Shallots, scallions, green onions and chives
Shallots
The Latin name of this vegetable is allium ascalonicum after the ancient Palestinian city of Ascalon, which is said to be where shallots were first grown. From the outside these alliums look like small onions covered in reddish-brown papery skin, but they are formed more like garlic, with several bulbs to a plant. Their flesh is tinged with purple and they have finer layers and less water content than most onions.
Flavour and use: Use this vegetable to get the full flavour of onions without the bulk. A standard in French cooking, cooks often use shallots for sauce reductions, but you can also cook shallots whole or chop it and add it to salads, soups or stews.
Storage: Keep shallots with your yellow and white onions, in a dark cool place. Store peeled shallots in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
The Latin name of this vegetable is allium ascalonicum after the ancient Palestinian city of Ascalon, which is said to be where shallots were first grown. From the outside these alliums look like small onions covered in reddish-brown papery skin, but they are formed more like garlic, with several bulbs to a plant. Their flesh is tinged with purple and they have finer layers and less water content than most onions.
Flavour and use: Use this vegetable to get the full flavour of onions without the bulk. A standard in French cooking, cooks often use shallots for sauce reductions, but you can also cook shallots whole or chop it and add it to salads, soups or stews.
Storage: Keep shallots with your yellow and white onions, in a dark cool place. Store peeled shallots in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Scallions and green onions
Although these two alliums are different varieties, they look very similar and can be used interchangeably. True scallions have no sign of a bulb at the root end but both vegetables are straight and narrow with a white base and long green leaves.
Flavour and use: If you're looking for subtlety, scallions and green onions will give you just a hint of seasoning. You can chop up both the white and green portions of the vegetables and use them raw in soups, salads and other dishes, or you can cook them in their entirety, much like leeks.
Storage: Scallions will keep for up to five days when wrapped in a plastic bag and stored in your fridge's vegetable crisper.
Chives
These bright green hollow stems are the smallest of the onion family and they're considered an herb rather than a vegetable.
Flavour and use: Offering a mild flavour, chives can be chopped up to use as a garnish or added to butter or cream cheese for a savoury spread. Spector Platt suggests using the leaves to tie bundles of vegetables together to create a pretty presentation. Add chives at the end of cooking to retain more flavour.
Storage: Store chives in a plastic bag in the fridge for a full week.
And finally, if you avoid chopping onions for fear of dissolving into tears, try freezing the vegetable for 20 minutes beforehand to weaken its bite.
Now that you know all about onions, try your hand at an Onion Tart with Rye Crust.
Page 2 of 2
Although these two alliums are different varieties, they look very similar and can be used interchangeably. True scallions have no sign of a bulb at the root end but both vegetables are straight and narrow with a white base and long green leaves.
Flavour and use: If you're looking for subtlety, scallions and green onions will give you just a hint of seasoning. You can chop up both the white and green portions of the vegetables and use them raw in soups, salads and other dishes, or you can cook them in their entirety, much like leeks.
Storage: Scallions will keep for up to five days when wrapped in a plastic bag and stored in your fridge's vegetable crisper.
Chives
These bright green hollow stems are the smallest of the onion family and they're considered an herb rather than a vegetable.
Flavour and use: Offering a mild flavour, chives can be chopped up to use as a garnish or added to butter or cream cheese for a savoury spread. Spector Platt suggests using the leaves to tie bundles of vegetables together to create a pretty presentation. Add chives at the end of cooking to retain more flavour.
Storage: Store chives in a plastic bag in the fridge for a full week.
And finally, if you avoid chopping onions for fear of dissolving into tears, try freezing the vegetable for 20 minutes beforehand to weaken its bite.
Now that you know all about onions, try your hand at an Onion Tart with Rye Crust.
Page 2 of 2
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