Never Open Your Mouth While Cutting An Onion - By Staff Member "Silas Merriweather"

The most dreaded task in nearly any kitchen is the cutting of the onion. Oh the tears. Great bucketfuls of them. It was such a guarantee that when I was 16 and Sarah Goldberger wouldn't speak to me I went into the kitchen to chop an onion so I could cry without shame.

It's the sulfur that gets you. When you cut the onion you release sulphur. That gets up into your eyes and mixes with water to become sulfuric acid. Your eyes produce tears to wash away the acid.

Everyone seems to have their own method for avoiding the tears. I was told to never open my mouth while cutting an onion. The movie "Like Water For Chocolate," famously had everyone putting a half a raw onion on their head to stop the tears. Others will tell you to run the onion under water. While this works it also dilutes the flavor of the onion. You could just not use onions but honestly, who wants to live in a world like that?

The simplest, easiest, and most effective solution we have found in the kitchen is the use of a lowly and humble fan. Just set up a fan by your cutting board and the wind carries the sulphur away. It never reaches your eyes. Never becomes sulfuric acid. And you never cry.

Genius, you say. Well yes it is.

How We Roll - By Staff Member "Silas Merriweather"

Hugh’s vegetarian summer rolls are a favorite amongst our clients; so much so that some days we’ve been known to roll upwards of 400 of them. Scaling to such numbers is not a big deal in our kitchen. Working with Vietnamese rice papers – that comes with difficulties.

Galettes De Riz as it says on the package, made in an industrial park in Vietnam (who knew?), are thin, round, stiff and brittle. In order to work with them you have to place them in hot water. That’s one thing we can all agree on around here.

How long should the papers sit in the water? Well, for that we all have our different strategies. The trick is to rehydrate the rice paper enough to be flexible but not so much that it tears when you’re rolling.

Some believe a good long soak is the key. Others say drop it in and pull it right out. And still others find a short soak, say about 5 seconds, is the magic point. I am a believer in this third way, the Goldilocks solution as the astrophysicists might say.

The following are directions for how to conquer the elusive rice paper.

First, fill a bowl or hotel pan with your hottest tap water. Next, cover a table with plastic wrap. This is key; not only will it keep the papers from sticking to the table, but the plastic does not absorb the water leaving it for the papers to continue softening.

Then, and this is very important, put on the song “Rawhide” by Frankie Lane which begins, “Rolling, rolling, rolling. Keep them doggies rolling. Rolling, rolling, rolling, Rawhide.” This will help you find your rhythm.

Drop a rice paper into the water. Let it sit for 3 to 5 seconds. Give it a tap with your hand so you feel like you’re doing something. Pull it out. It should still be rather stiff. You might think it’s too soon. But lay the wet paper down on the plastic wrap and it will keep absorbing water.

After you’ve repeated this process 10 or 15 times your papers should be reaching a perfect consistency.

And that’s how we role here at Hugh Groman Catering. All 400 rolls sometimes.