Cry me a sliver

My favourite sandwich - a mature cheese with Onion Marmalade

The more you cry, the better the taste. We´re talking onions.They have the potential to lower bad cholesterol, relieve hypertension and minimize blood clotting, but they can reduce you to tears. I was lucky enough, when we lived in London, to buy the best organic onions from Ripple farm organics at The Stoke Newington Farmers Market. These onions made my eyes water as opposed to supermarket produce that failed to raise any tear.

Take every onion whose skin you slice through in Portugal, and within a few moments the tangy scent wafts up to your nose and your eyes begin to water.These Portuguese onions are real tear jerkers, all locally grown without pesticides or fertilizers and have just absorbed the natural sulphurs in the soil, which at the end of the day, when you slice through an onion, brings a tear to your eye. Sometimes the onion reaction is just a mild ocular irritant; other times, it's a full-on cry fest.Unless you´re a cook with a freshly broken heart the tears you shed when chopping onions aren't emotional ones.Sigh!!! to cheer you up let me introduce you to Onion Marmalade- The pickle of all pickles.This is the "must always have a jar in the fridge" pickle.I hear my fridge sighing that phrase again "not another jar of pickle, condiment queen is back  again."This is a  real tear jerker too, caused by the amount of onions you have to slice and the strong aroma given off by the vinegar in the cooking process. WARNING: Don´t attempt this on a day when you are expecting guests in your house.But having said that, make it anyway, It´s oh so awesome.

ONION MAMALADE
8 brown onions sliced 
1tablespoon cumin seeds
1tablespoon coriander seeds
3 cups (24fl oz 9 white wine vinegar
21/2 cups (20floz) light brown sugar or demerara


Place the onions, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and vinegar in a saucepan over a medium-high heat. Cover and allow to simmer rapidly for 15 minutes. Add the brown sugar to the pan and cook uncovered , for 1 hour or until the onions are soft and the syrup is thick. Pour into sterilised jars* and seal immediately.
Serve the onion marmalade on sandwiches with cheese or meat.Makes 5 cups.
The marmalade can be kept sealed for up to 1 year. After opening, store in the refrigerator for up to 8 weeks.

*Sterilised jars- Before putting foods into jars to be sealed and stored, the jars need to be sterilised. Sterilise the jars by by thoroughly washing in hot water. Let them dry naturally. Do not dry them with a tea towel. Place the jars on a baking tray in a preheated oven 100C (200F) for thirty minutes. Remove the jars from the oven, allow to cool, then fill as the recipe requires and seal.