Whether it be garlic, onions, or shallots, there’s no doubt that all these vegetables are one of the most popular ingredients to be used in any dish. Every one of them come with their own nutritional benefits.
Garlic vs Shallots
As already mentioned above, garlic and shallots are widely used in different recipes. Recently, shallots have grown in popularity due to which people often raise the question regarding shallots and why they should use them.
Some people even end up confusing shallots with onions. In order to learn more about shallots and garlic, we will be discussing both of them in detail using this article. We will be going through all the important aspects of both these vegetables as we compare garlic vs shallots. So, without wasting any time further, let’s get started!
Shallots
While shallots are often referred to as small onions, it is important to note that they are a completely different category of vegetables, and can be regarded as a close relative to the traditional onion. Shallots are usually grown like garlic where each bulb of shallot is sheathed through a thin husk.
The process of harvesting shallots is awfully similar to that of onions and garlic. They don’t require any type of special preparations as shallots can still be treated in the same way you would treat garlic or onion.
To effectively use a shallot, you will have to cut the ends of the shallot before you peel its papery skin. From the inside, shallots usually have white and purple skin. Even though they originally belong to the onion family, they are more similar to garlic. They have a mild onion flavor which is why they can be used as a substitute for onion in many dishes.
As soon as you peel a shallot, you can separate it into cloves just like you would with garlic. People often confuse shallots with scallions or green onions. However, they are entirely different types of onions and they should not be confused with shallots.
Garlic
Garlic does look a lot like shallots as both of them grow in the form of bulbs. Garlic is also a close relative to onion, leek, and shallots as they are a member of the Allium family. Technically speaking, garlic is neither a herb nor a spice.
You can find various types of garlic, each coming at a different size, color, and pungency. The most common type of garlic has white papery skin while having a pinkish-grey color for the cloves that are stored inside the skin.
In cooking, garlic has plenty of uses. Similar to shallots, the cloves of garlic are first separated before they are peeled. Afterward, they can either be used as a whole or after being chopped or crushed (depending on the recipe you are following).
An interesting fact about garlic is that they have the strongest flavor in the whole family. While shallots have a mild taste, garlic has a really strong taste due to which many people don’t eat them raw. Although there is certain garlic that comes with a milder flavor.
In case you were wondering, garlic can indeed be used in place of shallots. However, you will have to limit yourself to using either garlic scapes or elephant garlic which are two unique categories of garlic. Due to their mild taste, they can be used as direct substitutes to shallots. On the other hand, the traditional garlic will have a taste that is completely different to that of shallots.
The Bottom Line:
Comparing garlic vs shallot, it is clear that both these vegetables belong to the same family. But there are certain differences between the two vegetables due to which they don’t really belong to the same category. For more details, be sure to read the article as it contains all the necessary information on both garlic and shallots.