DESIGN PROCESS.Task 1

My topic is how to chop an onion? When the task was set I thought I won't be able to find any information about chopping the onion. I was wrong, there are many tutorials and instructions how to chop an onion without crying, or how to chop an onion without cutting your fingers off. I don't know much about cutting onions but I know a perfect person in everyones life that knows - MOM. So I called my mom (to Lithuania) and asked few questions on how she does that. My mom seemed to know loads of old methods of how to chop an onion without crying, some of them seemed quite ridiculous to me:

1. She always puts the knife under cold water and only then starts chopping. Somehow the water on the knife helps not to cry. (she learned this from her mother)

2. She told me about a method that her friend uses. Put some cold water in Your mouth and chop the onion. <--- ok, this one even to me is way to strange. How can that help not to cry?

My roommate lauren told me of a method she knows bur remarked that she tried it and it doesn't help at all:

1. Put a spoon in Your mouth and chop the onion.  <--- I still don't get the connection between chopping and putting something in your mouth in order not to cry.

After hearing few ridiculous methods on how to chop an onion I decided to do some research in the internet, maybe I'll find something more helpful and logical. The only problem the internet is quite  visual.

1. Over the years I've been given countless methods of how not to cry when preparing onions. One enterprising person even sent me a battery-operated fan to fan away the fumes, but I can honestly say that nothing really works. For chopping, however, food processors have made things a lot easier, and now there aren't as many tears as there used to be. If you want to slice onions, cut off the root end, then peel away the skin. Slice in whole round 
slices and separate into rings, or else cut the onion in half first and then slice into half-moon shapes.


2. To chop small (without a processor), leave the root intact, then peel away the skin from the top end. Now cut the onion in half and place each half on a flat surface, round side up. Next, make cuts vertically from the root end but leaving the root intact to hold it together.


 3. Then make horizontal cuts across the vertical cuts whilst you hold on to the root end firmly. The last cut will be the little root bit, and this can be discarded.


4. Rough chopping is as above, making about three cuts vertically across each onion and then three horizontally


http://www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/fruit-and-vegetables/how-to-slice-and-chop-onions.html

• Chop the top off the onion and cut in half.
• Peel the skin away - discard the brown layers until you are left with the white of the onion.
• Take one half of the onion and make about 3 or 4 horizontal cuts, then cut down vertically, holding the onion together as you chop.
• Turn the onion with the flat end facing the knife and chop downwards with a slicing motion to create a finely chopped onion. Discard the root.
• Repeat the process on the second half.

• Onion slicing is one of the most important cooking skills because many soups, stews and sauces start with this technique.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/videos/1059/chopping-an-onion