Banana shallot (echalion)
Banana shallot (echalion): Sowing, planting and harvest calendar
Echalion is an elongated onion type belonging to Allium cepa, valued for culinary uses it shares with shallots. Its bulb is often longer than it is wide and may be asymmetrical. The name does not identify a single cultivar. Zébrune, also called Cuisse de Poulet du Poitou, is one familiar example, but other echalion types exist.The bulb may resemble a small banana or a chicken leg, explaining some of its common names. Dry outer skin is generally light brown to copper-coloured. It surrounds paler fleshy layers, often white. Size, length and depth of colour differ between cultivars. Not every plant therefore has the same dimensions or a perfectly identical shape.Foliage is green, upright and tubular, as in onions. Leaves form a visible part separate from the bulb, which is the main culinary organ. This structure links echalion to onion even when its name and appearance suggest shallot. It is not…
