the like， this social history of humankind’s long love affair with onions reads like a conversation with an old friend， albeit one who is supremely well-versed in history， sociology， botany， food science。 。 。and with a healthy dose of humor and humility。 Lovers of any of the above will be well rewarded with the results of this author’s comprehensive and lovingly compiled research impressively displayed here。 A worthy successor to Mr。 Kurlansky’s earlier landmark treatises on cod， salt， milk， and the like， this social history of humankind’s long love affair with onions reads like a conversation with an old friend， albeit one who is supremely well-versed in history， sociology， botany， food science。 。 。and with a healthy dose of humor and humility。 Lovers of any of the above will be well rewarded with the results of this author’s comprehensive and lovingly compiled research impressively displayed here。 And who knew there was so much onion controversy going on throughout the ages， and within and across political borders？ The fruits of these controversies are personified in the diverse array of historical onion recipes from around the globe （some carrying over more successfully into the current age than others） interspersed throughout the text and sure to please a wide swath of onion purists。 Curiouser and curiouser: write and eat on， Mr。 Kurlansky: write and eat on！ 。。。more
Melissa
，
*This book was received as an advanced reviewer's copy from NetGalley。There's nothing like a good micro-history。 Taking an innocuous object and exploring it in depth。 And this one was especially layered （yes， I realize that joke is way over done， too bad）。 The tale of the onion， ubiquitous in cooking， delicious， able to make you cry with a mere slice。Kurlansky delves into the allium with a history of its uses， common farming practices， and the general population that eats them （hint， almost ever *This book was received as an advanced reviewer's copy from NetGalley。There's nothing like a good micro-history。 Taking an innocuous object and exploring it in depth。 And this one was especially layered （yes， I realize that joke is way over done， too bad）。 The tale of the onion， ubiquitous in cooking， delicious， able to make you cry with a mere slice。Kurlansky delves into the allium with a history of its uses， common farming practices， and the general population that eats them （hint， almost everyone）。 From the different varieties （and lost varieties）， to the other domesticated variations this bulb can contain， he doesn't leave much unknown。 I can't say there was a ton of new stuff in here that I hadn't read in other food books， but I did like it consolidated for this particular food item。 That was the first half of the book anyway。The second explored recipes。 This section I had a little more trouble with， just because I really don't care for reading recipes in narrative format。 Some people do， and vintage cookbooks are perfect for those people。 I am not one of them。 I just find it tedious and I loose interest really quickly。 But I won't fault the book for my own foibles in appreciating this format。 Even so， it was nice to see how much hasn't changed about the onion and its uses in cooking （and some of the random ways it used to be used）。If you love onions （or micro-histories）， this isn't one to miss！Review by M。 Reynard 2023 。。。more
Geoffrey
，
（Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley）Another Kurlansky publication， another informative joy of a read！ Between the historical background， the science， the surprising abundance of recipes， and more， this book provides more on it than one would imagine was even possible given the singular topic， all without wearing out its welcome - or at least so was the case with this reader。 I found the information contained within these pages to be as wonderfully varied （Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley）Another Kurlansky publication， another informative joy of a read！ Between the historical background， the science， the surprising abundance of recipes， and more， this book provides more on it than one would imagine was even possible given the singular topic， all without wearing out its welcome - or at least so was the case with this reader。 I found the information contained within these pages to be as wonderfully varied and layered as its subject matter。 Fans of Mark Kurlansky’s work will no doubt devour this quickly。 And those who have yet to pick up one of his works but still enjoy a good microhistory will have an entertainingly educational time as they learn about one of the most ubiquitous vegetables。 。。。more
Poppy Marlowe
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