I love onions (cooked) and jalapenos any way they come. I hate the bodily excretions they create though. Oh! I know many of you are thinking the worst and have your craniums in the gutter. WRONG!
I mean; why is it; when I cut an onion; I begin to cry. Why do I cough up a lung when cutting jalapenos? So.... This time I think I am being really really smart. I begin to prepare my ultimate favorite dinner. 'Picadillo' I do not have any gloves; so I put plastic sandwich bags on my hands, a mask over my nose and mouth, turn on the stove top to absorb the onion smell. ( I read that somewhere.) My eyes start to burn, then tear, tears are running into my face mask. As this is happening; my nose is starting to pour. (Like I had a cold) The plastic bags on my hands were a total nightmare; my son looked at my like I was something out of a horror movie. So I discarded the sandwich bags. Once everything got cooking I was fine!
Then later I had a female craving for ice cream! Ya know how you lick it and its never good enough and it still drips all over your fingers. So whadda ya do? Ya lick them! Not the smartest thing to do after cutting jalapenos. My chocolate chip ice cream became fiery HOT!
So I wanted to know why onions make us cry. It is actually quite scientific. Below is info from the website: www.howstuffworks.com that explains.
When you slice through an onion, you break open a number of onion cells. Some of these cells have enzymes inside of them, and when they are sliced open, the enzymes escape. The enzymes then decompose some of the other substances that have escaped from sliced cells. Some of these substances, amino acid sulfoxides, form sulfenic acids, which then quickly rearrange themselves into a volatile gas.
The gas reaches your eyes and reacts with the water that keeps them moist. This changes the chemical's form again, producing, among other things, a mild sulfuric acid, which irritates the eyes. The nerve endings in your eyes are very sensitive and so they pick up on this irritation (this is why our eyes sting when we slice onions). The brain reacts by telling your tear ducts to produce more water, to dilute the irritating acid so the eyes are protected. Your other reaction is probably to rub your eyes, but this will actually make the irritation a lot worse, of course, if you have onion juices all over your hands.
Oddly enough, this volatile compound is also responsible for a lot of the great taste in onions, as well as the pleasant aroma when you cook the vegetable. You'll also get sulfenic acids by cutting up garlic, chives and leeks, among other vegetables, but they don't form the same irritating gas, just a strong smell.
The gas reaches your eyes and reacts with the water that keeps them moist. This changes the chemical's form again, producing, among other things, a mild sulfuric acid, which irritates the eyes. The nerve endings in your eyes are very sensitive and so they pick up on this irritation (this is why our eyes sting when we slice onions). The brain reacts by telling your tear ducts to produce more water, to dilute the irritating acid so the eyes are protected. Your other reaction is probably to rub your eyes, but this will actually make the irritation a lot worse, of course, if you have onion juices all over your hands.
Oddly enough, this volatile compound is also responsible for a lot of the great taste in onions, as well as the pleasant aroma when you cook the vegetable. You'll also get sulfenic acids by cutting up garlic, chives and leeks, among other vegetables, but they don't form the same irritating gas, just a strong smell.
I could not find anything for jalapenos; other than we all know the seeds are darn near deadly, as well as the veins.
Even though I must go through the dramatics of crying, coughing, sneezing, runny nose, etc. to make my 'picadillo' dinner. I am not about to give it up. :)
