Not Your Ordinary Onion

An onion has always sat in the economy class of a dish, though once in a while it might try to sneak into another class, due to it's strong flavors. Nevertheless, besides a traditional French Onion Soup, it has never taken First Class status and used at a refined level. But leave it to a young and creative Chef in Bilbao, Spain to change it all and keep us wanting more.

A few years ago I had the opportunity to dine at "Mina" a six table dining establishment who finally won their first Michelin Star back in 2013. Dining here was indeed eye opening and truly let me see food in a whole new manner. One dish in particular was their "Purple Onion from Zalla"- a dish that will never leave your memory and will make you look at onions a whole new way.

This dish embodied all the aspects of a perfect dish-taste, texture, beauty, creativity and finesse. It was a dish that took a simple onion and transformed it into elegance. If you think that your might get a sensory overload of onions, fear not, the flavors of the onions come through in very delicate manner. The onion or onions are prepared five different ways-in gelee, cream, raw, dehydrated and crisp form. With a single bite you truly get all the aspects of an onion, and better yet I believe the raw form of it is a little pickled, since the sharpness never stayed in my palette for long. The other forms are cooked with either wine, or enhanced with other spices. Unfortunately they were not gonna tell me all of their secrets for this is one of their signature dishes.

The genius behind this dish is Alvaro Garrido, a very humble chef who came to Bilbao in 2006 and opened Mina. I had the opportunity to meet and talk with Garrido after my dinner, and of course I asked him about the onion dish. His first question was whether I liked it and what did I like about it. He later went to say that this onion is local and as a local ingredient it sound not be forgotten. Finally he stated that as his restaurant is considered to be his personal dream theater, the impossible and improbable should always be aimed for, hence a dish that no one would expect yet everyone talks about it afterwards.

It has been sometime since I sat down and enjoyed Chef Garrido's creations, and I truly cannot wait for the next time around. Since his menu is constantly changing, I will be sure to give him a call ahead of time and ask when "The Onion" will once again make an appearance.

洋葱一直存在经济舱的菜里，虽然曾经在一段时间它可能试图潜入到另一个客舱，因为它的强烈的味道。然而，除了传统的法式洋葱汤，它从来没有到达头等舱的状态，并使用在一个精致级别里。但到了西班牙毕尔巴鄂的一个年轻而富有创造力的厨师这里他改变了这一切，并让我们想要更多。

几年前，我有机会在“Mina”一个六人桌餐厅用餐，它在2013年最终赢得了他们的第一个米其林星。这里确实让人大开眼界，真的让我以一种全新的方式看到食物。特别是他们有一道菜“萨利亚紫洋葱”——永远不会在你的记忆里消失，让你对洋葱有一种全新认识的一道菜。

这道菜呈现了一道极具味道，质地，美感，创造力和精巧全方位完美的菜。这是一道把一个简单的洋葱变身优雅的菜。如果你觉得你可能会对洋葱有感官超负荷，不要害怕，洋葱的味道用非常柔和的方式呈现。洋葱用五种不同的方法准备——果冻，奶油，生的，脱水和酥脆的形式。你咬一口就能真正感受到洋葱的各个方面，更赞的是，我感觉它的生洋葱是有点腌制过的，因为它的辛辣感并没有在我的味蕾上停留很久。其他的形式则混合了葡萄酒或者加入了其他香料进行烹煮。可惜的是，他们不会告诉我他们所有的秘密，因为这是他们的招牌菜之一。

这道菜背后的天才是来自毕尔巴鄂的Alvaro Garrido，一个很不起眼的厨师在2006年开了Mina餐厅。我有机会见到Garrido并在晚饭后与他交谈，当然我问了他关于那道洋葱的菜。他的第一个问题问我是否喜欢这道菜，我喜欢它的什么。后来他告诉我，这不得不说的是洋葱是本地的，作为本地材料听起来不会被遗忘。最后他说，他的餐厅作为他的个人梦想剧场，那些不可能和不确定性的应始终是他所瞄准的，因此，一道没有人会想到的菜在这里会成为大家都在谈论它的名菜。

自从上次我坐下来并享用过厨师Garrido的创作，我已经等不及下一次的到来。由于他的菜单是不断变化的，我一定会提前给他打电话，并询问他“洋葱”何时将再一次露面。