What is a Spring Onion?
 

Every search I've done on the internet has said that a spring onion is the white part of a green onion.

Now I have an Italian cookbook that shows cooking with something very leafy as a spring onion. My local markets have nothing like this.

Ugh, to think I might have wasted other recipes using the wrong ingredient. :?

So what exactly is a spring onion?

I would say the spring onion is the green onion or scallion, good relatives. I belive the spring onions are slightly larger, but not as large as a leek.

As far as I know, a spring onion is the same as a scallion (green onion).

Yeah, I think this cookbook meant to say "spring greens".

Heh, I found a typo.

Nice forum you have here by the way. I'll keep it in my favorite links.

Hope this helps

spring onions

Ok so there are shallots, green onions, bunching onions, scallions, leeks and just plain old onions.......and plain old onions come in yellow, purple, white....on and on. What is the differences between all of them? They are all members of the 'onion' family but they can be quite different from each other......well maybe.

Green onions are immature onions. Even large bulb onions when harvested in the early stages are called green onions. They are harvested or thinned out when growing larger onions and can be used in salads or cooking.

A shallot is the gourmet member of the onion family. It has a mild delicate flavor and similar to green onions but develops in clusters of small bulbs rather than individual onions. These small bulbs are elongated and have a distinctively different flavor and odor. If you decide to grow shallots you will find that the plants can live for many years. Plants grow to 18 inches tall and often have white or violet flowers in early summer. They are a good source of potassium and are low in sodium.

Bunching onions are multipliers and propagate themselves. They are cold resistant and can be grown during the winter. They do not bulb. The roots and tops are used in salads or cooking.
Now the green bunching onion is known by many different names depending on the part of the country they are grown. Other names for it is scallions, green onions and spring onions or springers.

Leeks is also an onion but has a much milder flavor. To confuse you even more the term scallion describes leeks and green onions also.

Check out http://www.foodsubs.com/Onionsgreen.html it lists the various kinds of green onions, with the various names for each as well as showing pretty picture to make it clear :).

Moved to Vegetables and Vegetarians forum

I think spring onions are just another name for green onions, depending on where you are , its called different things. In scotland its traditionally called scallion but ive never heard anyone use it lol, everyone just calls it spring onions here

Interesting that in your part of Scotland spring onions are called scallions. Not in mine! The local Lallans name is syboes, but generally they are always called spring onions.