Produce
Pearl onions
Also called baby onions, button onions, pickling onions, petits oignons, κοκκάρια
Small onions, 2 to 3 cm across, either picked young or grown from varieties that stay small. They are cooked whole, so they keep their shape in a stew and add sweetness without melting away.
Origin
Grown across Europe and the Mediterranean. Greek cooks call them kokkaria and build stifado around them; French cooks glaze them for blanquette, coq au vin and boeuf bourguignon.
Flavour
Milder and sweeter than a large onion once cooked, with a soft bite left at the centre.
How to use it
To peel, drop them into boiling water for a minute, then into cold water, trim the very end of the root and squeeze; the skins slip off. Leave most of the root plate on so they stay whole while they cook. Frozen peeled pearl onions are a fair shortcut.
Storage
Keep them in a cool, dry, dark place for a few weeks. Once peeled, cover and refrigerate and use within two days.
Recipes using it
Blanquette de veau
Veal simmered white with aromatics, finished in a sauce of its own stock thickened with roux, cream and egg yolk, with mushrooms and small onions.
Medium
Stifado
Στιφάδο
Beef braised slowly with a great many small whole onions in red wine, vinegar and tomato, spiced with cinnamon, cloves and allspice.
Medium
