We know our Onions!

One of a series of posts to tell you a little more about Karimix.

Allium vegetables, the onion family, are used in almost all of our recipes. These highly versatile vegetables are high in beneficial sulphur compounds, which is what gives them their distinctive smell, taste and, of course, tear inducing pungency.

Garlic

Garlic originally comes from Central Asia and has always been known for its medicinal as well as culinary uses. Of all the allium vegetables, it has the strongest taste. Garlic is a hardy perennial that grows as a bulb, with each bulb being made up of individual cloves.

White onion

An essential kitchen vegetable, onions are arguably the world’s most widely used ingredient and have been cultivated for thousands of years. White onions have a brown, papery skin.  Our onions come from a Polish co-operative, selected for their consistent firmness and flavour.

Red onion

Mild red onions have a beautiful dark-red to purple outer paper skin. Inside, their crisp and sweet white flesh is edged with colour.  Useful in salads and sandwiches.

Spring onion

Also known as scallions or green onions, spring onions are in fact very young onions, harvested before the bulb has had a chance to swell. Both the long, slender green tops and the small white bulb are edible, and are good either raw or cooked. They have a similar flavour to onions, but are much milder.

Shallot

Shallots are an indispensable ingredient to any pantry, lending a nuanced, soft, and fresh flavour to everything from dressings, to stocks, to quiches. Delicate enough to eat raw and easy to roast to melt-in-your-mouth perfection, shallots are a flexible and supportive building block in many dishes.