Ingredient: Shallots
Category: Vegetables -
Season: All
The term Shallot is used to describe two different Allium species of plant. The French grey shallot or griselle, which has been considered to be the "true shallot" by many, is Allium oschaninii, a species that grows wild from Central to Southwest Asia.
Other varieties of shallot are Allium cepa var. aggregatum (multiplier onions), also known as A. ascalonicum
The shallot is a relative of the onion, and tastes a bit like an onion but has a sweeter, milder flavour.
They are more expensive than onions and can be stored for at least 6 months.
Unlike onions where each plant normally forms a single bulb, shallots form clusters of offsets, rather in the manner of garlic.
Shallots are extensively cultivated and much used in cookery, in addition to being pickled.
Finely sliced deep-fried shallots are used as a condiment in Asian cuisine.
Shallots tend to be considerably more expensive than onions, especially in the United States where they are almost exclusively imported from France.
This ambiguity is further confused by confusion with scallions.
In Australia, the foodstuff industry has renamed a number of vegetables . The name shallot has been applied to scallions, normally called spring onions in Australia, and shallots have been renamed eschalotte. The term French shallot has also been used for Allium oschaninii.
In some countries green onions are called shallots, and shallots are referred to by alternative names such as eschallot or eschalotte.
Shallots are called 'bawang merah kecil' (small red onions) in Bahasa Melayu, an official language of Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore.
In South East Asian cuisines, such as Thai, Malaysian and Indonesian cuisines, both shallots and garlic ('bawang putih', white onions) are very often used as elementary spices.
Raw shallot can also accompany cucumbers when pickled in mild vinegar solution.
It is also often chopped finely, then fried until golden brown, resulting in tiny crispy shallot chips called 'bawang goreng' (fried onions) in Indonesian language, which can be bought ready-made from groceries and supermarkets.
It enhances the flavour of many South East Asian dishes, such as fried rice variants.
In Indonesia, sometimes it is made into pickle, which is usually added in variable kinds of traditional food.
Its sourness increases one's appetite.
In india
It is widely used in the southern part of India.
It is called Sambar Vengayam in Tamil and is used in Sambar (a type of curry) and different types of kuzhambu(curry).
Shallots in Persian Cooking
The shallot in Persian is called Moo-Seer , which is often crushed into yogurt. Iranians enjoy yogurt in this way, especially in restaurants and Kebbab-Saras where just kebabs are served.
Most shallots are grown wild , harvested, sliced, dried, and sold at markets.
Buyers will often soak the shallots for a number of days , then boil them to get a milder flavour. |