Onions, Shallots, and Garlic

The onion tribe are all included in the genus Allium which belongs to the plant order Lilliaceae. The principal species, Allium Cepa, comprise a number of onion varieties which are characterized by their hollow fleshy leaves and prominent bulbs at the base of the stem, and range between large, good-keeping onions, like ‘Bedfordshire Champion’ and ‘Giant Zittau’, to the small clustered red shallot which is so much more in use in French kitchens than in ours. The Spanish onions cultivated for export by the Bretons round Roscoff are quite different in quality from the harder, better-keeping but more pungent onion varieties grown here. They are more fleshy, milder in flavour, with a mauve or pinkish tinge resembling the shallot, and though more expensive bought by the string, are more valuable in the preparation of a sauce or braise than their English counterparts. The little flat white bulbs, ‘Paris Silver-skinned’ for instance, usually imported from France, are to be found in Soho greengrocers, and these are the variety which should be used for poulet bonne femme and matelotes. The flat white bulbs, medium sized, ‘White Lisbon’ and ‘White Portugal’ varieties, are best for pickling.