Shallot
Allium ascalonicum, A. oschaninii
vegetable · prebiotic
A small bulb with a stiff skin and a stronger taste than onion, which some botanists treat as a mere variety of it; a pillar of French cooking. It provides fructans, quercetin and sulphur compounds.
- Origin
- Central Asia, adopted in Brittany and the Loire Valley
- Season (United States)
- all year round · grows in your region
- Preparation
- The papery skin is peeled off, then it is finely chopped: raw in a vinaigrette, or gently softened in butter or oil before the rest of the dish. Chop or crush it, then wait ten minutes before cooking: that is how long its sulfur compounds take to form.
- Did you know?
- Its name comes from the Latin ascalonia, the “onion of Ascalon”, a city of the Near East.