Late and gay but I've always thought people just don't know how to treat onions. I grew up in BFE where people put raw white onion on burgers and it's no wonder people hated them. I always at least pickle onions if something calls for them raw, and if kids won't eat them pickled I'll soak them in running water to mellow them. Salting them then rinsing can help with the moisture if you don't mind waiting a bit and is in fact good for carmelizing or pickling too as it speeds up the process when they have less water content.
People arent really aware there are different types of onions used for different things. Red ones can be eaten raw (salads, burgers, spreads). White onion has that fresh crisp, but it's also very intense and can be too much for some (better for a quick stir-fry, imo). Shallots are great for stir-fries or dishes you need an onion but you dont want it to dominate (soups, stews, garnishes). The classic yellow onion is the most universal one, but some find it too intense and I dont reccomend it raw - most people find it a bit too much. It can be swapped with the red one (raw) or shallots (cooking/frying). Best onion soup is made of yellow ones, imo.
That too, they all have their nuance like all ingredients. I'll still pickle even red onions in a lot of applications and find people seem to enjoy them better that way on burgers, I often use a lime juice/vinegar mix. Salads can get away with it because there's often dressing and other strong flavors/textures anyway. Also fried shallots make everything instantly better. I've even used them on desserts. Oh and shallot jam is very good with some honey and vanilla sugar, just rinse any shallots before cooking for sweet applications.
Raw onions can be good. I like molho a campanha which is a traditional pairing with barbecue here
I almost asked if you use the whole flower, but of course you do. There's only like a single drop of nectar per flower, so you would have to, lol. Can I get your ratio for how to make the syrup? Pretty please?
I worked in a place one time that called for the seeds from the jalapeños to be included in the pico de gallo. And it was very pepper forward recipe. The first time I made it, it was inedible. I got yelled at by the other cooks, and the chef. I was pissed. Don't hand me a recipe book, tell me to "get at it", then get mad when your recipe is wrong.
No syrup, too delicate for that. Cold infusion for 24 hours. Cream for whipped cream or half milk and half cream for ice cream base. Usually aound 1 1/4c of fresh flowers per cup of liquid, adjust for taste. Do not wash them, just strain after infusing. You can leave them sit for a while spread out before infusing if you're worried about bugs but they wilt very quickly and there's usually not many so I don't bother.
Jalapenos (and other peppers tbh) can vary pretty wildly in terms of capsaicin content - some of them barely register above poblano while others can approach serrano heat levels. Sounds like the recipe writer didn't know this.
Funny thing is, the seeds aren't even where most of capsaicin is. They are more concentrated at the pith
