Behold, the shallot. There are a lot of rumors about this vegetable, and I’m here to clear them up. First, shallots are not a crossbreed of garlic and onions. Next, shallots are not a type of onion. They are a species all on their own.
In fact, shallots are a type of allium. The allium family contains popular “flavor” veggies such as leeks, onions, scallions, chives, and garlic. Allium is the genus and shallots are the species. Remember this:: domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species?
Shallots are often used in place of or in tandem with onions. They’ll make you cry like an onion will (believe me!) and they have papery skins like onions. Their flavor is sweeter and more mild than their onion brother. However, they grow in cloves like garlic – though only 2-3 per head.
You can see where the confusion comes in.
Shallots are fast gaining popularity (and have likely “arrived”) among both professional chefs and home cooks alike. Provided your knife is sharp, they are easy to slice and chop and they’re great in vinaigrette when you don’t want a sharp onion after-taste.
Find these little guys in the onion section of your grocery store and try them out!
Thank you for clearing up that bit of confusion for me! I have recipes that call for these and didn’t know what they looked like uncooked. I love learning something new in the way of ingredients! Loved the quinoa! Thanks for the education in creative cooking…I was getting pretty stuck in my repertoire!