Used to Watch My Grandmother Push *Cloves Into a Raw Onion, and I Never Understood Why

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Ingredients

  • 1 medium onion, peeled
  • 6–8 whole cloves (or more, depending on taste)
  • 2–3 cups water, broth, or stew base (optional — depending on what you’re cooking)

Instructions

  1. Peel the onion and trim the root end if needed.
  2. Take whole cloves and press them, pointy end first, into the onion so that the rounded heads remain visible on the outside. Space them evenly.
  3. Place the clove-studded onion into your soup pot, stock, stew, or braising liquid while it cooks.
  4. Let it simmer with your dish. The cloves infuse a warm, aromatic flavor into the liquid without overpowering it.
  5. At the end of cooking, remove the onion and discard (or chop and use if desired).

This is called a “cloute onion” or onion pique in classic cooking — a simple way to give subtle depth to recipes like stocks, stews, sauces, or even boiled rice.

Would you like me to give you a full soup/stock recipe using this clove-studded onion?

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