We’re talking about the humble white onion here, the Allium cepa, a clever little plant that intelligently stores its food in its own little bulb. Did ya ever wonder where an onion came from? Yeah, nah, hard same… well, research suggests that they were first grown in Iran and West Pakistan and that we were eating wild onions way before farming or written history began. There is nothing more delish than a humble white onion served on top of a boil up with some heavily buttered bread, or a beautiful roast beef, relish and onion sammy on a hot day. This brings me to the Ancient Greek athletes who ate large quantities of onions in the belief that it would lighten the balance of the blood, while Roman gladiators were rubbed down with onion in order to firm up their muscles – note to self, must try this out in Mahia beach when I’m back home next (the swimming weather isn’t much chop in the west of Ireland).

Here are some delightful onion ideas to get you all going on the humble white onion inspiration station.

1 Salantourmasi Greek-style onions
Peel some onions and boil in a pan of salted water for 10 minutes. Remove from the water and leave to cool. When cool enough to touch, peel off the outside large layers – in total you want 12-16 separate pieces. Mix 400g mince lamb with 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs and 2 cloves smashed garlic and seasoning. Shape into 12-16 meatballs then stuff one meatball into each layer of onion wrapping them up nice and tight. Drizzle with olive oil and brush with pomegranate molasses and bake for 45 minutes at 175 °C. I serve this with a herby rice salad and tzatziki.

2 Onion marmalade
For my go-to simple rule-of-thumb recipe I use 10 large white onions and 200ml malt vinegar. Add 450g muscavado sugar and cook down with a teaspoon of caraway seeds until it’s rich and jammy. Pop into airtight jars and it lasts forever and is perfect with wintery cheeseboards .

3 Deli chilli-cheese jaffle
Butter the outside of some bread. In a bowl, mix 200g Colby cheese, 35g diced green pepper, 30g diced white onion and 1 diced fresh chilli. Divide all between all the jaffles and toast that bad boy like it was the early 80s and we only had one TV channel. Serve with a sliced lime and some hot spicy mango chutney.

4 Sweet and spicy corn pakoras
These are super-simple, delish served with yoghurt and perfect with bubbles. Pop 200g corn (fresh or frozen) in a bowl with 30g diced onions, 2 tablespoons fresh coriander, 80g gram flour, 1 tablespoon garam masala and 1 tablespoon Madras curry powder. Season well and mix until smooth. Heat a deep fryer to 180°C and cook spoonfuls of fritter mix until golden brown and crispy. Serve with a little lime pickle.