White, red or shallot? Know your onions…
Creamy, sweet or crisp and sharp, there’s an allium for you
Onions are the most widely eaten vegetable in the world, but does it make sense to give them space in our gardens? In the revised paperback edition of his Organic Gardening Bible, Bob Flowerdew reckons onions are moderately easy to produce and cost about the same to grow as to buy. He adds: “Ultimately, quality, especially freshness, is only available from your own garden, so onions, roots and main-crop potatoes could perhaps be left out.” Otter Farm gardener Mark Diacono (author of The New Kitchen Garden) says: “Life is too short to grow unremarkable food.” However, he can recommend many edibles that go the extra mile and suggests multitasking varieties such as the Egyptian walking onion that offers three harvests in a year: early springtime growth similar to chives, doubling up in summer as spring onions, and then maturing to shallot size. Small bulbils form at the tips of the leaves and then root so, once planted, you’ll have them forever. With less space and more courage, you could grow daffodil garlic with onion-flavoured flowers and garlicky leaves; or society garlic ( Tulbaghia ‘Fairy Star’) with pretty pale purple edible flowers, that Diacono promises are amazing in leafy salads or a martini (honestly). One reason a particular onion may be worth growing is if it’s best for recipes that are family favourites. I ate a memorable onion soup at The Oxford in Whitstable, where chef Clare Brown sweated chopped white onions, garlic, celery and thyme in butter and olive oil, and then added vegetable stock. After an hour’s cooking the soup is blitzed, seasoned and sieved, cream added, then a drizzle of truffle oil. A dish that definitely calls for a sweet, pale, creamy onion. To roast onions, a firm yellow type is best. Cut in half widthways, score, then pour a little oil into the cuts and fry in olive oil until brown. Turn over then place in a dish in the oven (375F/90C/Gas 5) with a scattering of thyme leaves for 10 minutes until soft. For recipes that need either a raw onion or a sweet, crisp one, use red varieties. Try frying them sliced in oil with two teaspoons of brown sugar until caramelised, then sprinkle on fish or salads. To pickle onions, use the small Shirley Roberts at the National Trust’s Clumber Park near Worksop grows ‘Reliance’ onions. She says they have a fantastic flavour and should be saved for your best recipes. The kitchen garden (nationaltrust. org.uk) also has 130 varieties of rhubarb. Onions grow from single bulbils into a bulb. Shallots grow into a cluster of bulbs. Grow both from sets in March/April in a sunny spot. Plant in well-drained soil. Push into the soil so the tip is showing, but firm in or birds will uproot them. Mulch and feed with liquid feed. Harvest when foliage turns yellow. Lift, then leave to dry for 2-3 weeks. Keep only those that are disease-free. Onions are susceptible to rot and mildew. Rotate crops and do not overfeed, especially after July. flat cipolline borettane onions (seedsofitaly.com) and souse them in balsamic vinegar. But for the best flavour of all, try shallots. They melt into a dish without the chunkiness associated with chopped onions and are sweeter and milder (even when raw) with higher sugar and low sulphur content. Shallots are not easy to peel, though the torpedoshaped varieties are tear-free. Try ‘Jermor’ (marshalls-seeds. co.uk) a true French ‘longue’ shallot, or round ‘Red Sun’ (from seeds.suttons.co.uk). Only cook with onions and shallots that are firm with tight skins, avoid any that are shrivelled or sprouting, and store in a cool shed. Once in the house, keep them in a larder rather than the fridge, or they’ll soften.