Shallots
Allium ascalonicum
A small onion relative that grows as a cluster rather than a single bulb: one planted set divides underground into a tight nest of three to eight offsets, each wrapped in coppery, rose or grey-brown papery skin. Leaves are slender, hollow and blue-green. The flesh is milder and sweeter than onion and finer in texture, which is why it is favoured for dressings, sauces and slow cooking.
Entirely a plant of cultivation in Britain and Ireland — vegetable beds, allotments and containers on free-draining soil in full sun. It does not naturalise here, though bulbs left after lifting persist and resprout on old garden ground and neglected allotment plots.
Safe to eat raw or cooked for most people, though raw bulbs are pungent and can irritate the stomach in quantity, and onion-family intolerance does occur. Daffodil bulbs (Narcissus pseudonarcissus) have been mistaken for shallots and onions on allotments and cause violent vomiting; a cut shallot smells strongly of onion, a daffodil bulb does not. All alliums are toxic to dogs, cats and horses, so trimmings should not be given to animals.
Always use more than one reference to confirm a plant. You are responsible for what you choose to forage.
Bulb cluster
A single planted bulb divides into a nest of three to eight offsets joined at one base, so shallots lift out of the ground as a clump. An onion swells as one bulb on a single stem.
Skin and flesh
Outer skin is thin and papery, coppery to rose or grey-brown depending on variety. Cut across, the bulb shows tight concentric rings often tinged violet, and smells strongly of onion.
Leaves
Slender, hollow and blue-green, round in cross-section, rising in a small fan from the neck of the bulb. Flat, solid, strap-shaped leaves point to leek or garlic instead.
Flowering
Rarely flowers in UK cultivation; when it does, a hollow stem carries a globe of small pale lilac to pink flowers. Crops are grown from sets rather than seed, so flowering usually means the plant has bolted and the bulbs will store poorly.
Updated 2026-08-08T11:01:36.045Z · Part of the shared Foragers Log catalogue · Vegetable