Escallion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The escallion (Allium ascalonicum L.) is a culinary herb. Grown in Jamaica, it is similar in appearance to the British spring onion, American green onion, Welsh onion and leek, though said by Jamaicans to be more flavourful. Like these others, it is a (relatively) mild onion that does not form a large bulb.
The Jamaican name is probably a variant of scallion, although this term is itself used loosely at different times to denote the spring onion, the leek, the shallot and the green stalk of the immature garden onion (Allium cepa). The spelling 'escalion' is recorded in the eighteenth century: 'scallion' is older, dating from at least the fourteenth century. To add to the confusion, the spring onion is known in some countries as the eschallot. However, the OED's reference to 'escalions' in Phillip H. Gosse's Birds of Jamaica (1847) implies that Gosse knew the shallot and the 'escalion' to be different herbs, and this article accepts that authority. The term 'escallion' is now not current in English outside its Jamaican usage.
Escallion is a common and much prized ingredient in authentic Jamaican cuisine, in combination with thyme, scotch bonnet pepper, garlic, pimento and allspice. Recipes calling for escallion sometimes suggest the use of leek as a substitute, though in salads spring onion would be more appropriate: neither is seen by Jamaicans as truly adequate. Jamaican dried spice mixtures that include escallion are available commercially. Fresh escallion is difficult to find and expensive outside Jamaica itself.
[edit] References
- The Oxford English Dictionary
- On-farm research for the development and promotion of improved agroforestry systems for steeplands in the Caribbean - page 12 shows classification of escallion.
