Scallions, Shallots, Green Onions, Green Shallots

I mentioned in a post some time ago that I'd heard them or seen them referred to as "shallots". I think it was probably in some pretty old cookbooks. I had no idea why some called them that, though. Certainly confusing.

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If y'all knew this, why didn' you tell me?

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we dont have your phone number

Green Onions, Scallions, Shallots, Chives etc

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Some of the recipes in your cookbook call for green onions and some for shallots. I thought they were the same. Green onions are also called scallions, right? But are shallots something else? And what about chives?

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A masterpiece of an article about this by the great New Orleans food historian, Tom Fitzmorris.

I think Tommy is wrong on this.

He, like many others, have failed to account for the fact that shallots have a green stage, too.

How do we know, at that early stage, if they are one or the other.

I heard that the original settlers first scrounged wild onions (or shallots?) to use. Gradually they cultivated them. Maybe some were shallots harvested green.

I am not a food authority.

As I have believed for years, shallots are small purple and white "onions", usually dried somewhat and scallions, or green onions are fresh, with an undried bottom and a green fleshy top.

Onions are always dried somewhat, and if the tops are still there, they are the nearly useless dried remains of what was once a top similar to what you see on green onions.

I guess what sounds best to me, is "I know them when I see them."

All of these belong to the botanical genus Allium and used to be classified as different species if that helps. Shallots, before 2011 had a different species name, but were thrown into the same species box as onions in 2011, in order to make it more confusing.

There is a group of plants that all belong to the genus Allium - Onions, include white, yellow, purple or red varieties, garlic, chives, scallions, leeks. I guess those smelly stinky spring wild onions that are difficult to get rid of, once they manage to get a foothold in your Bermuda grass belong with the rest of the family. I can remember picking my mom bouquets of wild onion flowers when I was a small toddler, and how pleased she seemed to be with my stinky gift.

I am certain this drivel only adds to the confusion.

I think calling scallions shallots is a Cajun/Creole thing. My Dad does it.

But what about green shallots?

Shallot shoot, known also as spring shallots, are the immature fresh version of shallots with their bright green robust shoots still in tact with the thin purple skinned bulb and white roots. The bulb's flavor is milder and sweeter than mature shallots as they have a higher moisture content. Although the bulb is considered the best flavored part of the plant, the shoots are also perfectly edible and similar in flavor to spring onion stems.

Seasons/Availability
Shallot Shoots are available in the spring.

Current Facts
The shallot, a member of the Alliaceae family, is a very hardy perennial grown as an annual. It is a cool weather vegetable usually grown from cloves, not seeds. Vegetatively propagated perennial shallots rarely flower and are farther removed in the onion family than seed-propogated shallots.

Applications
As shallot shoots arrive in Spring, prepare them accordingly. They with pair well with butter, cream, mushrooms, potatoes, pork, mild greens, vinegar and salt. - Specialty Produce

These are green shallots or spring shallots.. I can see why there's so much confusion.



Others:

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A shallot is a completely different thing.

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It's a different species, sure. But I think that's missing the point - the reason folks called green onions shallots was that they were growing and using green shallots just like anyone might use green onions (scallions).

The more likely culprit is that they’re just using the name interchangeably, and technically, incorrectly.