Most Cooks Are In A Rut

Most cooks I know are in an allium rut. Alliums are foods like onions, garlic, shallots, and anything in that family of vegetation. Take these away, and many cooks flounder. I am keenly aware of this rut because I have an allergic response to these things. Fortunately, I am not deathly allergic. I would certainly be dead if I were because alliums are in so many many different things. No, my allergic response is that they upset my digestive system. I feel yucky and have a major acid attack.

Since I actually don't like the taste of onions or garlic, doing without those foods is no personal sacrifice. I had avoided them whenever convenient. But, I had never really discovered the cause of all my acid trouble until I decided to take garlic tablets for their health benefits. I didn't taste the garlic, but when I took the tablets I started having major attacks of acid indigestion. A little experimentation soon revealed that any alliums triggered this response.

Armed with this knowledge, I began reading food labels much more carefully trying to avoid anything with alliums. Only onions and garlic proved difficult to avoid. The other alliums are less frequently used.

I soon found people did not want to have me over for dinner because cooking around my allergy spoiled their recipes. Our society members seem to be as addicted to onions and garlic as they are to salt. Furthermore, since most people only experience health benefits from these things, chefs have no motivation to give them up.

Sadly, the cooks have fallen into a rut of relying too heavily on onions and garlic to flavor foods. Instead, they need find their creativity and introduce other fruits and vegetables into their stews and casseroles to enhance the flavors.

That's Wade's two cents.

Wade Houston
September 22, 2007