"Onions and garlic"?

[Joel S. Berson]

What is known about the phrase "onions and garlic", used
figuratively?  I find it in Massachusetts near the end of the 17th
century in reference to two messages, sent together to the king, that
are in a sense inconsistent with each other: one asks for military
support, the other for greater independence from the empire:

"the representatives, though they send to the king for ships and men,
yet address him at the same time for their old charter. That is their
onions and garlic."

My only thought is that the writer is using the phrase ironically --
while onions and garlic frequently appear together harmoniously in
food dishes, here the two messages are not compatible.

Joel

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