Red onion jam

jar of onion jam [photo: Paul Gregory Photography, UK]

French onion soup

Turn a few onions and some beef stock into a culinary masterpiece with this recipe for French onion soup.

Cook the future

Follow Paul Merrett's recipe to make the ultimate garlic flat bread.

Try out our recipe from the Ever Wondered About Food series

Ingredients

10 red onions, peeled, halved and very finely sliced
500ml (18 fl oz) red wine (= four glasses)
2 tablespoons (1 oz) Demerara sugar
½ jar (125 g or 4½ oz) redcurrant jelly
one glass of port (125 ml or 4½ fl oz)
4 tablespoons (60 ml) (2 fl oz) red wine vinegar.

Method

This is really quick and easy but take care not to burn or caramelise the onions or sugar. This jam goes very well with steak or as an accompaniment to a cheeseboard or in your cheddar cheese sandwich.

Place the onions in a casserole pan over a medium heat on the hob.
Add the red wine and Demerara sugar.
Simmer until the red wine has nearly cooked away.
Add the red currant jelly, port and red wine vinegar to the pan.
Simmer until you have a really jammy consistency.
You can keep the jam in a sterilized unopened jar in the fridge for up to 2 months. Once opened, consume within 2 weeks.

Did you know?

Onions make us cry because they contain more than a hundred sulphur-containing compounds. Slicing the onions breaks open the cells and releases these sulphur compounds as a gas. This dissipates through the air and reacts with the water in the eye, creating a mild solution of sulphuric acid. The tear glands then produce tears to dilute and flush out the acid.

To avoid crying, you can chill the onion which prevents the enzymes from activating. Using a sharp knife will limit the cell damage, and so reduce the amount of enzymes released. Slicing onions by an open window or under an extractor to increase the ventilation will dissipate the tear-inducing gas.

Content last updated: 23/05/2007