Hello again, friends. Fun fact of the day: did you know shallots want to f-ck your shit up?
If a dire enemy is out for your blood, know that shallots, collectively as well as individually, are out for your tears.
While cooking dinner tonight, I wanted to use some monstrous shallots I'd inadvertently purchased. I'd chopped onions plenty of times, and I figured shallots weren't much different. So, I didn't wear any kind of protective eyewear. Also, I used a serrated blade. These were my huge mistakes.
Of the two, only one error was wholly due to my laziness. That was the use of a serrated edge. I try to "waste not" as a matter of course, and I foolishly thought I could use the same knife for ALL of my dinner preparation. Discounting the edge case, I recommend that no matter what blade you use, you seal your eyes, nose and, if at all possible, ears from the air around you when chopping a shallot. Let the pain of my hard-won lesson sub in for your own. Don't make my mistake. Remember that shallots are an unusually vengeful vegetable. If they're getting chopped, they aim to take us with them. They're out to make us cry and burn.
And to those who argue that a shallot is just an onion, nothing more, I ask you. Do you have to suit up to confront onions? No. You do not. There's no special equipment required.
On the other hand, for shallots...
this look better hold some a-peel.