(Allium cepa var. cepa and fistulosum and Allium porrum var. sectivum— Family Liliaceae)
Pearl onion, silverskin onion, little onions, pickling onions, picklers, creamers, boilers, baby onions, mini onions, button onions, cipolline/cipollina (Italian)
Although pearl
and silverskin
onions are almost similar enough to be mistaken for one another, they belong to different species.
True pearl onions (A. porrum var. sectivum) are closely related to leeks, and are also used mainly in pickles. The silverskin or Welsh onion species is seldom sold fresh, but grown mainly for the food industry, which uses them in mixed or other pickles.
These little onions are as diverse as any in the family of onions. They may be golden, silver-white, fuschsia pearls or teardrops.
All can be under the same botanical name, or separated. One seed can show up as pearls or boilers, standards or jumbos. They may also be a variety of bulb onion which are thickly planted and harvested early while still small.
In the end, it is the grading machine that determines what their names will be in the supermarket.
Picklers are less than one inch in diameter; pearls are between three-quarters inch and one inch; creamers are between one inch and one and one-quarter inches; and boilers range from one and one-quarter inches to 1 and seven-eighths inches.
To most customers, they are pearl onions since they all taste relatively the same.
Some varieties are as follows:
Brown Pickling SY300
is a pale brown-skinned early variety that stores well and remains firm when picked.
Paris Silverskin
is a popular “cocktail” onion which grows rapidly and thrives in poor soil. It is sown from mid-spring and harvested when about the size of a thumbnail.
Shakespeare
is a tasty small brown onion perfect for pickling.
Lily bulb (Lilium ssp.)
In Southeast Asia, especially China and Japan, several species of the lily are cultivated for their starchy bulbs used as vegetables. In the West, they are grown mainly as ornamental plants. One of the best known is the tiger lily (Lilium lancifolium),
whose fresh bulb consists of about 18% starch and at least 2% protein. Drying these mildly sweet bulbs increases their starch content to over 60%, making them a particularly nourishing vegetable. Dried lily flowers, also known as golden needles, are used as a seasoning in soups and in Chinese vegetable dishes, but must be soaked in hot water for thirty minutes before use.
Tassel grape-hyacinth (Muscari comosum – Family Liliaceae)
There are about twenty species belonging to the genus Muscari, with some growing wild in fields, vineyards, and olive groves, as well as being cultivated on a small scale. The plant grows to a height of two feet. In early summer, it produces bluish-violet flowers
that look like a bunch of grapes. The upper flowers form a tuft, and in contrast to the lower flowers, are infertile. While the tassel grape-hyacinth is gathered and eaten as an onion vegetable in Mediterranean countries, particularly Italy, Spain, and Portugal, it is classified as a protected species in others, and not generally available commercially.
Tree onion, Egyptian onion, top onion (Allium x proliferum)
The tree onion is a cross between the Welsh and the bulb onion, and is of virtually no commercial importance. It is, however, a very popular plant with amateur gardeners. It is unusual in that it produces little bulbils on its cylindrical leaves rather than flowers, and, therefore, cannot be propagated by seed.
Instead, the bulbils send out roots which grow down to the ground and eventually produce new plants. The main advantage of the tree onion is that it is winter-hardy. Both the leaves and the tiny bulbils can be eaten, and have a strong taste that is vaguely reminiscent of garlic.
