The Unusual Way Julia Child Stored Her Onions

Julia Child had a knack for making even the most ordinary kitchen tasks seem delightfully unconventional. From her fearless approach to French cuisine to her boundless curiosity about food, she transformed the way Americans thought about cooking. Beyond her culinary prowess, she also had a wonderfully eccentric way of handling ingredients, including how she stored onions.

Nancy Verde Barr, a chef who worked alongside Child for nearly two decades, once recounted an episode that perfectly captured Julia's practicality and whimsy. In her memoir, "Backstage With Julia: My Years With Julia Child," she wrote, "When a fan sent her an enormous box of Vidalia onions that contained the instructions: 'Store well ventilated in a cool place,' I asked her how she suggested we should store them. She handed me a pair of her pantyhose, saying, 'These should do it. We'll hang them in the basement.' The entire box of sweet Georgia onions fit into the one pair of her stockings."

To some, this might sound like an offbeat solution, but to Child, it was simple wisdom. Storing onions in pantyhose wasn't just a quirky improvisation but an effective way to extend their shelf life. The translucent, porous nylon allows for airflow, preventing excess moisture buildup, which could lead to spoilage. Plus, suspending the onions keeps them away from direct light and pests.

Julia Child's pantyhose method wasn't entirely novel. Gardeners and thrifty home cooks have long stored onions in stockings, tying knots between each one to separate them. When they're ready to be used in a dish, all it takes is a quick snip with a pair of scissors. In addition to washing berries in vinegar before freezing them and wrapping banana stems in foil or plastic wrap, hoarding onions in the legs of pantyhose is among the many food storage hacks you should try. Still, Child's matter-of-fact embrace of the technique showcased her true genius. She understood that proper storage could preserve alliums at their peak, ensuring every bulb retained its integrity.

Beyond its practicality, the image of Child stuffing onions into hosiery speaks to the playful spirit she brought to her work. She didn't overcomplicate things. She found joy in the resourceful, the unexpected, and the downright funny. This seemingly silly tactic is a reminder that sometimes, the best kitchen tools are found in the most unexpected places — like the bottom drawer of your dresser.