how to cook them, is set to go on sale in Hamilton bookstores this week.

All About Bermuda Onions, by Mrs. Nancy Valentine, has 96 pages of anything anyone wants to know about onions, including more than 100 recipes.

Onion sandwiches, onion soups, onion salads, onion breads, pickled, barbecued and sweet and sour onions, onions in sherry, honey and apple jelly, and even Nancy's Favourite Onion Pie.

For those who may be too timid to try the recipes for fear of smelling like onions, the author offers some advice in that department, too.

"Add parsley to raw onions if possible when serving canapes and salads. Raw parsley makes onion break disappear.'' And if you're tired of crying over onions, try submerging them in a pan of water when peeling, or placing them in the freezer a half hour before slicing.

Never mind, Mrs. Valentine says. "Onions are a good source of vitamin C, vitamin A, and potassium. They are low in calories and can be considered diet food.'' The book tells not only the history of onions, and the history of onions in America, it also tells of Bermuda's onion trade, which in June, 1855, reached its peak when the Bermuda-built trading vessel Pearl carried "the largest cargo of native produce ever shipped from these islands'', according to The Royal Gazette .

Mrs. Valentine, who lives in Southampton with her husband, Dick, says she has been collecting memorabilia for the book since the 1960s, though she started writing in earnest about two years ago.

"I finally decided to go ahead with the book because single subject cook books are so popular in the States,'' she said. "It's definitely a uniquely Bermudian subject.'' All About Bermuda Onions was edited by Mrs. Barbara Chancellor, wife of NBC commentator Mr. John Chancellor, and Ms Barbara Dubivsky, former editor of the Sunday Times Magazine and former employee of the Bermuda News Bureau. A total of 5,000 copies were printed, by Island Press.

The book is the second for Mrs. Valentine who co-wrote Women Silversmiths 1695-1845. American-born Mrs. Valentine moved to Bermuda from Chicago in 1950.

BERMUDA ONIONS -- Mrs. Nancy Valentine, holding her new book All About Bermuda Omions which goes on sale in Hamilton bookstores this week.