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Onion (Allium cepa L.)

Synonyms

AlbanianQepë, Qepa
Amharicቀዪ ሽንኩርት
Key Shinkurt
ApataniPiaj
Arabicبصل
بَصَل
Basal
Aramaicܒܨܠ, ܩܨܚ
Besel, Qish
ArmenianՍոխ
Sokh, Sox
Assameseপিয়াজ, পিয়াঁজ
Piyaj, Piyanj
AzeriSoğan, Soğanaq, Baş soğan
Соған, Соғанаг, Баш соған
BasqueTipula
BelarusianЦыбуля, Лук, Цыбуля рэпчатая
Cybuĺia, Luk, Cybuĺia repčataja
Bengaliপেঁয়াজ, পিঁয়াজ
Pianj, Penyaj
Bodoसामब्राम, छामब्राम
Sambram, Chambram
BretonOgnon, Chalotezenn (Allium ascalonicum), Penn-chalotez (Allium ascalonicum)
BulgarianКромид, Лук
Kromid, Luk
BurmeseKesunni, Kyet-thun-ni
CatalanCeba
Chakma𑄛𑄳𑄡𑄎𑄴
Pyaj, Pej
Chinese
(Cantonese)
蔥頭 [chùng tàuh], 洋蔥 [yèuhng chùng]
Chung tauh, Yeuhng chung
Chinese
(Mandarin)
蔥頭 [cōng tóu], 洋蔥 [yáng cōng]
Cong tou, Yang cong
Copticⲉⲙϫⲟⲗ, ⲉⲙϫⲱⲗ, ⲙ̅ϫ̅ⲱ̅ⲗ̅
Emjol
CroatianCrveni luk, Lukovica češnjaka
CzechCibule, Cibule kuchyňská, Šalotka
DanishLøg
Dhivehiފިޔާ
Fiyaa
Dogriघंड़ा, गन्डा
Ghanda, Ganda
DutchUi, Ajuin
Dzongkhaདགོཔ་, སྒོགཔ་
Gop, Gogap
EnglishScallion (young onion with green leaves)
EsperantoCepo
EstonianHarili sibul
Farsiپیاز, پیازچه
Pias, Piaz; Piazcheh (young green onion)
FinnishRuokasipuli
FrenchOignon
GaelicSiobaid, Uinnean
GalicianCebola
GaroRasin, Rasin gitchak
Georgianხახვი
Khakhvi, Xaxvi
GermanZwiebel
GreekΚρεμμύδι
Kremmidi
Greek (Old)Κρόμμυον, Πολύειδος, Γήτειον, Κρόμμυον τὸ σχιστόν
Krommyon, Polyeidos, Getion, Krommyon to schiston (Allium ascalonicum)
Gujaratiડુંગળી
Dungli
HausaAlbasa
Hebrewבצל
בָּצָל
Bazal, Batsal
Hindiप्याज, प्याज़, गण्डा
Pyaj, Piyaj, Pyaz, Piyaz, Ganda
HmarPurunsen
HungarianHagyma, Vöröshagyma; Zöldhagyma, Újhagyma (green onion)
IcelandicLaukur
IndonesianBawang merah; Bawang daun, Daun bawang (green leaf),
IrishOinniún
ItalianCipolla
Japanese玉葱, 分葱
たまねぎ, わけぎ
タマネギ, ワケギ, オニオン
Tamanegi, Wakegi, Onion
Kannadaಈರುಳ್ಳಿ, ನೀರುಳ್ಳೆ, ಉಳ್ಳಿ
Irulli, Nirulle, Ulli
Kashmiriغنڈہ, گنڈہ, پیاز, پران
Ghanda, Ganda, Piyaz, Pran
KazakhПияз, Садақ, Саржа, Жуа
Jwa, Pïyaz, Sadaq, Sarja
KhasiPiat
KhmerKhtim slek, Khtim kraham
Korean어니언, 오니언, 양파
Eonieon, Onieon, Yangpa
Laoຫອມບົ່ວ, ຜັກບົ່ວຫົວໃຫຍ່, ຜັກບົ່ວ
Hom bua, Pak bua, Phak bua hua nyai
LatinBulbus, Cepa, Cepula, Unio
LatvianDārza sīpoli
LithuanianValgomasis svogūnas
MacedonianКромид
Kromid
Maithiliप्योज
Pyoj
MalayBawang merah
Malayalamചുവന്നുള്ളി, സവാള, ഉള്ളി
Chuvan-ulli, Savala, Ulli
MalteseBasal
Manipuri (Meitei-Lon)তিলহৌ
ꯇꯤꯜꯍꯧ
Tilhou
Marathiकांडा
Kanda
MizoPurunsen, Purun
MongolianСонгино
Songino
Naga (Angami)Paisü
Naga (Chakhesang-Chokri)Piyaj
Naga (Khezha)Thönedzü
Naga (Mao)Pias
Naga (Rongmei)Talao
Naga (Tangkhul)Asruna
Nepaliप्याज
Piaz, Chyapi (Allium ascalonicum)
Newari
(Nepalbhasa)
पयाज
Pyaj
NorwegianKepaløk
Oriyaପିଆଜ
Piaja
OssetianХъӕдындз
Qaedyndj
PapiamentoAyun
PolishCebula
PortugueseCebola
ProvençalCebo
Punjabiਪਿਆਜ, ਪਿਆਜ਼
Piaj, Piaz
RomanianArpagic, Ceapă; Ciapă (Moldovan)
RussianЛук, Лук репчатый
Luk, Luk repchatyj
SanskritPalandu
SantaliPiaj, Peaj
SerbianЦрни лук, Лук црвени, Капула
Crni luk, Luk crveni, Kapula
Sinhalaලූණු, ලූනු
Lunu
SlovakCibuľa, Cibuľa kuchynská, Cesnak cibuľový, Cibuľa zimná
SlovenianČebula
SpanishCebolla
SrananCiboyo, Ayun
SwahiliKitunguu
SwedishLök, Rödlök
TagalogSibuyas
TajikПиёз
Piyoz
Tamilஈருள்ளி, வெங்காயம்
Irulli, Vengayam
Teluguనీరుల్లి, వుల్లిగడ్డ, యెర్రవుల్లి, వెల్లుల్లి
Nirulli, Vulligadda, Yerravulli, Vellulli
Thaiหอมหัวใหญ่, หอมขาว, หอมใหญ่
Hom hao, Hom khao, Hom hain
Tibetanབཙོང་, བཙོང་སྔོན་པོ་
Btsong, Tsong; Btsong sngon po, Tsong ngonpo (green onion)
Tigrinyaሽጉርቲ ቀይሕ, ሹጉርቲ ዝቢኢ
Shegurti kayeh; Shugurti zebii (green onion)
Tuluನೀರುಳ್ಳಿ
Nirulli
TurkishSoğan, Basal†
TurkmenSogan
Соган
UkrainianЦибулина, Цибуля ріпчаста
Tsybulya ripchasta, Tsybulyna
Urduپیاز
Pyaz
UzbekPiyoz
Пиёз
VietnameseHành, Hành củ, Hành tây
Hanh, Hanh cu, Hanh tay
WelshWnionyn, Nionyn
Yiddishציבאַלע, ציבעלע, גאָרטן־ציבעלע
Tsibale, Tsibele, Gortn-tsibele
Synonyms of shallots (Allium ascalonicum)

BasqueTipulatx
BelarusianШалёт
Shaliot
DanishSkalotte løg
CzechŠalotka
DutchSjalot
EnglishEchalot, Spanish garlic, Spanish garlic
EsperantoŜaloto, Askalono
EstonianŠalottsibul
FinnishŠalottisipuli, Salottisipuli, Shalottisipuli
FrenchCiboule, Échalote
GaelicSgalaid
GermanSchalotte, Aschlauch, Eschlauch, Klöben
GreekΑσκαλώνιο
Askalonio
Greek (Old)Κρόμμυον τὸ σχιστόν
Krommyon to schiston
Hebrewבצלצל
בְּצַלְצַל
Bzalzal
HungarianMogyoróhagyma
IcelandicSkalottlaukur
IrishSeallóidí
ItalianScalogna, Scalogno
Japaneseシャロット, エシャロット
Esharotto, Shorotto
Kannadaಒಂದು ಬಗೆಯ ಈರುಳ್ಳಿ
Ondu bageya irulli
KazakhШалот пиязы
Şalot pïaz
Laoຜັກບົ່ວເຊິລອດ
Pak bua soelod
LatinCepa Ascalonia, Ascalonia
LatvianŠarlotes sīpoli
LithuanianAskaloninis česnakas
MacedonianКромитче
Kromitče
Nepaliछ्य
Chyapi
NorwegianSjalott-løk
PolishSzalotka
PortugueseCebolha roxa, Cebola miúda, Cebolinha branca, Chalota das cosinhas
ProvençalChaloto
RomanianCeapă franțuzeascăCeapă franţuzească, Hajme, HașmăHaşmă
RussianШалот, Лук шалот
Shalot, Luk shalot
SlovakŠalotka
SlovenianŠalotka
SpanishAscalonia, Chalota, Escalma
SwahiliKitunguu kidogo sana
SwedishSchalottenlök
Thaiหอมต้น, หอมแดง, หอมเล็ก
Hom ton, Hom daeng, Hom lek
Tibetanབཙོང་སྒོག་
Btsong sgog, Tsong gog
WelshSialotsyn (Allium ascalonicum)
Yiddishשאַלאָט
Shalot
Allium fistulosum: Spring onions
Green onion, Scallion
Allium ascalonicum: Shallot
Shallot
Used plant part

Onion forms a bulb, this is, a cluster of sub­terranean leaves designed to store energy to allow for a rapid growth in spring.

Besides the bulb, the super­terranean green leaves can also put to culinary use, most often in the form of young onion plants (green onion or spring onion). Their flavour is more similar to chives (but stronger).

The spice named onion seeds is unrelated to onion, but stems from an entirely different plant, nigella.

Plant family

Alliaceae (onion family).

Sensory quality

In fresh state, onion is spicy, pungent and lachrymatory. For more information on hot and pungent spices, see negro pepper. On cooking, the flavour mellows and can become even sweet, depending on the exact cooking procedure. Dried onion has an aromatic, spicy odour and mild flavour.

Main constituents

Fresh onions contain only traces (0.01%) of essential oil, which mostly consists of sulfur compounds: Ethyl and propyl disulfides, vinyl sulfide and other sulfides and thioles. The lachrymatory principle is variously identified as thiopropanal-S-oxide (CH3–CH2–C(SO)H) or its tautomer propenyl sulfenic acid (CH3–CH=CH–SOH). This substance is released from its precursor S-1-propenyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide as a reaction to cell damage; this mechanism is very similar to that in garlic.

Onions contain significant amounts of flavonoides, e. g., quercetine glucosides. The red colour of some onion breeds is due to pigments of the anthocyanin type, which have been identified as cyanidin malonylglucosides. Total anthocyanin concentrations may be up to 200 ppm.

Allium christophii: Christoph’s Leek
Inflorescence of Allium christophii (Persian onion)
Origin

Onion seems to origi­nate from West or Central Asia, but it obviously reached the Mediterranean, in the cultivated state, several millennia ago. In Europe, it is known since the Bronze Age (see poppy about Iliad and Odyssey).

Etymology

Names of onion in Romance languages derive from Late Latin cepa onion and its diminutive, cepula; examples include Italian cipolla, Provençal cebo and Romanian ceapă; cf. also Albanian qepë. Note, however, that many names of chives in Romance languages come from the same root and may be quite similar. Also German Zwiebel belongs to that kin; its similarity to zwei two is purely coincidental. There are a couple of related names in North and East European tongues, probably due to loans from German: Estonian sibul, Finnish sipuli, Slovak cibuľa, Yiddish tsibele [ציבעלע] and Ukrainian tsybulya [цибуля].

French oignon, English onion and Dutch ui derive from late Latin unio onion, probably related to unus one because of the single, perfectly shaped onion bulb in contrast to the multitude of garlic cloves. Another theory links unio with Sanskrit ushna [उष्ण] hot, passionate, pungent which can be used to denote onion.

Swedish lök, Icelandic laukur and similar forms (also English leek for the related Allium porrum) all belong to a group of words further discussed under garlic. Russian luk [лук] onion is a loan from a Germanic tongue.

Allium giganteum: Giant leek
Central Asian (Himalayan) species Allium giganteum
Allium giganteum: Giant onion
A. giganteum inflorescence

The Bulgarian name kromid [кромид] is borrowed from Greek kremmidi [κρεμμύδι]. The latter has a long history in Greek language and was already used by Homer, who tells us that the Greek heroes of the Iliad, more than 3000 years ago, used to eat onions with wine: kromyon poto opson [κρόμυον ποτῷ ὄψον] onion as a relish for the drink. It has a Sanskrit cognate, krimighna [कृमिघ्न]. See also bear’s garlic about more Indo–European words possibly related to kremmidi (via an Proto-Indo–European root KREM), and see poppy for more information on the Homeric epics.

The names of onion in Semitic tongues are still remarkably close: Arabic al-basal [البصل], Hebrew bazal [בצל], Tigré basal [በሰል] and Maltese basal. These derive from a common Semitic root ŠḤL with the basic meaning to peel. Arabic basal has been borrowed by Turkish in the Ottoman period, but is now abandoned in favour of the Altaic-derived soğan.

All the names of shallots derive from the Eastern Mediteranean seaport Askalon (today Ashqelon [אשקלון] in South Western Israel). There is a legend that crusaders discovered the plant there and subsequently introduced it to Europe; yet the city was known already in antiquity for its onions. The German regional name Klöben is related to English cleave, referring to the several sub-bulbs of shallot. The same element is also found in Knoblauch, the German name of garlic.

Selected Links

Indian Spices: Shallot (indianetzone.com) Indian Spices: Welsh Onion (indianetzone.com) Indian Spices: Onion (indianetzone.com) Ilkas und Ullis Kochecke: Zwiebel (rezkonv.de via archive.org) Ilkas und Ullis Kochecke: Winterzwiebel (rezkonv.de via archive.org) Ilkas und Ullis Kochecke: Schalotte (rezkonv.de via archive.org) Ilkas und Ullis Kochecke: Ägyptische Zwiebel (rezkonv.de via archive.org) A Pinch of Shallots (www.apinchof.com) Medical Spice Exhibit: Onion Transport Information Service: Onions Sorting Allium names (www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au) Pflanzen des Capitulare de Villis: Zwiebel (biozac.de) Pflanzen des Capitulare de Villis: Schalotte (biozac.de) Floridata.com: Onion Advances in New Alliums (purdue.edu) Burmese Curries (www.home.eznet.net) Recipe: Wethani Kyet (Dry Burmese Pork Curry) (asianonlinerecipes.com) Recette: Wethani Kyet (Curry de porc) (moonbeam-travels.com) Recipe: (Dry Burmese Chicken Curry) (fooddownunder.com) Babylonische Süppchen (wortsetzung.de) The Journey to the West (Xi-you ji [西遊記]) (cornell.edu) The Journey to the West (Xi-you ji [西遊记]) (Wu Cheng En) (vbtutor.net) Curious Cook Blog: Colourful Garlic (Harold McGee)


Allium cepa: Onion plants
Onion plants
Allium cepa: Young onion plant
Young onion plant
Onion is cer­tainly a border­line case between spices and vege­tables: While they are used chiefly for flavour in some recipes, they play rather the rôle of a vegetable in others, pro­viding nutri­ents and volume. I have, how­ever, in­cluded onions as spices to these pages be­cause they are an in­dispens­able in­gre­dient to nearly every cuisine of the world, and it is used for large spectrum of dif­ferent dishes, where onions yield volume, texture, flavour or pungency according to the recipe details. Most im­por­tant­ly, their flavour de­pends on many pre­paration details, which makes them a versatile tool for the cook knowing about their proper­ties; in that, they resemble spices more than vegetables.

The recorded history of onion begins early, in the Bronze Age. Both onions and garlic were highly popular in Ancient Egypt. It is known that these plants were part of the diet of the workers involved in the erection of the Great Pyra­mids; pre­sumably, this also served to prevent infectious diseases to spread in the densely populated workers’ quarters. The Old Testa­ment mentions both onion and garlic specifically in connection with the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt (see also pome­granate for a list of spices mentioned in the Bible). Another Bronze-Age source, the Illiad of Homer, mentions them in a culinary context (see poppy.

Allium cepa: Yale Babylonian Collection 4644 Tontafel (Akkadisch, YBC4644)
Upper left corner of a Babylonian cookbook written in Akkadian cuneiform

Yale Babylonian Collection

Both onion and garlic are featured promi­nently in a col­lection of Baby­lonian recipes from Meso­potamia (ca. 1600), which is now kept at the Uni­versity of Yale and known as Yale Recipes. The about 35 recipes written on three clay tablets show that onion and relatives were character­istic flavours of ancient Babylon: Onion (Akka­dian šusikillu), leek (karšu, karašu) and garlic (hazanu) appear in almost every recipe, usually in mashed form to be stirred into the foods.

Xuán Zàng 玄奘
Portrait of Xuan Zang [玄奘] in the Vaikunta Perumal temple [வைகுண்டா பெருமள் கோயில்] in Kanchi­puram (Tamil Nadu)

The collec­tion also uses other spices, some of which are still named similar in modern Semitic tongues, so that the identi­fication appears sound: mint (ninū), coriander (kisibirru), cumin (kamûnu), and dill (šibittu). Other spices part of the oldest docu­mented cuisine of the world are less easy to identify: egenguru (rocket, cress), šurmīnu (cypress cones, maybe comparable to juniper) and sibburratu (rue). A flavouring kasû appears very frequently; this has been identified as dodder (Cuscuta) by some scholars, but as mustard and even licorice by others. Quite conspicuously, imported spices are completely missing in these recipes.

In ancient In­dia, onion (and also garlic) were very unpopular. They were considered impure and rarely eaten; the Chinese traveller Xuan Zang [玄奘] reported in the 7th century that people eating onions had to live outside of the cities. Sanskrit names like nicha­bhojya [नीचभोज्य] food for low people, shudra­priya [शूद्रप्रिय] dear to the Shudras (members of low caste) and dur­gandha [दुर्गंध] evil smelling, testify to the low reputation of onions. The important position of onion and garlic in today’s Indian cuisine developed only due to contact with Muslims in the last millennium. Yet, even today, some Brahmin communities (e. g., in Bengal) refuse to eat these odorous plants. Their cooking often uses asafetida in places where other Indian cooks would resort to onion.

In con­temporary Indian cooking, onion is the basis of most sauces and gravies. In India, particularly in the North, cooking starts with the spices which are fried in vegetable oil or butter fat, by a cooking method known as baghar [बघार]; this is similar to the Chinese chao xiang [炒香] technique, despite the completely different nature of the flavourings involved (see Sichuan pepper). In India, onions play the single most important part in the procedure, because they caramelize during the final slow-frying step, providing a nutty Maillard flavour and ligating the various flavours into a harmonious blend.

Nearly every North Indian recipe starts with the same pro­cedure: Spices are fried before the other in­gre­dients enter the pot. In its full in­carna­tion, the pro­cedure con­sist of three main steps: In the first step, the most heat-resistant spices are fried at high tem­pera­ture. This usu­ally means cloves, cinn­amon, black card­amom, green card­amom, Indian bay-leaves in order of de­creasing heat tolerance. When cloves swell, cinn­amon quills un­roll, card­amom pods start to open and a strong aroma de­vel­ops, tem­pera­ture is quenched by adding fresh spices: Onions, garlic and ginger. In this second step, tem­pera­ture will fall to some­what above 100 degrees because of the water content of the fresh spices, and will slowly rise as the water evapor­ates. In the third step, heat-sen­sitive spices are added: cumin, ajwain, asa­fetida, mace and many more. Chiles may enter in any step, de­pending on whether they are dried, fresh or ground. As a result, an oily, highly aromatic mass is obtained that is also sometimes referred to as baghar or simply masala [मसाला]; in English, it is sometimes referred to as wet masala, where wet implies oily, not watery. At that point, further ingredients according to the recipe are added, either solids (vegetables, meat chunks) to fry or liquids (chopped tomatoes, yoghurt, coconut milk) to finalize the gravy.

Allium cepa: Flowering onion plants
Flowering onion plants
Allium cepa: Young onion plants
Young onion plants
Allium cepa: Onion inflorescence
Onion flowers

All the rules of baghar may be violated, and this gives Indian cookery its flexi­bility. Onion-free con­coctions are perfectly feas­able, but require good heat control or ex­cellent timing for the tem­perature-sensi­tive spices. Any ground spices should go very late, and parti­cularly ground chiles need some ex­perience for they burn very easily; on the other side, they provide good flavour and ex­cellent colour. In the South, onions quite often get omitted, and if used are usually ground into a paste together with the other fresh spices; the latter method becomes in­creasing­ly common in the North, and then the second and third step are often combined. Mustard seeds, commonly used in the South, need high temperature for a short time, and should enter the pot shortly before the fresh spices; but they are more often dry-toasted in advance where they are easier to control. Some simple baghars omit steps one and two, for example in Bengal where the five spices panch phoran [পাঁচ ফোড়ন] (see nigella) all fall in category three; such a simple baghar resembles a tarka (see ajwain), but it marks the beginning, not the end of the preparation.

Any Indian spice can enter a baghar, with the obvious exception of fresh herbs (coriander, mint); but fresh curry leaves are commonly used in South India. They can be added at the end of step one as they tolerate a lot more heat than one might expect. Entire coriander seeds are rather rare in baghar, but they show up more often in recipes that employ a powdered mixture of spices. Ground seeds like almond or poppy can help to thicken the resulting gravy and provide some nutty flavour. Black cumin appears to be never used.

In the Imperial cuisine of North­ern India (moghul cuisine, see black cumin), gravies are pre­pared in a similar way; yet aro­matic spices (cinn­amon, Indian bay-leaves, mace and cloves) are used more lavishly at the cost of pungent chiles. More­over, gravies are usu­ally based on yoghurt, which is an ex­pensive option not so much em­braced in every­day cooking.

Gravies based on onion are pre­pared in another way in Burma, whose unique situa­tion between China, India and Thai­land has given rise to a unique cuisine. The dishes called curries in Burma are meat cubes or vege­tables braised in a rich spicy gravy pre­pared in ad­vance: Onions, vinegar, garlic, fresh ginger, cumin, coriander and of course chiles are blended to a smooth paste and fried in sesame oil until the fat separates from the gravy. By the long frying procedure, Burmese curries acquire a very complex taste not easily found in the cuisines of other countries.

Pastes prepared by grinding onions together with a variety of spices are known in quite many countries. Since raw onions easily turn bitter, such pastes must be prepared fresh and used without much delay; alternatively, they can be preserved by adding some acid (e. g., vinegar or lemon juice). Indonesia displays a great variety of onion-based spice pastes (bumbu, see lemon grass); from the New World, Jamaican jerk is the most famous example (see allspice). Both concoctions are mostly used to marinate meat or fish.

On frying, onion chan­ges its taste and turns more sweet and aro­matic; the flavour de­vel­ops best after long frying in com­para­tively cool fat (I prefer clari­fied butter ghi [घी], but this might be a personal pre­ference). Fried onion rings are popular in Central Europe as a de­coration, e. g., for German Kartoffel­püree (mashed potatoes), but they are also known in Viet­nam and especially in Indo­nesia, where nasi goreng (fried rice, see galanga) is nearly always topped with them. After removal of the fat used for frying, they can be stored for several hours without losing their crisp texture, provided they are kept in an air-tight container.

Boiled onions acquire a mild, sweetish flavour and can be used as a vegetable. In some lightly-flavoured European foods, boiled onions contribute to the overall flavour. For example, Central European versions of bouquet garni often employ onions as flavourings for boiled stocks (German Suppengrün, see parsley). Another example is the Yiddish specialty gefilte fish, see white pepper.

Allium fistulosum: Welsh onion
Welsh onion (Allium fistulosum)

www.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de

Allium cepa: Onion plants in a garden
Onion plants in a garden

An interesting com­bination of fried and boiled onions is the Chinese cooking tech­nique known as cong shao [蔥烧] onion-braising: It con­sists of frying shallots in oil, then adding stock and boiling foods in the re­sulting liquid. See also cassia for a more de­tailled descrip­tion of the related red braising technique.

Onions may also be dried, in which case they again change their flavour and turn more garlic-like. Onion powder is a rather popular spice in the South of the US and in México, and forms part of commercially available chile-con-carne spice mixtures (together with cumin, oregano, garlic, pepper and chiles). Dried onions are in important flavouring in Eritrean cuisine (see long pepper).

Shallots stem from a closely related plant, Allium ascalonicum. They are smaller and grow in clusters with up to five bulbs; their taste is some­what finer and less pungent. Shallots are most popular in Northern France, where they are essential for sauces based on red wine. Contrasting the usage of ordinary onion, shallots are never fried (because the French believe them to turn bitter on frying), but mostly cooked or braised (e. g., for sauces made from red wine). Shallots are called for by the classic recipe sauce béarnaise (see tarragon).

Quite many Far Eastern cookbooks suggest using shallots instead of onions, since the latter are closer to Asian onions both with respect to size and flavour. Shallots are particularly suited to substitute onions in the Indonesian spice paste bumbu (see lemon grass).



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