Shallots: Doing Good In The Garden & Kitchen Table!

I planted my own shallots this year and what a success they’ve been! They’re the variety Longor (which tend to be more long,    missile-shaped than squat) and they’ve grown  even bigger than last year!

I find that I have more use for Shallots than huge  Onions. And Shallots definitely have a milder  taste than Onions, which means they’re great for  little fussy taste buds! They’re lighter in flavor  and don’t overwhelm what you’re using them in.

I used to hate onions growing up, even cooking with them. Shallots brought me back, and I still use them for salads, salad dressings, and pan sauces too. One of their major advantage over onions is that shallots neither make you cry nor emit a bad odor.

There is nothing easier than planting shallots.  Seriously: if you are all thumbs with tiny seeds, then you can reap immense personal satisfaction out of planting shallots.

The only problem I foresee is that it takes no time at all so that satisfaction may not last too long.

In the garden shallots require very little in the way of effort and don’t require much garden space. Once you get shallots growing in your garden, you have them forever by just saving out a small part of each year’s crop as next year’s starters.

To save bulbs for the following year, save only the highest quality bulbs from the highest quality clumps. Many growers market the biggest bulbs and save smaller bulbs for replanting; but this results in gradually smaller and poorer quality shallots.

Save bulbs from the biggest and best clumps. These clumps should be as free from disease as possible.

Like garlic, shallots grow as a cluster of bulbs from single planted bulb. When a “mother” bulb is planted, daughter bulbs form from it with their own offspring.

A shallot grows in segmented cloves like the garlic, but usually has only two or three segments per shallot.They can come in copper, gold, or grey papery skins and may have white, yellow, or pink-tinges flesh. Shallots tend to grow faster than onions.

Once you harvest your shallots, they can be stored for up to six months. Shallots store well at temperatures of 0–2°C and 60%–70% relative humidity.

Because of their small size, shallots tend to pack closely; so they should not be placed into deep piles. Braid the tops and hang the bulbs to dry, or store them in mesh bags in a cool, dry place as you would onions.

I’ve plaited our shallots today, into 2 long plaits I.’m not sure I’ve done it the way it is meant to be done, but it seems to work. I did a kind of french plait: starting off with 3 shallots and then weaving more into the plait as I went along to keep it going

Raw shallots have a strong pungency, stronger than most onions. Their true character comes when lightly sauteed in butter until they are translucent in color or when used in gravies and creamy sauces. It is very difficult to evaluate shallot quality in the raw form.

Cooking Tips

• Prepare mindfully– Even though shallots may be similar to an onion, they are definitely not the same. In other words, they are not baby onions. They tend to be sweet so one or two finely chopped shallots are usually all that is needed to flavor recipes.
• Saute slowly — Although shallots caramelize like onions, they overcook easily. It is important to saute them slowly over low heat or else you risk the chance that you overcook them, resulting in a bitter taste instead of sweet.
• Merry correctly — Keep in mind that shallots tend to merry well with dishes that call for white wine, cream and butter.

Want  to know more about shallots? Then click here:

Nothing’s Better Than Simple Shallots In Vinaigrette | Natural Health Solutions

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Yours truly, Polly – Organic Gardener

Tagged as: cooking tips, garden space, shallots