Thanks partly to their distinctive concentric rings, the ancient Egyptians saw onions as symbols of eternity. When they entombed the mummified corpse of King Ramesses IV, they set small onions in place of his eyes. More literally, onions symbolize eternity from the vantage point of human history.

Peeling back layers of history, we start to understand why the humble onion has come to symbolize eternity. The first Olympic Games involved onions dating back nearly 3,000 years ago. Grecian athletes used onions to enhance performance. They would eat pounds of raw bulbs, drink their juice, and rub them on their bodies, believing these habits would imbue their limbs with divine strength.

Onions were also found at the site of Pompeii. Archeological excavations of the Roman city famously destroyed, then preserved by volcanic lava, revealed a sophisticated onion production network. Even the sacred texts, the Bible and the Quran, explicitly mention onions.

Suffice it to say that the vegetable has been long praised for its medicinal, symbolic, ceremonial, and edible value across radically different cultures since the dawn of time.

There is a catch; sulphur compounds are heat sensitive. Eating them raw is the only way to preserve these powerfully aromatic nutrients, but not the more pleasant.

It's a good idea to allow chopped onions to sit for 10 minutes before exposing them to heat. The extra time will let a naturally occurring enzyme called myrosinase activate more sulphur, and more of it will survive the cooking process.

While there isn't much you can do to prevent tearing up, using a sharp knife is your best bet. Clean cuts and even a cold onion will produce less sulphurous gas released into the air.

Either way you dice it, these symbols of eternity have rightfully earned a place in your kitchen.