Tears of Stained Glass

Yucatán’s cebolla morada encurtida is one of the most chromatically arresting condiments in world cuisine. Red onion, sliced thin and macerated in citrus brine, develops a vivid magenta-fuchsia colour through the conversion of its anthocyanins in acidic medium. Stained Tears is the Spanish house’s reading of that tradition. The brine is built on orange juice and lemon juice rather than vinegar, with sea salt, sugar, black peppercorn and clove. Orange contributes a sweet-bitter rind-oil top-note; lemon delivers the structural acid; peppercorn provides bite; clove threads warm-spice through. The onion goes in raw and emerges fully transformed — crisp-tender, sweet-bitter-sour balanced, vivid pink. As a condiment it crowns cochinita pibil, taco al pastor, ceviche, smoked salmon, the Iberico sandwich. Drained or in its brine, it is a colour and a register at once.