The Essential Onion in French Food Inspired a Key Idiom

The Essential Onion in French Food Inspired a Key Idiom Onions are an essential part of French cooking. If you want to give any dish  a French twist, cook it with wine, lots of butter and shallots (du vin, beaucoup de beurre et des à ©chalotes). So let’s talk French onions. The French Word for Onion is 'Oignon' Although the spelling is weird, the French pronunciation is quite close to the English. The word begins and ends with a nasal on sound, thus the â€Å"oi† is pronounced like on.   N’oublie pas d’acheter des oignons s’il te plaà ®t. Don’t forget to buy onions, please.D’accord, j’en prends combien? OK, how many should I get?Prends en deux moyens, ou un gros. Get two medium-size ones, or one large one. Different Types of Onions in French If you enjoy cooking, knowing the types of onions used in French cuisine  will come in handy. There are many different cultivars, and the names vary depending on the region, for example l’oignon rose de Roscoff (the pink onion of Roscoff), l’onion dorà © de Mulhouse (the golden onion of Mulhouse). Size and shape will also differ according to the type of onion and region. Here is a list of common onion-related terms. Ive included garlic because I thought cooks might find this useful. Un oignon (blanc, jaune, rose, rouge):  Ã‚  a (white, yellow, pink, red) onionUne tà ªte d’ail:  a head of garlic (Note that the pronunciation of â€Å"ail† is irregular; it sounds like â€Å"eye† in English.)Une gousse d’ail: a clove of garlicUne à ©chalote: a shallotUne cà ©bette and un petit oignon vert: scallionLa ciboule:  spring onionLa ciboulette:  chive The French Idiom 'Occupe-toi / Mà ªle-toi de tes Oignons' This famous idiom is still very much in use  in French. It means: â€Å"Mind your own business.†Ã‚  There are some variations relative to how this is expressed, but all mean the same thing: â€Å"Mind your own business.†Ã‚  One variation uses les fesses: The word â€Å"les oignons† is a familiar term for â€Å"les fesses† (buttocks) due to the onions round shape. The resulting expression â€Å"Occupe-toi de tes fesses,† while a bit vulgar, is also quite common. Another variation is Mà ªle-toi or Occupe-toi de tes affaires, which is an exact translation of Mind your own business. Alors, c’est vrai ce que j’ai entendu? Tu sors avec Bà ©atrice maintenant?So is it true what I’ve heard? You’re going out with Beatrice now?Mà ªle-toi de tes oignons!  Mind your own business! And for French food lovers, perhaps the most famous French specialty that relies primarily on onions is  la soupe loignon.  A real  French  dà ©lice!