Allium cepa, Aggregatum Group, differs from the regular onion in that instead of having a single bulb it divides into a cluster of small bulbs. These are smaller, more delicate in flavour, and less powerful in smell than ordinary round onions.
The subdivision into little bulbs is a characteristic which the shallot shares with some other species, all of which are known as aggregate or bunching onions. Unlike round onions, these aggregate onions are perennials, spreading themselves by means of the division process. Some sorts, milder than shallots, are usually called ‘multiplier’ or ‘ever ready’ onions. One, grown mainly in Ireland, is the ‘potato onion’, so called because its bulbs are broader than they are high, and resemble a potato in shape.
Amongst the several kinds of shallot, most have elongated brown bulbs. One variety is known in France as the cuisse de poulet on account of its golden skin. Other types have grey-brown or pink or (in SE Asia, for example) red skins.
The shallot was described before 300 bc by the Greek writer Theophrastus, who called it askolonion. In the 1st century ad Pliny concluded that it was so named because it came from Askalon (now Ashkelon, in S. Israel), and the attribution has remained. In truth it originated much further east, probably in C. Asia, and reached India before it came to the Mediterranean.
The original Greek name has spawned all the modern names, as well as the term ‘scallion’, which has been used to mean a shallot, a spring onion (especially in the USA), or one of the small bulbs of any bunching variety of onion.
Shallots can be eaten raw in salads, but their special qualities are best revealed when they are cooked. Their contribution to French cuisine, and especially to certain sauces, e.g. béarnaise, is well known; but they are of no less importance in the Orient. They also make excellent pickles, and are much used for this purpose in SE Asia.
Julie Sahni (1980) says that ‘shallot is particularly savored by those vegetarians who are forbidden to eat garlic. The southern vegetable-and-lentil stew called sambar, made with shallots as the only vegetable, is considered a delicacy around the entire country of India.’
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
Sahni, Julie (1980), Classic Indian Cooking, New York: William Morrow.
