Note: Availability fluctuates throughout the year, please understand the described items below are educational. To confirm availability please inquire with us directly.
Shallots have gained a reputation as the aristocrats of the onion family. Their delicate flavor – a sort of cross between onions, garlic and scallions. Raw shallots have a strong pungency, stronger than most onions.
Shallots are firm, violet-tinged bulbs in golden skins; they have a more intense flavour, without the harshness of onions or garlic. The shallot looks rather like a small, elongated onion with copper, reddish, or gray skin. Once you peel it, it divides into cloves like garlic, rather than one bulb with concentric layers like an onion.
HOW TO CHOOSE
As with most produce these days, shallots are available year-round. The time of year you don’t want to pass them up, however, is between April and August.
Remember, shallots are onions: Select ones that are firm and heavy for their size, not dry and light, and should have no soft spots. Sprouting shallots are an indication of age and should be avoided. The younger (smaller) the shallot, the milder the taste. Large shallots will smell and taste more like their onion and garlic cousins.
If you don’t like the strong flavours of garlic and onions, but don’t want to give them up completely, then shallots are the perfect choice. This small vegetable is technically an onion, but it looks a lot like garlic and has a mild garlic flavour. Shallots have gained a reputation as the aristocrats of the onion family. Their delicate flavor – a sort of cross between onions, garlic and scallions. Raw shallots have a strong pungency, stronger than most onions.
Shallots are firm, violet-tinged bulbs in golden skins; they have a more intense flavour, without the harshness of onions or garlic. The shallot looks rather like a small, elongated onion with copper, reddish, or gray skin. Once you peel it, it divides into cloves like garlic, rather than one bulb with concentric layers like an onion.
Peel and divide into cloves, much like garlic. You’ll observe that small shallot bulbs will have two to three individual cloves and large shallots can have up to six cloves. If using a recipe, you’ll need to determine whether the entire bulb is needed or if the recipe is calling for a certain number of shallot cloves. A good rule of thumb is to assume that ‘one shallot’ refers to all the cloves within that single shallot bulb.
With French cuisine roots, cooked shallots have a delicate onion flavour that enhances other flavours. Their quality and uniqueness shine when used in the following methods:
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Lightly sautéed in butter until they are translucent in colour
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Used in gravies and creamy sauces.
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Added to hearty casseroles
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Not often used in raw form, yet blend well in egg salad sandwiches
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Caramelize like onions.
Shallots are low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium, high in vtamin A, B6 & C, Manganese, folate, and potassium. The nutritional value of shallots makes them ideal for weight loss and maintaining optimum health. In fact, some research indicates that shallots have the most phenols of all the onion varieties, 6 times the amount found in Vidalia onion, the variety with the lowest phenolic content. Shallots may also have the most antioxidant activity. They do not, however, possess the sulphur-containing compounds found in other onion varieties.
Shallots (raw, chopped), 25 g
Carbohydrate: n/a
Total Fat: 0.0g
Fibre: 0.5
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Originally from the Mediterranean, shallots are botanically known as Allium ascalonicum. This scientific name derives from Ascalon, a town in South Palestine, where its plant life is thought to have begun.
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Related to garlic and onions but did not inherit the traits of strong sulphuric aroma and irritating fumes.