Onions Make Me Cry

The daughter, usually very keen to help with the cooking, runs out of the kitchen as soon as the onion is set on the cutting board. The husband wears his swimming goggles if he must chop an onion.

When an onion is cut, cells are broken that combine with enzymes that release gases into the air.  Our eyes dissolve the irritating gases.

There are several techniques for avoiding the tears but what I do is light a candle beside the cutting board while chopping an onion. The flame burns the gases before they reach my eyes.