Why stud an onion with cloves?

Question

I was reading a vegetable broth recipe and it called for an onion - unpeeled and studded with cloves. What's the difference between studding the onion and just throwing the cloves in seperately with the other ingredients?

Answer 1

It is much easier.  This beats trying to fish out the "little" cloves when finished cooking!

Answer 2

Because sometimes an onion needs to be shown its place.

Answer 3

you dont want to eat the cloves so sticking them in onion keeps them in place and you dont have to pick out all the cloves but still adds flavor to the broth

Answer 4

so you dont lose the cloves.  You wouldnt want to eat the clove.  You'd want to strain it out.  Easier to keep it in the onion so its easier to keep track of.

Answer 5

The idea is so you can remove the cloves later, instead of eating them.

Answer 6

I am a former chef and it is used primarily for flavour and the clove are easier to remove in the onion, but I would peel it, I always did when I was a chef, in french it is known as an "onion clout" as clove are in french "clou" meaning nails, it is optional you can also buy cheesecloth cut the onion up add a few cloves tie it into a bundle and immerse it in the broth a remove it in the end, it is mainly there to impart the flavours of the onion and cloves to the stock.