The 2 Foods Both Ina Garten And Anna Wintour Avoid Serving At Parties

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Every year on the first Monday in May, celebrities and other patrons come together to raise money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. This is the Met Gala — one of the fashion world's largest fêtes. While the activities that happen at this event are a secret, there is, of course, food — although some ingredients are not authorized to make it past the velvet ropes. Anna Wintour, the gala's lead chairperson, famously disallows onions and garlic from appearing in any dish served at the event. Surprisingly, celebrity chef and prolific cookbook writer Ina Garten also has a rule against using these aromatics in the meals she serves at her own parties.

While Wintour has admitted that she simply isn't a fan of onion or garlic, Garten has gone into further detail about why she excludes these ingredients from her soirees. In a section of her book "Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics," she writes: "Now, I like chicken with forty cloves of garlic as much as the next guy, but I have to know the other guests very well to want to talk to them knowing I have garlic breath." 

If you're eager to use onions and garlic in your own recipes, but just as wary of the strong flavors as Anna Wintour and Ina Garten, there are a few ways to mute the intensity of these ingredients. To start, use a simple ice water trick to mellow raw onions. Soaking them in cold water for a few minutes will take away some of the harshest flavors. There are also many different types of onions, and they all offer unique flavors. Experiment with the many varieties of onion to find one that's best suited to your palate. Finally, the intensity of garlic depends on how you chop it. For the mildest flavors, use whole garlic cloves instead of mincing or chopping them up.

For all those still wary of using onion and garlic in a dinner party dish, why not give your guests some notice of what's on your menu? Anyone totally averse to the inimitable perfume of these ingredients can decline the invitation.