You and your partner are standing in the kitchen. The recipe says, “one medium onion, diced.” You both look at the onion, then at each other. Somebody says, “Do you want to do it?” and the other person says, “No, you go ahead.” Why? Because chopping an onion usually means tears, runny noses, and stinging eyes. It’s no fun. But here’s the secret: learning how to chop an onion the right way, from a chef on video, can actually be a great way to grow closer as a couple.

When you watch a short cooking video together, you’re both the student. You’re side by side, looking at the same screen, and you get to learn the exact same thing at the exact same time. That makes you a team. Instead of one person being the “expert” and the other just standing there, you both start from zero. That is huge for a relationship. It takes the pressure off. Neither of you has to be the boss. You just follow the chef’s hands.

So let’s pick a simple video. Search for “how to chop an onion without crying” by a friendly chef. You’ll see them take that round, awkward onion and turn it into perfect little cubes in about thirty seconds. The first thing they usually show you is the knife. You don’t need a fancy, expensive chef’s knife. You just need a sharp one. If your knife is dull, it smashes the onion instead of slicing it, and that releases more of the gas that makes you cry. So the video might tell you to sharpen your knife first. You and your partner can do that together, too. Run the blade along a sharpening steel or a simple handheld sharpener. That’s a little bit of teamwork right there.

Then the chef will show you how to cut off the top of the onion, but not the root. The root is the hairy little part at the bottom. You leave it on. That’s the big secret. The root holds the onion together and has the most of the tear-causing stuff. If you cut it off, you’re basically letting the tear gas loose. So keep the root intact. The chef will show you exactly where to cut. As you watch, hold your own phone or tablet up so you both can see. You can pause the video, rewind, and watch the chef do it again. That’s something you can’t do in a live class. You get to control the pace.

Next, you’ll see how to peel off the papery skin. Then the chef makes vertical cuts almost down to the root, but not through it. Then they turn the onion sideways and slice horizontally, again almost to the root. Finally, they chop straight down from one end to the other, and all those perfect cubes just fall away. The first time you try it, it might fall apart a little bit. That’s okay. You and your partner can laugh about the messy cubes. Nobody is a judge. You’re just learning together.

Here is the part that matters for your relationship. When you both mess up, you get to laugh. When one of you gets it right, you get to cheer. That builds emotional intimacy because you are sharing a real, low-stakes experience. Nobody gets hurt if an onion is ugly. But you do get to practice supporting each other. Your partner might say, “Hey, I think you’re cutting too deep,” and you can say, “You’re right, let me try again.” That’s communication. That’s trust.

The thing about learning from a chef on video is that you can do it anytime. Late at night after work, or on a lazy Saturday morning. You don’t have to drive anywhere. You don’t have to pay for a class. You just pull up a free video on your phone, put it on the counter, and start. And because it’s just the two of you in your own kitchen, you can talk the whole time. You can ask silly questions. You can pause the video and kiss. You can decide to make extra onion for a salad later. The video doesn’t interrupt. It just teaches.

Once you master the onion, you can move to other videos. How to roast a chicken. How to make a simple vinaigrette. How to boil pasta the right way. Each video is a mini adventure you take together. And every time you practice, you get better at working side by side. You learn each other’s patience level, your sense of humor, your little quirks. Some people like to follow the video exactly. Others like to improvise. You’ll figure that out about each other. And you’ll learn to compromise.

The best part? You don’t have to become great chefs. You just have to enjoy the time together. That onion you both learned to chop? It goes into a meal you share. And that meal tastes better because you made it together, while watching a chef show you the way. So tonight, grab an onion, pull up a video, and start chopping. You might still tear up a little, but by the end, you’ll be laughing instead of crying. And that is what cooking together is really about.