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The shallot is a hardy member of the Allium family. Like all families, Alliums have as many differences as they do traits in common. Garlic can make you breathe fire, onions can make you cry, chives with sour cream can perk up a baked potato and the dainty, subtle shallot is prized for its mild, distinctive and nutty flavor.
The botanical name for shallots is Allium cepa var. aggregatum
Cooking with Shallots
Shallots are the perfect choice to offer a hint of garlic or onion without the strong taste. Shallots caramelize like onions and are one reason they are sought after by professional chefs and home cooks. [1] Shallots combine well with dishes using wine. They can be made into a lovely vinaigrette, puréed with mashed potatoes, finely sliced and served raw as an edible garnish or in a salad, and used in any dish where you want a mild onion and garlic hint. Shallots usually cook down and disintegrate into the dish to become almost imperceptible, yet leave their subtle influence in the dish.
Growing Shallots
Shallots are perhaps the easiest Allium to grow in the home garden. They take up very little space and mature quicker than most alliums although all require a long growing season. Each shallot plant grows 6-10 shallot bulbs and in warmer zones shallots can be planted in fall from sets (late September to early October) or in March in colder zones. Note: optimum zone range is 3a to 10b. An old adage says: “Plant on the shortest day, lift on the longest day.”
Shallots can also be sown from seed captured on the dry seedheads and stored. Start seeds in flats in March, keeping them warm and moist until ready set out. Be sure to harden them off first. You may also plant shallots sold in supermarkets if you cannot find a gardening supplier with available stock. Planting your own saved home-grown shallots is less expensive and more convenient.
Push the bulbs tip end up into soft ground, spacing about 6” apart. and 2-3” deep. I cover mine (zone 6a) with several inches of straw after the ground has frozen. Remove the straw mulch in spring when the ground begins to warm and keep them weed free.
Harvesting and Storing Shallots
When the leaves turn yellow and wilt, lift the clumps and air dry outside in a covered shady area or in a warm (80ºF) well-ventilated room. In 2-3 weeks rub off any dried dirt and trim the dried leaves. Typically I harvest 5 or more pounds of shallots for every pound I plant. Store them in net bags or knot them in clean pantyhose in a cool, frost-free, dry place. Discard any that are soft and mushy. Depending on the variety, they will store for a considerable length of time.
Varieties
Atlantic can be sown early and produces heavy yields of moderate to large bulbs which are crisp, tasty, and stores well. Creation is a seed-grown variety which is delicious, highly resistant to bolting (flowers early), and stores well. Drittler White Nest is an old variety that produces tasty bulbs of variable sizes. Giant Yellow Improved has yellow brown skins and are consistently large and high-yielding. Golden Gourmet is a mild-tasting shallot used in casseroles and salads. It is reliable and high-yielding, stores well, and produces good edible shoots. Grise de Bagnolet is a gray shallot that is not so widely available as the brown or red ones, but are prepared in the same way. It is highly regarded by the French and used in a variety of ways, lifting the ordinary to new heights. Hative de Niort is an extremely attractive variety with elongated pear-shaped bulbs with dark brown skins and white flesh. Pikant is prolific and resistant to bolting. Its skin is dark reddish-brown and the flesh is strong and the texture firm. Red Potato Onion is extremely hardy, having bronze-red skin and pink flesh. It is also a good keeper. Sante is a large and round with brown skin and pinkish-white, very flavorful flesh. The yields are high and it stores well, but it does have a tendency to bolt and should be planted from mid to late spring when conditions improve. Topper is a mild-tasting, vigorous, golden-yellow variety that is planted from late winter on. It stores well. [2]
Other varieties include Ambition, Aristocratic, Dutch Yellow, Dutch Red, German Grey, German Red and French Red. French Red Shallot is the most common dry shallot grown. Other yellow or white varieties include Griselle, Chicken Leg Shallot, and Dutch Yellow, but only the red shallot is important in the commercial market.
Caramelized Shallots Copyright, 2004, Barefoot in Paris (Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa), All Rights Reserved
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter 2 pounds fresh shallots, peeled, with roots intact 3 tablespoons sugar 3 tablespoons good red wine vinegar 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Preheat the oven to 400º F.
Melt the butter in a 12-inch ovenproof sauté pan, add the shallots and sugar, and toss to coat. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the shallots start to brown. Add the vinegar, salt, and pepper and toss well.
Place the sauté pan in the oven and roast for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the shallots, until they are tender. Season, to taste, sprinkle with parsley, and serve hot.
About Darius Van d'Rhys
I have a 'growing my own food' obsession that grew out of my overlapping interests in cooking, nutrition and gardening. I am also a teacher (but outside the System), a writer, and a builder… and a craftsperson and... and… and many other things, LOL. In fact, I guess I am a generalist.
I live in the southern Appalachian Mountains on a hillside with a creek in front and drive a 15 year old truck I lovingly call “My Farmer’s Ferrari.”
Posted by sharkhyde (from Monticello, KY) on July 4, 2008 at 7:12 PM:
Just lifted griselles. Too late. Some must be used now.
Also music and elephant garlic. Read your article on shallots. Very good.
Not just the shallots, the article. My wife's name is Vanderhyde. We live in the Little Mountains of KY. We have many trees.
I'm obsessed with growing and cooking good food. Got a '91 Geo convertible (Suzi) and an '87 F 150 (Beest). I'm writing a book about food and fire.
Where y'all at? Send me a reply if you wish.
Mark Badgerhyde
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Subject: Shallot flowers
Posted by ShepherdValley (from Kempton, PA) on June 16, 2008 at 2:37 PM:
Should I trim off flowers of shallots as one removes garlic scapes? This is the first year I've planted shallots~no info about the flower stalks anywhere. Thanks for your help!
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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on June 16, 2008 at 9:50 PM:
Funny you should mention flowers... I've never seen any shallots flower, but 2 days ago I noticed a strange tiny yellow flower in a bed where I planted shallots last year. I thought I had dug all the shallots but now I'll need to dig this 'whatever' up and see if it really IS a shallot. Until then I cannot answer with any certainty but I'd guess if they DO flower, the flowers should be removed like a scape.
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Subject: Great Article
Posted by phicks (from Lakeland, FL) on February 27, 2008 at 4:24 PM:
As A Chef i really like this Article i like useing Shallots in many of my Dishes Paul
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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on February 28, 2008 at 7:35 PM:
Me, too. Thanks, Paul!
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Subject: Good article
Posted by Bubba_MoCity (from Missouri City, TX) on February 27, 2008 at 10:17 AM:
Something else to plant next fall.
Thank you for all the sources.
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Posted by Dea (from Frederick, MD) on February 27, 2008 at 11:18 AM:
Great article darius - you are right - both a joy to grow and to cook with !
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Posted by Dutchlady1 (from Naples, FL) on February 27, 2008 at 11:56 AM:
I enjoyed it.
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Posted by carrielamont (from Milton, MA) on February 27, 2008 at 12:41 PM:
Darius, it's nearly March, almost all snow is gone, my 14 y.o. daughter loathes onions and garlic but she will add garlic and onion powder to food - she sounds like a future shallot lover! Thanks for all the information and the links! x, Carrie
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Posted by victorgardener (from Lower Hudson Valley, NY) on February 27, 2008 at 1:14 PM:
Thanks darius! Always felt shallots were the outcasts in the allium family. I always liked Gene Shallot.
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Posted by Sharran (from Calvert City, KY) on February 27, 2008 at 1:34 PM:
Thanks, Darius...great ideas.
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Posted by carrielamont (from Milton, MA) on February 27, 2008 at 3:31 PM:
OH Victor, put your shallot in your ... garden and shove it ... in the dirt!
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Posted by pirl (from Southold, NY) on February 27, 2008 at 6:17 PM:
Funny, Victor!
Thanks for the article, Darius. I'm a shallot lover of many years and have mine ready to plant on the first day of March.
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Posted by darlindeb (from Claremore, OK) on February 27, 2008 at 10:27 PM:
Enjoyed it! keep'em coming!
Do you have a favorite shallot to grow?
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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on February 28, 2008 at 7:34 PM:
Deb, not yet. It was only when I researched suppliers for this article that I found several to try. The French Red Shallot and the French Gray Shallot interest me.
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Posted by pirl (from Southold, NY) on February 28, 2008 at 8:28 PM:
The French Gray Shallots are what we grow but I'm sure I'd like any of them. I've never met a shallot I didn't love.
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Posted by victorgardener (from Lower Hudson Valley, NY) on February 28, 2008 at 8:34 PM:
When are they ready for picking for you, Pirl?
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Posted by pirl (from Southold, NY) on February 28, 2008 at 8:49 PM:
Mid to late July. Any small ones can be kept to plant the following year. Not much space for some great taste.
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Posted by victorgardener (from Lower Hudson Valley, NY) on February 28, 2008 at 8:50 PM:
Maybe I should try.
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Posted by pirl (from Southold, NY) on February 28, 2008 at 8:55 PM:
They're easier to grow than onions and less disappointing since lots of summer rain storms do not make for a good onion crop.
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Posted by darlindeb (from Claremore, OK) on February 29, 2008 at 12:46 AM:
pirl are you planting your shallots in October? Do the tops turn yellow like onions or garlic and that is when you harvest?
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Posted by pirl (from Southold, NY) on February 29, 2008 at 9:15 AM:
Normally we plant them in April so I'm just trying for March as a test. Yes, the tops do turn yellow just like garlic and they're harvested at the same time as garlic - mid to late July. Garlic gets planted on Columbus Day - easy to remember.
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Posted by victorgardener (from Lower Hudson Valley, NY) on February 29, 2008 at 11:28 AM:
Potatoes on St. Pat's??
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Posted by pirl (from Southold, NY) on February 29, 2008 at 11:36 AM:
Never works out that way. Either it's freezing, snowing, raining or we finally have snow.
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Posted by darlindeb (from Claremore, OK) on February 29, 2008 at 9:05 PM:
pirl thanks for the info.
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Posted by pirl (from Southold, NY) on February 29, 2008 at 9:09 PM:
"Pirl's Pleasure".
We often dig and leave them in the sun for a day before brushing them off a bit and then putting them on a screen in the garage to cure for a few weeks. Then the final cleaning and storage.
