Without onion and garlic, cooking wouldn't be the same. What would our favorite dishes taste like if they didn't have that delicious sofrito we make with both ingredients as a base?

Of course, like everything, there are good and bad sides, and the bad part is that cutting both garlic and onion leaves a rather peculiar smell on our hands, which is not ideal. That's why today we give you five recommendations to get rid of the bad odor.

Use a stainless steel spoon

After cutting garlic or onion, rub your hands against a stainless steel spoon; in fact, any utensil made of this material will do, but the spoon is the safest option. The steel itself removes the particles left on your hands, leaving them clean and odor-free. After that, just wash the spoon and you'll be free of smells.

Lemon

When your hands smell too much like garlic, use lemon juice almost as if it were water; rub it on your hands and let it work for about two or three minutes. Then rinse, and you'll see that when you smell your hands, you'll only have a fresh and citrus fragrance instead of the ingredient's odor. Remember not to leave the juice on for too long or go out in the sun with lemon juice still on your hands to avoid staining your skin.

Baking soda

If you don't have a spoon or lemon, then rubbing your hands with baking soda is equally effective. Without adding anything else and dry, rub your hands against each other with a good amount of powder in between. The friction you'll create along with the chemical reaction will clean your hands of bad odors.

Toothpaste

This super homemade remedy is really effective. All you need to do is wash your hands with toothpaste as you would with soap. The properties of the toothpaste, along with its fresh mint or peppermint aroma, help eliminate the smell of garlic or onion. If you can, let it sit for a minute before rinsing your hands.

Store garlic and onion in the refrigerator

This is a preventive tactic. An onion or garlic at room temperature releases much more aroma than if you put them in the fridge. By cooling them, you also reduce their odor strength, so when you cut them, the damage will be less, and it will be much easier for you to keep your hands fresh and odor-free again.

Now, just because these ingredients leave a bit of their aroma on your hands doesn't mean you should stop using them, which is why here we recommend five delicious recipes with garlic and onion:

• Garlic Pasta
• Onion Soup
• Garlic Bread
• Purple Onion Salsa
• Eggplant with Garlic Vinaigrette