Onions: A trainees onion plait

Surveying the pile of drying onions, a thought popped into my head, which was: make a plait.

Now I have never made one of these things, but they look oh so pretty when I have seen them in other people's kitchens, and seeing as how we are living in France, and a platt of onions is quite Frenchy anyway, I thought I would have a go.

Should you also wish to create such a piece of artistry, then here is what I did.

1) Lay onion on surface. Onion must have nice long top to it, so there is plenty of room for plaiting.

2) Spread eagle your onion into three equally balanced strands of leaves.



3) Take left strand and place it over the centre strand. That now becomes the centre strand.

4) Take right strand and place it over that new centre strand, which now takes over the job of having pole position at the centre.

5) Left strand, which is the original first strand, now needs to be placed over that strand and so becomes the centre strand again.

6) There is much jockeying for the centre position, but hopefully you will be able to make a regular movement from left over centre and right over centre all the way to the top of the onion.

7) Best to leave room at the top of the onion to make a knot. If not, never mind. Just put something heavy onto the top of the plaited onion so it doesn't come undone again.

8) An onion plait is supposed to be hung up. It is also supposed to have other onions alongside it. It is not supposed to be only one onion on its own.
This foxed me for a bit, but then I struck upon the idea of how to remedy the problem of gathering the onions together into a bunch by cutting a strip of calico, or any other handy fabric, about two inches in width, and tying the first onion onto it.
So for 8): Cut strip of calico 2" wide by as long as you like, and tie first onion onto it.
Et voila! A hanging onion.

9) All you have to do now is plait up a few more onions, and attach them to to the fabric strip.

Not to worry if you run out of strip, just tie another strip on. The knots look quite arty and add to the general 'home made' appearance of the entire plait.

After all, you don't want to make the plait so pristine and tidy that people think that you have purchased it already done.

It is much better, and looks far more authentic, if there are bits of leaves popping out here and there, although the worst culprits can be tucked in or even cut off. And you don't have to use the same size of onion or the same type of onion. Randomness makes for authenticity.

Above all, don't fuss. You are creating something unique. Therefore to look unique, it can't be perfect.

10) When you decide that your bunch of plaited onions is large enough, which will be probably be when the bunch is so heavy you can hardly lift it, then make a loop in the top of the fabric, and there you have your very own bunch of plaited onions.

Things I have learnt during this experiment: That onions can be very unhelpful about being bent this way and that, and can unfurl themselves at the earliest opportunity. Therefore it is probably better not to be in so much of a hurry to get going with onion plaiting, and to wait a day or two for the leaves to dry out. Then they will be more helpful about staying where you put them.

That the onion bunch can weight very heavy at the end, so make sure that the hook you hang them on is sturdy. Not to worry, though, if the hook is pulled out of the wall. A bit of Polyfilla and a lick of paint will soon make amends. Or you can deny all knowledge as to why a hole in the wall has suddenly appeared, or say it was there all the time and you are surprised that it hasn't been noticed before.

That it didn't occur to me until after I had finished the project that the onions were supposed to be plaited together, and not singly.
Ah well, trial and error.........