This is a tip taken from a quirky little staple-bound book given to me as a gift from fellow-farmer Gentiana, called "1000 Expert Tips For Gardeners". Or something along those lines. I think it was a gag gift, but this one works and has stuck with me--
When you're cooking and only partially using an onion, chop what you need from the greens end (as opposed to the bulb end) first. The onion will keep much, much better than if you leave the top end. This goes for scallions, leeks, baby cippolinis... any of those good old allium family jewels.
Why, you ask? I can't help myself, either. Based from my understanding of biologic/botanic/physiological principles (that means I'm guessing...) it makes sense that more sugars (energy) would be stored at the base of the bulb, thereby rendering the plant (yes, it's still alive, even when sliced in half and in the darkness of your fridge!) more able to "heal" its wound, or localize the damage done to the plant tissues after having been chopped. While the green part of the onion is above ground, revelling in the glory of the sun and photosynthesizing the days away, the bulb is is the proverbial root cellar. The resulting sugar from photosynthesis, glucose, travels back down to the base of the bulb for safekeeping where the tissues are designed for storage, as opposed to absorption (roots), transport (stalks), energy production (chlorophyll-filled green parts), and respiration (greens, in the allium family's case.) As gravity and efficiency would have it, the storage begins at the base; if we're working with the root cellar idea here, it would be like stacking jars of pickles put up from the summer. You can't float jars of pickles in mid-air in the cellar, which even if you could you'd have to duck around and beneath to get to the floor if your goal was to fill the entire cellar. So, you start from the ground up.
Be this explanation satisfactory or not, the tip does work. Good luck and enjoy those cippolinis!
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