Green onions, scallions, turn up in ever so many recipes these days, especially in delicate Asian dishes and are a pleasurable garnish on just about any savory dish.

Here’s a tip, however, for buying green onions with a longer life. Whenever possible, choose only perfectly straight green onions. Curved green onions, those starting to bend over, are getting closer to becoming old and slimy, ugly and nasty – something you will need to pitch, another waste of your money.

Green onions are not cheap, and you can prolong their straightness by removing their rubber bands, wrapping them in a damp paper towel and storing in your crisper in a zipped plastic bag.