Thursday, January 08, 2009

Dinner with Wiki

Several times now, Wikipedia has been our guest for dinner, usually after a preliminary consultation with Google.

With D's laptop sitting on the kitchen counter, three feet from the dining table, we no longer have to sit and be confounded by a topic of conversation about which the true facts elude us. 

Pre-wireless, we used to either throw up our hands and say, "who knows?", or simply have a contest as to which of us could make up the more believable "facts". :) Now, we reach for the MacBook, and the world's information is at our fingertips!

"Pearl onions" was last night's example.

They happened to be included in a yummy vegetable mélange from Trader Joe's, which was accompanying the evening's entree of Hakkebøf. One of us scarfed them down gleefully, the other picked them out before serving. The conversation that ensued began as a discussion of the merits/deficiencies of pearl onions.



Why are you picking yours out?

I don't like the way they taste.

They taste like normal onions.

No, they don't.

Sure they do.

They do not.

Well, what do they taste like, then?

They just taste different.


If you fed me one, blindfolded, I would know it was an onion.


They don't taste like regular onions, that's all.

What do you mean regular? 

I mean normal onions.


Dey's all KINE o' onion in de worl', chile! What'chu mean normal?!?!

(note, that line was actually delivered in more of an upper-midwest scandinavian-accented jive.  Guess you sort of had to be there...)

You make it sound like they're not even onions at all!


I don't think they are.

What?!?

They're something else.

Like what?

I don't know! Where do YOU think they come from?


I always thought they were like baby carrots.   You know, little baby onions, either harvested real early, or maybe people "core" them out of what you call "regular" onions.


I don't think so. I think they're something else.

Like what? Like a bulb on the bottom of a scallion?

Scallions don't have bulbs.

I know that. But what else could they be?

Well!   There's one way to find out, isn't there?


(gets up and inquires of Google. Wikipedia then joins the discussion, proving that both of us were pretty ignorant. And one of us was definitely wrong.  Again.)



Turns out that pearl onions are a variant of a whole family of "tree onions". They grow on a bush or something. 

Really, they look kind of silly, and sorta cute.  :)  And yes, they're sweeter than "regular" onions.  Alright, alright.

Whatever the heck they are, one of us really likes them.  :)

1 comment:

Future Urban Planner said...

LOL. Wow, so things really do get better as the marriage progresses huh? It almost made me forget the outrage & inconvenience of attending jury duty tomorrow. Plus, if it's less than 8 hrs. I have to make up the time at work- eh!!! But I do get to sleep in- it's not unti l9 AM & within walking distance. But still! The indignities of it all! The things I do to qualify for in-state tuition. . .sheesh!

Who links to my website?