What are shallots?

Question

What are shallots?

Answer 1

an alien seed pod that looks like a cross between an onion and garlic planted by martians eons ago to take over the world if you look closley you,ll see that it has a very small p***s and nut sack.

Answer 2

A shallot is a variety of onion that grows to a small size or are harvested before they grow too big.  They taste the same as big onions and I have used shallots instead of onions and vice versa.  Shallots are the small onions mostly used for pickled onions.  

Ever heard of scallions?  Its another name for spring onions!

Answer 3

a member of the onion family. sort of a cross between onion and garlic.

Answer 4

small onion-like vegetables

Answer 5

A member of the onion family, but formed more like garlic than onions. Shallots are favored for their mild onion flavor, and can be used in the same manner as onions. A shallot looks like a small, elongated onion with a copper, reddish, or gray skin. When peeled, shallots separate into into cloves like garlic. There are two main types of shallots: Jersey or "false" shallots (larger) and "true" shallots (more subtle flavor. Fresh green shallots are available in the spring and dry shallots (dry skin/moist flesh) are available year-round. Shallots come in three sizes – small, medium and jumbo (the least tasty). The younger (smaller) the shallot, the milder the taste. Do not confuse shallots with green onions or scallions.

plural: shallots

Ingredient

Season: April - August

How to select: Look for firm, dry bulbs, free from sprouts. They should be well covered with a papery skin and no sign or wrinkling or sprouting. Also available freeze-dried and dehydrated.

How to store: Store in a dry shallots in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place for a month or more. Fresh shallots should be refrigerated up to one week.

Substitutions: small white onions, though the flavor will not be quite the same.

Answer 6

Green onions.

Answer 7

They are almost like onions but smaller and sweeter. Almost like a pale purple color!

Answer 8

They are little onions.  very mild but you can substitute regular onions.  You find shallots in the veggie aisle near the onions.  Just ask someone and they will point them out to you.

Answer 9

onion-garlic mix...but mild...looks like a very small brown onion

I use it in saute for gravies and in stir frys

Answer 10

an onion

Answer 11

A  type of onion plant

Answer 12

Green onions

Answer 13

It is a onion/garlic like vegetable that is great for cooking with. It has a similar taste to both an onion and garlic. They are small and brown and come in cloves similar to garlic. They can usually be found in the same area as garlic in grocery stores.

Answer 14

Shallots, similar to the taste of green onion bottoms, have a mild taste that combines the flavor of a sweet onion with a touch of garlic.

Shallots are often thought to be another variety of onion, but they are actually a species of their own. They grow in clusters, where separate bulbs are attached at the base and by loose skins.

The shallot has a tapered shape and a fine-textured, coppery skin, which differentiates it from onions. Shallots were first introduced to Europeans during the 12th Century. Crusaders brought them home as “valuable treasure” from the ancient Palestinian city of Ascalon.

Check out wikipedia for more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shallots

Answer 15

1. A type of onion with long, pointed, pear-shaped, aggregated bulbs.

   2. The mild-flavored bulb of this plant, used in cookery.

Answer 16

They're green onions.  They come in bunches about half the thickness of your wrist (usually).  Each shoot is white at the bottom and about the thickness of your pinky, and then it gradually tapers out and becomes greener until at the end it's just a green circle with the texture of grass or a leaf... except it's round and hollow, almost like an extremely miniature doughnut.

Answer 17

Shallots are kind of like a cross between onion and garlic.  Here is more information from Wikipedia:

"The shallot is a relative of the onion, and tastes a bit like an onion but has a sweeter, milder flavor. 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."

You can click on the link below if you need more information.

I hope that helps!   :-)

Answer 18

square root of onion

Answer 19

It is an oval onion about the size of a golf ball, and is milder than a regular onion.

Answer 20

a type of vegetable.. or root... its something weird in the fruits and veggie isle at the store.

Answer 21

Shallots are considered members of the onion family, but are smaller than onions and look more like garlic.

Answer 22

Onions, smaller than usual, and milder. Usually somewhat a redish/purplish color.