When cooking italian.........?

Question

do you use onion and garlic, or just onion, or just garlic. I seem to remember Jamie Oliver saying something in his Italian cookbook about not mixing the two....what do you do?

Answer 1

hi..jude
i' from Italy and i like cook.
some plates needs garlic some onion.
we never mix them.
in general for tomato sauce it's better to use onion..
put with onion carrots and "sedano" in the oil..after they fried a little
put sauce whit staff u want(like meat).
ciao

Answer 2

I use Jame Oliver's cookbooks all the time and most of his recipes involve the two together. I chop the onions finely and the garlic finely too. Then I put the garlic in the hot oil first then add the onions then any other vegetables or tomatoes once they have gone soft (usually after about 5 minutes). You can add the herbs same time as the onions too as it gives it a better flavour.

Answer 3

Use both. Since both have very distinctly different flavours. Being Italian, I do not know of any italians who do not use garlic.. .and a lot of it! Besides, garlic is good for you! When I cook, I always use both. In my sauce, lasagna, meatballs, or whatever. . .I like to use minced garlic and fesh finely chopped onion when I brown my meat. I think it makes the flavour so awesome and seperates it from the other flavours. Try it.

Answer 4

It depends on how sensitive your taste buds are, some people can't tell the difference, some people like them mixed, some people can't stand them together. It also depends on what Italian dish you are making, I know of 2 that have both, most food is one or the other. Or if your making spaghetti, you put onion in the sauce and garlic on the bread, but you don't mix them together in the sauce, you should have the separate flavor.

Answer 5

Mamma Mia, BOTH! lol.,. you gotta start by putting a little olive oil in a saute pan... add some crushed garlic, and then add the onions... Sweat them just a bit, then they are ready for whatever youre gonna need them for.

I personally will add to my olive oil and garlic saute pan : Green peppers, Onions, mushrooms .. Saute them for just a few mins.. add some italian sausage or chicken legs and cook..... then pour a jar of sauce (if you dont make your own).. heat it and serve it over pasta (spaghetti is what I like best).. a quick easy chicken or sausage with peppers and onions.

Answer 6

most of my italian cookbooks, written by italians, contain both onion and garlic. Not all recipes have both though. It just depends on what you are cooking.

See cookbooks by Michael Chiarello, Giada Di Laurentis, Biba, Mario Batali I would trust them and authentic italian food more so than Jamie Oliver. I hardly trust italian food made by british chef.

Answer 7

I use both, but I cook the onion. The garlic goes in right before I'm ready to serve - that way it's still fresh tasting, and won't get burned.

Answer 8

it really is up to you and your personal tastes. as a rule, both onion and garlic (as well as shallots, green onions, bulb onions and leeks) are members of the same family, and can be used interchangably to obtain similar but different flavor results. it depends on the intensity of flavor that you are looking for - for instance if you want garlic to be the focus of your dish, then use only garlic.

i personally use both onions and garlic in most of my "italian" dishes (i live in the US and generally cook italian-american style, more so than true italian).

Answer 9

It's a taste preference and for me, depends on the recipe. I love garlic, so use it in everything. I like onion flavor but I do not like eating cooked onions. Sometime I will use them cut up big for the flavor but I take them out before eating. But there are NO rules in cooking. You do what you like.

Answer 10

I have used both. Sometimes depending on what I'm doing I just use garlic or onion.

Answer 11

put olive oil in a small frying pan mince garlic and chop onion nice and then add to olive oil and cook till the onions have become tender and light brown