Those bloomin' onions: History with a dipping sauce

By Margo Mallar

The ancient Egyptians worshipped the onion. To them, its earth-like shape with concentric rings symbolized eternity. Greek athletes ate large quantities of them and Roman gladiators were rubbed down with onion juice to firm up the muscles. Alexander the Great fed them to his soldiers as they set out to conquer the known world, believing that onions would give them strength and courage. Modern folks might not worship the onion but cepivorous fairgoers have been scarfing up onion rings for decades with a near-religious devotion. In 1988, after millennia of experimentation with ways to serve onions, a new onion conquered the snack world, one that allowed food vendors to pump up a mere 40 cents worth of onion into a muscular chrysanthemum of calorie-laden flavor that fetches as much as 7 or 8 dollars: the Bloomin Onion.Tim Gannon, one of the founders of the Outback Steakhouse chain, claims credit for developing the Bloomin Onion, which has since been imitated throughout the United States. Renamed, of course, as the Awesome Blossom or Texas Tumbleweed, the appetizer is essentially the same: an enormous onion, sliced with a special technique, coated with a spicy batter, deep-fried and served with a dipping sauce. The recipes for the batters and the dipping sauces vary from restaurant to restaurant but the key to the success of the Bloomin Onion is really the presentation. To achieve the delicate flower-like petals, the chef needs either ginsu precision with the knife or a special machine to make the two dozen slices through the onion, leaving just enough of the bulb unsliced at the bottom so that it doesnt fall apart when breaded and fried.Once the onion has been sliced, it is often soaked in cold water to unfurl the petals before the entire bloom is dipped in a milk and egg wash. It is then coated with a mixture of flour and spices, which can be a messy proposition because each of the nooks and crevices of the onion must be covered completely. The onion is usually set to rest for at least a quarter of an hour in the refrigerator so that the gluten in the flour begins to adhere to the onion petals. Once it has rested for a while, the bloom is lowered into hot oil and deep-fried until it is golden brown, approximately 10 minutes.The final step is to remove the center of the Bloomin Onion with a special coring device, not unlike a tulip bulb planter. This center plug is tossed out and a small cup of dipping sauce is placed in the center of the finished onion before serving. Onions are a good source of folic acid, and health studies have shown that many onions contain quercetin, a powerful antioxidant that acts as an anti-cancer agent to block the formation of cancer cells. Researchers have also discovered that onions contain a sulfur compound that can prevent the biochemical chain reaction that leads to asthma attacks. Sadly, much of these health advantages are lost during the cooking so the health enthusiast might follow the bloomin onion with a raw onion chaser. Onions come in a variety of sizes, colors and flavors. From sweet to biting, in white, brown, yellow, red and purple, onions range from the one-half inch diameter used for pickling to the mammoth 6 and a 1/2 pounder that broke the record one harvest in Scotland. No matter the size or the color, nearly all onions will make you cry if you cut them, the result of two chemical reactions. First, when the cell walls of an onion are cut, its enzymes release a strong odor. Then the onion releases allicin, a volatile sulfur gas that irritates the eyes and nose, causing sniffling and tears.The onions ability to inspire tears has also inspired poetry. Pablo Neruda wrote that the onion is the "star of the poor, fairy godmother wrapped in delicate paper, you come from the earth, eternal, intact, pure as starseed, and on cutting you the knife in the kitchen raises the single tear without sorrow. You made us weep without grieving us. Onions appear in humankinds earliest documents. The Code of Hammurabi, the ancient law of Mesopotamia, established a monthly ration of bread and onions, the mainstay of the peasant diet. The emperor Charlemagne ordered onions to be planted in his royal garden. They were such an important food that strings of onions were even accepted as payment for the use of land in feudal France. The onion also might have played a decisive role in the American Civil War. General Ulysses S. Grant, who headed the Union forces, wrote the War Department a note that read, "I will not move my troops without onions." He promptly received three cartloads. So partake of the Bloomin Onion, Fryeburg fairgoers, and dont worry about the calories. Think of it as the history of civilization with a dipping sauce.