Onion Gum

One a day for all of May!

I put onions in the same camp as poison ivy - I simply don't understand their self-defense systems. Cutting open an onion, for whatever reason, emits a fume/odor/?? that burns your eyes. I've actually cried before while chopping up an onion. I hate it. And as for it's self-defense? It doesn't really stop me from chopping it open, probably because the self-defense fume/eye thing only happens AFTER you've already chopped it open. How does that help preserve itself? That's like having an electric shock connected to my wallet and whoever steals it receives some sort of said shock. Sure, they get zapped but they also get my wallet. Not much of a security system. And so, I'm perplexed by the actual point of the eye-burning fumes that emit from a gutted onion (and poison ivy). But I have learned a trick that will even prevent the onion eye fumes. The next time you are chopping an onion, pop in a piece of gum. Some type of mint works well. Spearmint, even. I read about this trick on the walls of a bathroom stall. Tried it out. It worked. No more weeping while chopping.