Briones: An end to a crisis?

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Briones: An end to a crisis?

I want everyone to know that the price of red onions has dropped considerably.

Before you bring out the confetti and the champagne, it still hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels but at least it’s no longer more expensive than the price of meat or fish.

I went to the Carbon Public Market the other day where red onions cost P200 per kilo. If you’re running on a tight budget, peeled red onions cost even less at P140 per kilo.

To those who don’t know, peeled onions are cheaper because they are considered “damaged” goods. However, it usually doesn’t matter if you cook them immediately.

By the way, I’m making a distinction between red onions and Spanish onions, also known in the old days as sibuyas Amerikano or sibuyas puti as opposed to the former which continues to be called sibuyas Bumbay by locals.

I don’t know if it’s a racial thing, but since I am too old to be “woke” I don’t feel a tinge of guilt calling red onions sibuyas Bumbay.

It must be because they are more pungent, which is how Filipino natives must have described the odor of our brothers and sisters from South Asia when they first encountered the latter. (Imagine how we must have smelled to them.)

Again, I don’t mean any disrespect because I actually love Indian food, particularly the non-vegetarian dishes from the north of the subcontinent. I mean, who isn’t a sucker for a good biryani or a mean shahi korma?

Come to think of it, the term should be taken as a compliment because it says a lot about Indian cooking, which is considered to be one of the world’s best. Then again, who would admit that their cuisine tastes like sh-t because that’s just not cool? Tell that to the Eskimos who consume raw or frozen polar bear, seal or caribou as part of their regular diet.

But I am not here to discuss the merits of Indian cuisine or disparage the food eaten by the Inuits or the Yupiks.

I am just very happy to share that once again I can eat corned beef and sardines because they don’t taste the same without sautéed onions, be they red or Spanish (white).

By the way, did you know that the Philippines wasn’t the only country that suffered a severe onion shortage?

Apparently, a weak harvest in Spain and in North Africa has forced some countries to stop exporting onions to satisfy their populace’s demand.

Go figure.

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