_Mode_.--Put the onions, with their skins on, into a saucepan of boiling
water slightly salted, and let them boil quickly for an hour. Then take
them out, wipe them thoroughly, wrap each one in a piece of paper
separately, and bake them in a moderate oven for 2 hours, or longer,
should the onions be very large. They may be served in their skins, and
eaten with a piece of cold butter and a seasoning of pepper and salt; or
they may be peeled, and a good brown gravy poured over them.
_Time_.--1 hour to boil, 2 hours to bake.
_Average cost_, medium-sized, 2d. each.
_Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons.
_Seasonable_ from September to January.
[Illustration: ONION.]
THE GENUS ALLIUM.--The Onion, like the Leek, Garlic, and Shalot,
belongs to the genus _Allium_, which is a numerous species of
vegetable; and every one of them possesses, more or less, a
volatile and acrid penetrating principle, pricking the thin
transparent membrane of the eyelids; and all are very similar in
their properties. In the whole of them the bulb is the most
active part, and any one of them may supply the place of the
other; for they are all irritant, excitant, and vesicant. With
many, the onion is a very great favourite, and is considered an
extremely nutritive vegetable. The Spanish kind is frequently
taken for supper, it being simply boiled, and then seasoned with
salt, pepper, and butter. Some dredge on a little flour, but
many prefer it without this.
BURNT ONIONS FOR GRAVIES.