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Allium ascalonicum

Allium ascalonicum

6.5
A small onion with several joined bulbs and a mild taste used in cooking
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : chalote
  • The chef finely chopped some Allium ascalonicum to add a mild flavor to the sauce.

Examples

  • Farmers often grow Allium ascalonicum for use in gourmet dishes and pickling.

  • Have you ever tried cooking with Allium ascalonicum?

  • Botanists classify the Allium ascalonicum as a distinct species within the onion family.

  • I added Allium ascalonicum to the salad for extra flavor.

  • The chef finely chopped some Allium ascalonicum to add a mild flavor to the sauce.

  • Farmers often grow Allium ascalonicum for use in gourmet dishes and pickling.

  • I added Allium ascalonicum to the salad for extra flavor.

Synonyms

shallot
vsAllium ascalonicum
28 3.4

A small, mild onion-like bulb cooks use to add flavor

is the scientific name for the same plant and bulb
Allium cepa aggregatum
vsAllium ascalonicum
  • Specialized
8.6

A small onion that grows in clusters and is used to add a mild taste to food

is the scientific name for that same cultivated bulb variety
eschalot
vsAllium ascalonicum
  • Archaic
8.1

A small onion with a mild taste used to add flavor to food

is the scientific name rather than the spelling variant
multiplier onion
vsAllium ascalonicum
  • Specialized
8.5

A garden plant that makes many small mild bulbs used for cooking

is a scientific name emphasising formal botanical identity

Surface Forms

Morphology

Allium + ascalonicum

This is a Linnaean binomial: the genus name 'Allium' clearly signals an onion/garlic-type plant, so a learner who knows 'Allium' can infer it is a kind of Allium (i.e., an onion-like bulb). However, the species epithet 'ascalonicum' is Latin and not transparent to a B1 learner, and it does not directly reveal the specific culinary referent 'shallot', so the precise meaning is not fully predictable.

Etymology

Allium ascalonicum comes from Latin words: Allium means 'onion' and ascalonicum points to Ascalon, an old town where these small onions were once grown. So the name refers to the small, mild 'shallot' we use in cooking today.