onion
Cultural layer
Jac. J. Janssen, Commodity Prices from the Ramessid Period: An Economic Study of the Village of Necropolis Workmen at Thebes (Brill, 1975)
Allium cepa L. (Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, accessed 2026-10-13)
Indian Food: A Historical Companion (K. T. Achaya, 1994)
William J. Darby, Paul Ghalioungui and Louis Grivetti, Food: The Gift of Osiris (Academic Press, 1977)
Jean Bottéro, The Oldest Cuisine in the World: Cooking in Mesopotamia, translated by Teresa Lavender Fagan (University of Chicago Press, 2004)
Herodotus, Histories II, 124 to 125, in G. C. Macaulay's translation (Macmillan, 1890), volume 1
Route
PendingThe routes are written. They are not yet mapped.
This entry's cultural layer already names where it came from and how it moved. What it does not yet carry is that movement as structure: ordered waypoints with real coordinates, and a mechanism on each leg. Until it does, the layer stays an empty slot rather than a drawn line, because a map built from prose would be a guess with a projection under it.
1 of 409 entries carries a mapped route · nutmeg is the prototype
- Waypoints
Ordered places, each with its kind
- Coordinates
Real positions, with the gazetteer they came from
- Segments
From, to, and the mechanism that moved it
- Confidence
Documented, attributed or contested
- Summary
What the route argues, in a sentence
Connections
75 bonds · 71 sourcedSumac onions; musakhan.
Confirmed in The Palestinian Table: chicken, onion and sumac flatbreads, page 194, which Kassis calls msakhan.
Set in bold capitals in The Flavor Bible: very highly recommended by a large number of the chefs it surveyed.
soffritto and mirepoix Read from the entry for onions, in general in the 2008 edition, where butter, unsalted is set in bold capitals.
Set in bold capitals in The Flavor Bible: very highly recommended by a large number of the chefs it surveyed.
Read from the entry for thyme in the 2008 edition.
Set in bold capitals in The Flavor Bible: very highly recommended by a large number of the chefs it surveyed.
Read from the entry for tomatoes in the 2008 edition.
The ackee and saltfish saute.
Read in Willinsky's Jerk: Barbecue from Jamaica, 1990, page 78, codfish and ackee, which she calls almost Jamaica's national dish: the onion sautéed with the oil and scallions before the ackees and flaked codfish go in.
The wot base is slow-cooked onion.
Read in Gebreyesus's Ethiopia, 2018, Poultry, Eggs & Fish and Pulses & Grains: doro wat and misr wat, onions cooked down slowly before the berbere goes in.
Suya is served with sliced onion.
Confirmed in Kitchen Butterfly, 'The Arewa Kitchen: Specialty Meats (or Suya Plus)' (2017): suya is sliced off the stick and served with sliced tomatoes, onions and chilli.
One is an ingredient of the other
A sofrito component.
Confirmed in Gran Cocina Latina: Puerto Rican sofrito, page 59.
One is an ingredient of the other
A recaito component.
Confirmed in Gran Cocina Latina: Charito's Puerto Rican seasoning mix, page 58, which carries onion.
The wot base: onion cooked down, then niter kibbeh.
Read in Gebreyesus's Ethiopia, 2018, Poultry, Eggs & Fish: slow-cooked spicy chicken with hard-boiled eggs (doro wat), berbere and onions cooked down with niter kebbeh, garlic and ginger, the eggs added at the end, served with injera. Gebreyesus adds that some cooks simmer onions and garlic in the butter itself.
Buljol: flaked salt fish with tomato, onion and Scotch bonnet under hot oil.
Read in the Rousseaus' Caribbean Potluck, 2014, page 151, buljol, which the book calls traditional Trini salt fish: flaked salt fish mixed with tomato, onion and Scotch bonnet, hot oil poured over, coriander added. It is dressed, not sautéed. Also read in Willinsky's Jerk: Barbecue from Jamaica, 1990, page 78, codfish and ackee, which she calls almost Jamaica's national dish, where onion goes into the sauté.
Okra soup.
Read in Aribisala's Longthroat Memoirs, 2016, 'Okro Soup, Gorgeous Mucilage': her okro, cut in big chunks and boiled briefly, needing only a few slivers of onion, one hot pepper, a grudging spoon of palm oil and salt, eaten as eba and okro.
Nigerian stew base.
Read in Aribisala's Longthroat Memoirs, 2016, 'Fish Soups and Love Potions': Aunty Thelma's fisherman's stew from the creeks of Cross River, which starts with palm oil and chopped onions sautéed until they break down, then blended fresh tomatoes and hot peppers, smoked catfish, crayfish and shellfish, and a little ground ogbono stirred in near the end; served with pounded yam or hot gari.
Akara and moin moin.
Read in Aribisala's Longthroat Memoirs, 2016, 'Akara and Honey': akara, peeled beans blended with water, chopped onions, salt and pepper; and 'Longthroat Memoirs', moin-moin with a distant suggestion of onion.
Steamed callaloo.
Read in the Rousseaus' Caribbean Potluck, 2014, page 17, callaloo cooked down with onions, garlic, thyme and Scotch bonnet; the cited Provisions was not the copy in hand.
Fonio under a yassa or onion sauce.
The soup base.
Confirmed in Kitchen Butterfly, 'Traditional Nigerian Edo Egusi Soup' (2014): stockfish with the blended onion base of the egusi.
Garden egg sauce.
Confirmed in Kitchen Butterfly, 'Garden Egg and Ugba Sauce with New Yam' (2015): red onion blended with the garden eggs.
The banga base.
Confirmed in Kitchen Butterfly, 'Banga Soup: Love in a Claypot' (2013): two red onions blended with hot chillies go into the palm nut sauce first.
Suya, served with onion.
Nigerian food research
Peppered pomo, cooked in blended onion and chilli.
Read in Kitchen Butterfly, 'Ideas in Pomo' (2017): the pomo sauce is blended onions and chillies fried in oil. The old note named nkwobi, which is cow foot.
Ugba salad.
Confirmed in Kitchen Butterfly, 'Garden Egg and Ugba Sauce with New Yam' (2015): ugba blended and cooked with red onion and garden eggs.
The aderezo base.
Read in Acurio's ¡Buenazo!, 2017, page 64, sopa de pallares, an aderezo of onions, garlic and ají panca; page 28, the chupe de camarones, onion and ají panca sweated together; the cited Peru: The Cookbook was not the copy in hand.
The rocoto relleno filling.
Bengali frying base.
Read in Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking, page 96, carrots, peas and potatoes in mustard oil with cumin and chopped onion, which the book says are cooked in a Bengali style; the cited Indian Cookery, BBC 1982, was not the copy in hand.
Set in bold in The Flavor Bible: recommended by a number of the chefs it surveyed.
Read from the entry for garlic in the 2008 edition.
Set in bold in The Flavor Bible: recommended by a number of the chefs it surveyed.
Read from the entry for beef, in general in the 2008 edition.
Shlada del ful, the Moroccan fava bean salad: onion softened in olive oil before the beans.
Read in Helou's Feast, 2018, page 416, fava bean salad (shlada del ful), Morocco: onion softened in olive oil before the beans go in. Her Egyptian ful medammes, page 300, takes scallions, not onion.
Set in bold in The Flavor Bible: recommended by a number of the chefs it surveyed.
Read from the entry for bacon in the 2008 edition.
Set in bold in The Flavor Bible: recommended by a number of the chefs it surveyed.
Read from the entry for sardines in the 2008 edition.
Set in bold in The Flavor Bible: recommended by a number of the chefs it surveyed.
Read from the entry for sausages in the 2008 edition.
Set in bold in The Flavor Bible: recommended by a number of the chefs it surveyed.
Read from the entry for onions, in general in the 2008 edition.
Set in bold in The Flavor Bible: recommended by a number of the chefs it surveyed.
Read from the entry for onions, in general in the 2008 edition, where cheese: cheddar, comté, emmental, is set in bold.
Kapusniak, where pearl barley meets onion fried in salt pork fat.
The okra and red chilli stew and the eggplant, lentil and pomegranate stew.
Confirmed in The Palestinian Table: okra and red chilli stew, and eggplant, lentil and pomegranate stew, both in Soups and Stews.
Kibeba, the Angolan dish of cuttlefish and mandioca with onion and seasonings.
Relocated in Historia da Alimentacao no Brasil, volume 1: page 192. Volume 1 gives no Brazilian refogado of mandioca with onion.
Moqueca refogado base.
Read in Manuel Querino, A arte culinária na Bahia, 1928, pages 7 to 13: onion ground into the acaragé batter and its sauce, the efó, the carurú, the humulucú and the xin-xin, all finished in azeite de cheiro; page 16, the moqueca. Cascudo, also cited: pages 157 and 158, onion among the seasonings with dende.
Frijoles de la olla.
Read in Los clasicos de la cocina mexicana, page 42, two cups of chopped white onion with the epazote and the beans; the cited Diccionario Enciclopedico was not the book in hand.
Kaleji: kalonji and cumin into the oil before the chopped onion.
Relocated in Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking, page 22. Page 206 calls kalonji a black onion seed, which is its name and not a pairing with the vegetable; the cited Indian Cookery, BBC 1982, was not the copy in hand.
Mujaddara made with bulgur, under caramelised onion.
Confirmed in The Palestinian Table: lentil and bulgur pilaf, page 164, under crisp fried onions; the pantry names coarse bulgur as the grade for mjadara.
Millet couscous under a sauce.
Score unexamined
Onion bhaji.
Score unexamined
Chaat.
The biryani base.
Stuffing and stew base.
Read in Helou's Feast, 2018, page 109, Lebanese kafta: onion chopped into lamb with the 7-spice mixture; page 132, kibbeh in sumac sauce, onions in the stuffing with allspice or the 7-spice mixture; and page 287, bulgur 'risotto' with chickpeas and lamb, onion sautéed first and the 7-spice mixture added with the bulgur.
Frikeh with chicken and lamb, cooked in a stock simmered with onion.
Read in Helou's Feast, 2018, page 288, chicken and lamb with frikeh (frikeh 'ala d'jaj wa lahmeh): the frikeh cooked in the stock the meat was simmered in with an onion. The onion is not sautéed as a pilaf base.
Mole de olla, the onion and the chayote in the same pot.
Relocated in Los clasicos de la cocina mexicana, page 58. There is no sauteed chayote in this book; the cited Diccionario Enciclopedico was not the book in hand.
Pepper soup base.
Nigerian food research
Pan-fried arracacha, with butter, garlic and onion.
Relocated in Gran Cocina Latina: pan-fried arracacha, page 214. No sancocho in the book uses arracacha.
Score unexamined
Score unexamined
Onion is in the sazon itself, which is uncooked.
Relocated in Gran Cocina Latina: Dominican traveling sazon, page 57, blended raw.
Bengali tempering.
Set in plain type in The Flavor Bible: suggested by one or more of the chefs it surveyed.
Read from the entry for chorizo in the 2008 edition.
Set in plain type in The Flavor Bible: suggested by one or more of the chefs it surveyed.
Read from the entry for onions, in general in the 2008 edition.
Set in plain type in The Flavor Bible: suggested by one or more of the chefs it surveyed.
Read from the entry for onions, in general in the 2008 edition.
Set in plain type in The Flavor Bible: suggested by one or more of the chefs it surveyed.
Read from the entry for celery root in the 2008 edition, where onions is set in plain type.
Set in plain type in The Flavor Bible: suggested by one or more of the chefs it surveyed.
Read from the entry for cheese, gruyère in the 2008 edition.
Soup and stew aromatic base.
Confirmed in Kitchen Butterfly, 'Traditional Nigerian Edo Egusi Soup' (2014): une, the Igarra word Sokoh gives for iru, is fried in palm oil, and the egusi paste is made with blended onion.
Score unexamined
Salada de palmito, hearts of palm with tomato and red onion under olive oil.
Confirmed in Gran Cocina Latina: shrimp and hearts of palm salad, ensalada de camarones y palmitos, page 550, with red onion, tomato and olive oil.
One is an ingredient of the other
Farofa d'agua with coentro and onions.
Relocated in Historia da Alimentacao no Brasil, volume 1: page 233, the Friday meal of dried fish with pirao or farofa d'agua, coentro and onions. No garlic.
Dinuguan: onions softened in the pot before the sukang paombong goes in.
Searched in Memories of Philippine Kitchens, 2012 edition, page 209, dinuguan, the Bulacan pork blood stew: garlic fried golden, onions and tomatoes, then pork belly and innards, then vinegar, sukang paombong, the nipa palm vinegar, poured in and not stirred, the chiles last. The cited 2006 edition was not the copy in hand.
Japchae, the starch noodles stir-fried with vegetables.
Confirmed in Real Korean Cooking: japchae, sweet potato starch noodles with stir-fried vegetables and beef, page 230.
Score unexamined
Cooking fat.
Abacha and garri salads.
Nigerian food research
Aunty Thelma's fisherman's stew: onions melted down, a little ogbono stirred in at the end.
Read in Aribisala's Longthroat Memoirs, 2016, 'Fish Soups and Love Potions': Aunty Thelma's fisherman's stew from the creeks of Cross River, which starts with palm oil and chopped onions sautéed until they break down, then blended fresh tomatoes and hot peppers, smoked catfish, crayfish and shellfish, and a little ground ogbono stirred in near the end; served with pounded yam or hot gari. In ogbono soup itself onion is contested: when she sliced onion into her first ogbono, her mother and a friend declared it no longer ogbono soup.
Soup base.
Confirmed in Kitchen Butterfly, 'Eastern Nigeria Ofe Nsala, White Soup' (2015): the meat seasoned with onion before the uziza and ehuru go in.
Ofe nsala: the meat is seasoned with onion before the ehuru goes in.
Read in Kitchen Butterfly, 'Eastern Nigeria Ofe Nsala, White Soup' (2015): ground calabash nutmeg added after the meat is seasoned with onion. Her Delta pepper soup, which the old note named, has no onion.
Served alongside.
Bonds are drawn from culinary literature and origin-tradition references, tiered by source. Origin means a reference from the place. Witness means the pairing is the place's own and the reference documenting it was written from outside.
The score is cultural weight: how central a pairing is in the tradition that documents it. It is not a prediction of how two materials behave in a formulation and not a measure of chemical affinity. The scale is ordinal, because centrality is a judgement rather than a measurement: 1.0 where the pair is the dish, 0.9 a fixed named form, 0.8 a canonical dish, 0.7 recurrent across many dishes, 0.6 common, 0.5 attested, 0.4 marginal or compound-led.
Each score is set against a named dish and carries that dish in its note. Where a score has not been examined it says so, because an inherited figure and a researched one should not look alike.
The dish is named by a reader who knows the cuisine and cites a source appropriate to it. It has not yet been confirmed inside that source page by page, so a note records what supports a score rather than what has been checked in the book.
Studio Culinar-E, "onion", Pantry Archive, Studio Monk-E, 2026. https://studioculinar-e.com/archive/onion
/archive/onion
Bonds are tiered by source, origin-tradition references first.