Onion slices are versatile. In quick-cooking dishes, they stay distinct enough from the other ingredients that they don't permeate every bite as diced onions would. In longer-cooking dishes, they have enough surface area to turn soft and brown, but their natural shape and length keeps them intact.
To make contoured half-round slices, first cut the onion in half through the root.
Next, slice away the both ends of each half and pull away the onion's skin. Since the ends hold the slices together, cutting them off frees the slices to fall into individual pieces.
Starting on one side of the onion with the knife at an angle, make slices as thick or thin as you like.
Rotate the knife around the contour of the onion, bring it closer to perpendicular to the cutting board as you go.
To emulsify means to bind two things together that don't naturally bind, like oil and vinegar.
In order to make the combination work, you need an emulsifier, a bridge substance. Common emulsifiers include eggs (to bind oil and lemon juice for mayonnaise) and mustard (for vinaigrette).
To emulsify, you'll need a whisk, blender or food processor. When a recipe doesn't call for an emulsifier to bind, say, a vinaigrette, whisk the oil and vinegar into a temporary emulsion just before serving.
Reference: What makes a mustard "Dijon"?
Reference: Homemade mayo: worth it?
Recipe: Shallot-mustard vinaigrette
Recipe: Kalamata Olive Vinaigrette (Kalyn's Kitchen)
Tarama is a nickname for taramasalata (or taramosalata), a Greek dip that is often served as part of a meze platter with drinks before dinner.
The authentic Greek dish is a creamy, smooth paste made with fish roe (tarama) that is combined with milk- or water-soaked (and squeezed dry) bread, plus lemon juice and grated onion. The mixture is then emulsified with olive oil until it reaches a whipped consistency. Tarama is served with grilled pita bread or crudités.
Tarama is popular the world over and can be bought prepared, although store-bought tarama is often poor in quality and has added pink food coloring as well as cream, egg yolks, mashed potato, gelatin or other unnecessary thickeners. Fresh tarama is simple to make at home, and the bread and olive oil lend it natural body and richness.
