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Gardening : Research : Alliums



I. Documentary References to the Allium Family

References to the Allium family in the Virginia Gazette:

Nov. 30, 1759, Christopher Ascough, gardener to Governor Farquier: White Spanish Onion, English Onion, Leek

March 26, 1767, William Wills, Richmond; John Donley, Petersburg: Red Onion, Portugal Onion ,White Onion, Leek

March 10, 1768, William Wills, Richmond; John Donley, Petersburg: White Onion, Red Onion, London Leek

Oct. 10, 1771,Mr. Campbell's Store, Richmond: Bland Red Onion

Dec. 31, 1772: John Carter Store, Williamsburg: Silver skin Onion

Dec. 16, 1773, John Carter Store, Williamsburg: Onion

April 6, 1775, John Carter Store, Williamsburg: Silver skin Onion

Sept. 9, 1775, Myles Talyor Store, Richmond (from Italy): Leeks

Feb. 3, 1776, Myles Talyor Store, Richmond (from Italy): Leeks

March, 7, 1792, Minton Collins Store, Richmond: Spanish Onion, Dentford Onion

Oct 17, 1792, Minton Collins Store, Richmond: Spanish White Onion, Silver skinned Onion

Jan. 24, 1793, Minton Collins Store, Richmond: Portugal Onion, White silver Onion, Deptford Onion

Jan. 4, 1799, Peter Bellet Nursery, Williamsburg: Marowfat Onion

Reference to the Alliums by Virginia Authors:

Feb. 15, 1770, Mann Page Order to Norton Company: Flanders Onion

1786, Joseph Prentis, Monthly Kalender & Garden Book: Onions, Garlick

1793, John Randolph, A Treatise on Gardening: Stasburg Onion, Red Spanish Onion, White Spanish or Stomers Onion, Scallion or escallion, Cives or Cepula, Welsh Onion or Ciboule, Garlick

1793, Lady Skipwith, Prestwould: Portugal Onion White Spanish Onion Red Spanish Onion Seed

Jefferson's Garden Book (first mention): Spanish Onion (1767), Madeira Onion (1778), White Onion (1774), Shallot (1794), Leek (1794), Chives (1812), Garlick (1812), Scallion (1812)


II. Discussion:

The Onion is one of the most ancient and important vegetables known to man. As a culinary plant the Onion is among the most often cited vegetables throughout history among all nations in the eastern hemisphere. The Romans grew them in special beds called "cepinae" and the gardeners who cared for them were named "ceparii" (Weaver, Heirloom Vegetable Gardening, 1997). They were found at the tables of all classes of people and their importance in the kitchen garden is expressed by Robert Buist in The family kitchen gardener (1861): "The Onion crop is an interesting portion of gardening to every good housewife. She is ever solicitous that it should be full and certain." Onions have also been of particular importance as a staple crop for the poor. Peter Adam Schenk records in The gardeners text-book (1857) the wisdom of Sir John Sinclair who wrote; "It is a well known fact, that a Highlander with a few raw onions in his pocket, and a crust of bread or bit of cake, can work or travel to an almost incredible extent for two or three days together."

The importance of the Allium genera has been both as culinary and as medicinal plants. The ancient theory of health, revolving around the four humors; hot, cold, wet and dry was particularly suited to the influence of the hot properties of the various Alliums. The effect on health was as often believed deleterious as it was beneficial. Gerard writes in The Herball (1597) that the eating of onions, "causeth headaches; hurteth the eies, and maketh a man dimsighted, dulleth the sences, engendereth windiness and provoketh overmuch sleep." The garlic was believed to be even more powerful in effecting health. Thomas Hill, in The Gardener's Labyrinth (1577) observes, "Garlike putteth away inward swellings, openeth impostumes, killeth lice and nits of the head, moveth urine, helpeth toothach proceeding from a cold cause."

The ancient Egyptians were famous for their fondness of Onions, Leeks and Garlic to the point of deifying them, a point of ridicule for the early Roman writers such as Pliny and Juvenal. John Evelyn, in Acetaria (1699) records the often-repeated legend first recorded by the Greek, Herodotus, that ninety tons of gold were spent on Onions in building the pyramids. While Garlic becomes a popular vegetable throughout southern Europe, it is never fully embraced by the English, and hence, the American colonists as a culinary vegetable. In 1821 William Cobbett writes in The American Gardener: "Almost all nations except the English, the Americans, and the French, make great and constant use of Galick; and, even the French use it, frequently, to an extent that would drive us from the table." Rocambole, a close relative of garlic, appears to have a broader acceptance.

Chives have been, historically, a uniquely English vegetable although they are native throughout Europe and have probably been used either from the wild or as a garden plant for thousands of years. The shallot or eschallot is supposedly named for its place of origin in Ascalon, Syria. There is much confusion over the term scallion, which originally seems to refer to the shallot and later refers to the Welsh Onion or off-sets of the common onion.

Prior to Linnaean taxonomy the Onion family was spread over four genera. The bulb Onion, Shallot and Welsh Onion are found in the Cepa genera. The garlic is placed in the Allium genera, Leeks are listed as Porrum and the Chive is classed as Schoenoprasum, its current species name.

In the colonies the Onion is recorded by all diarists and was clearly a staple crop. The Leek seems to be found more often in the gardens of the gentry or experimental gardeners and the Shallot, Scallion and/or Welsh Onion has an even more limited distribution among 18th century gardeners. Curiously, the Chive or Cive is listed only by William Byrd II in his Natural History (c. 1730) and by Randolph in his Treatise on Gardening (1793) among 18th century Virginian authors.

Native Americans, prior to European contact, had very few Alliums that were used for medicine of culinary purposes. The nodding Onion (Allium cernuum) may have had some use. Jacques Marquette records that he and his men were sustained by this plant on their journey between Green Bay and present day Chicago in 1674. Ramps (Allium tricoccum) a leek-like plant with a very strong flavor is still gathered in the mountains of Virginia and other areas of Appalachia and may have had some native use. Hariot, in A brief and true report of the new found land of Virginia (1585) writes that the natives did not use the local Allium in North Carolina, observing: "There are also Leekes differing little from ours in England that grow in many places of the countrey, of which, when we came in places where, wee gathered and eate many, but the naturall inhabitants never."

III. Allium Varieties

A. Onion

The origin of the Onion (Allium cepa) has been long debated but the original culinary bulb probably arises in central Asia or the Near East. The current genus name, Allium comes from the Celtic "All," meaning pungent, the species name, cepa, is from the Roman "cepae," or onion. The common name onion seems to come from the Latin "Unio," or one, signifying that the bulb is of one unit.

As many writers have observed over the centuries, the Egyptians had a particular fondness for onions. They are pictured on the interior walls of the pyramid of Unas (c. 2400 BCE), the pyramid of Pepi II (c. 2200 BCE) and King Ramses IV, who died in 1160 BCE, had onions placed in his eye sockets. The Roman satirist Juvenal (c. 60 - c. 127 CE) wrote of the Egyptians:

"How Egypt, mad with superstition grown
Makes gods of monsters but too well is known
'Tis mortal sin and Onion to devour
Each clove of garlic hath a sacred power"

After the Jews escaped into the wilderness with Moses around 1500 BCE they lamented the lost luxuries of Egypt in Numbers 11:5; "We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely, the cucumbers and melons, and leeks and the onions and the garlic." The Greeks Hippocrates (430 BCE) and Theophrastus (322 BCE) both record several varieties of onions. Athletes were fed onions to fortify them for Olympic games. Dioscorides writes in the De Materia Medica (c. 64 CE; Goodyear translation, 1655); "The long onion is sharper than the round, the red more pungent than the white." The Roman Pliny (23-79 CE) in his Natural History, Book XIX lists many varieties of onions, most of them identified by their place of origin rather than by recognizable varietal types. He observes that the Cypress Onion is strong, the mildest comes from Cnidos, smallest from Tuscany and the whitest Onions grow at Issus and Sardis. He also writes that "those of the roundest shape are the best; also a red onion is more pungent than a white one."

The Romans presumably bring the onion to Europe and it becomes one of the best documented vegetables in medieval England along with beans and cabbages. The Westminster Abby Customary (c. 1270) lists "small white onions." The account book of Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln in Holbourne for 1295-96 lists, for the purpose of tithing; "Of 4s. 1 ¼ d for onions and garlick sold, the tithe being deducted." Under expenses he lists: "17s. 0 ½ d in 1500 onions." In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales the pilgrim Sompnour is described as: "Wel lovede he garleek, oynouns, and ek leekes." The Master John Gardener records in A Feat of Gardening (c.1400) that Onions should be planted around Valentines Day as they are "Herby un-meke," or hardy plants and gives this advice for gardeners:

"How he schall hys sedys sowe
Of every moneth he must knowe
Bothe of wortys and of leke
Ownyns and of garleke"

Some of the earliest descriptions of Onion varieties occurs in 16th century English works. William Turner writes in A New Herball (1551): "There are divers kinds of onions. The first kind is our common onyon…and hath a red skin." Gerard's Herball (1597) lists several varieties including a white onion, which is flattened in shape, the red Onion "which differth not from the former but in sharpnesse and rednesse of the root," and the Spanish kind, which has a longer, more oval root. Parkinson's description of Onions in Paradisi in Sol (1629) is much the same: "We have divers sorts of Onions, both white and red, flat, round and long. The red flat kinde is most usually with us the strongest of them all." He also lists a red Onion that he obtained "from beyond the Sea, that was as great almost as two mens fistes flat and red quite throughout, and very pleasant both to smell unto, and to eate." He is the first to list the Strasburgh Onion observing: "the lone kinde wee call Strasborough Onion, whose outside onely is red, and very sharpe and fierce." He describes White Onions, both long and flat and Spanish Onions both long and flat, very sweete, and eaten by many like an apple."

For the next two hundred years, Onion varieties remain virtually unchanged, the same varieties with the same attributes are listed by all authors. The catalog of William Lucas (1677) lists: "Strasburgh, Red Spanish, White Spanish, French and English." John Evelyn's Acetaria (1699) records: "The best are such as are brought out of Spain…choose therefore the large, round, white, and thin skin'd." By thin skinned he is probably referring to the silver skinned onion which becomes very popular in the 18th century, particularly for pickling. Batty Langley writes in New Principles of Gardening (1728) "That the kinds of Onions worth the Gardiners's Care is the Spanish Onion, which is generally very large, and sweet; and the Strasbourg Onion, which is more mordicant, and keeps much longer than the former." All authors agree upon the attribute of the Strasbourg as being a stronger onion, but a better keeper. Richard Bradley gives an almost identical assessment in New Improvements of planting (1731): "Two kinds worth the Gardener's Care…Spanish Onion…which affords a large sweet-tasted Root, and Strasbourg Onion, which is more biting, and lasts good much longer." In his Dictionarium botanicum (1728) he adds a "Third whose Root is of a Paper white, a clear reference to the silver skinned Onion."

By the middle of the 18th century Philip Miller records in The Gardeners Dictionary (1754) a phenomena cited by many authors. Onions, when saved from seed for several generations, degenerate and lose their varietal attributes: "The best Onions for keeping are the Strasburg Kind, which is an oval-shaped Bulb; but this seldom grows so large as the Spanish, which is flatter: the white Sort is esteemed the sweetest; but these Varieties are not lasting; for if you save Seeds of white Onions only, you will have a Mixture of the red ones among them; nor will the Strasburg Onion keep long to its Kind, but will by degrees grow flatter, as do the large Portugal Onions, when planted in our Climate, which, in a Year or two, will be so far degenerated as not to be known they were from that Race."

The Portugal is the largest of the Onions and is cited by almost all authors after this time. In 1771 William Hanbury records in A Complete body of planting and gardening that the Spanish is the most common and is either flat or round, the Strasbough is oblong and a good keeper, the Portugal is "very mild and sweet…Silver-skinned is seldom raised, tho' it is very mild…Blood-red is the most beautiful…the outer coat being of a fine deep-red; but it is a strong Onion, and inferior in flavour to the other sorts." Abercrombie, in Every man is own gardener (1776), gives the White Spanish and Silver-skinned Onion as synonyms.

Onions arrive in the New World with the first colonists. Alexander Whitaker writes in Good News from Virginia (1613) of the Jamestown colonists: "Our English seeds thrive very will here, as Pease, Onions, Turnips, Cabbages." All 18th century Virginian diarists, who keep garden notes, record Onions including Landon Carter, Col. Frances Taylor, Major Thomas Jones and Richard Henry Lee. Onions also become an important agricultural commodity for the import/export trade. The Virginia Gazette records a number of exports of Onions from the James River:

Sept. 15, 1752: "Merry Fellows to Providence, 15 bushels of onions"
March 2, 1753: "Aboard the Providence for Jamaica, 2 Hhds onions"

We are importing Onions as well:

Nov. 24, 1752: "Susanna & Molly from Philadelphia, 2 Hhds. Onions"
Sept. 7, 1769: "Florida Packet from Bermuda, 1000 lb. of Onion"

18th century records in America list the same types of onions that are found in English references. Randolph, in A Treatise on Gardening (1793) recommends the Strasburg, Red and White Spanish Onions. In New England, Amelia Simmons writes in American Cookery (1796): "The Medeira white is best in market, esteemed softer flavored, and not so fiery, but the high red, round hard onions are the best." Wills and Donley advertise the Portugal Onion in 1767 and Minton Collins advertises the Deptford Onion in 1792. This onion is named for its place of origin in Deptford, England where the soil was particularly adapted for Onion culture.

Onions, both here and in England are generally raised from seed, rather than from the sets that most gardeners use today. From seed it takes two years for the onions to fully develop and as a result, onions were relatively expensive. (Sarudy, Gardens and gardening in the Chespeake, 1998) Richard Parkinson, an English agriculturist who visits the Chesapeake area in the 1790's records that the first year the Onions grew to a size, "used in England for pickling," and the mature bulb is formed in the second year. William Cuthbert, an English writer, records in The farmer's and planter's encyclopedia (1855) that the practice of producing Onion sets originates in America in the 19th century. This still requires two seasons to form the bulb but minimizes the loss from winter damage done to Onion seedlings in the open ground. It is possible that the practice of producing sets is much older, though probably not commonly practiced. Thorold Rogers diary, from the reign King Edward I (1272 - 1307) seems to record onion sets and Lady Clare, Elizabeth de Burgh of Clare Castle, Suffolk buys sets for both Garlic and Onions in 1336 -1337 (Harvey, Midieaval Gardens, 1981). It is also possible that these entries refer to the Shallot which is normally propagated from bulbs rather than seeds. There is an interesting inventory of the seed house of Thomas Brown in England from 1652 that records a number of onion bags: "13 half-hundred bags, 20 quarter-hundred bags and 30 small onion bags." As Brown was a seedsman and not a grower these bags could have been used for selling Onion sets.

Randolph, in A Treatise on Gardening (1793) records in Williamsburg that Onions of the Strasburg, Red and White Spanish kind "should be sown in February…or beginning of March…the middle or latter end of July your plants will be ripe…then they should be drawn up… and laid on the ground to dry." It is very unlikely that he could have grown mature onions from seed in this time frame so he is possibly growing Onions from sets.

There are no 18th century onion varieties that have survived into the 21st century that I can discover. Varieties of Onions that most closely illustrate the types known to the colonists include the White Portugal, also called the Silverskin. The Danvers, which is a yellow onion very much like the Spanish Onion of the 18th century. James Keeping is a copper/yellow onion that may date to the late 18th century. It is oval in shape, strong tasting and a very good keeper so may be used to illustrate some of the qualities of the Strasburg Onion. Wethersfield Red is a 19th century American Onion that seems to be very much like the 18th century red in that the skin is red while the interior of the bulb is white and it is more pungent than the yellow or white varieties.

B. Welsh Onion/Scallion

There is quite a bit of confusion over the term Scallion. In early literature it seems to refer to the Shallot but by the 17th century the meaning shifts to mean the tops of bulb onions or thinnings or offsets of bulb onions or, perhaps, a small variety of the Welsh Onion (Allium fistulosum). Scallions today are understood to be one of the smaller varieties of Welsh or Bunching Onion. This confusion starts with some the earliest written records of vegetable plants. Pliny (23-79 CE) records in the Natural History that: "The scallion has hardly any head at all only a long neck, and consequently it all goes to leaf, and is cut back several times, like common leek." This could possibly be the Welsh Onion. He also writes that this Onion is propagated from seeds rather than divisions, which would lead one to believe that this was not a reference to a shallot which is propagated almost exclusively from bulbs.

In medieval references and after, the Welsh Onion often goes by the name ciboul, spelled various different ways. This also introduces confusion in the nomenclature because ciboul and scallion are sometimes listed together as if they were distinct plants. John de Garlandes Dictionary, written in Paris (1220) records: "Chibols (siuolli siue cepule)" and "Scallions (innule)." In Langland's Piers Ploughman (1393) he records: "perselye and scalones, Chiboles and chiruylles [chevil]." In Andrew Boorde's The breviary of healthe (1547) he advises: "they must eat no salads, garlyke, ramsons, onions, chybolles, or scalyons." It is likely that in these instances, scallion (in its various spellings) refers to shallot. However, in William Turner's A New Herball (1551) he writes: "a Scalion…differth from an onyon in that it hath a great deal lesser head and a longer neck…they are barren in bringing forth by the roots." In this case he seems to be referring to a Welsh Onion. Gerard, writing in the Herball (1597), observes of scallions: "this hath but small roots, growing many together…it seldome beares either stalke, floure, or seed. It is used to be eaten in salads…Italians call it Cipolla, Spanish Cebolla." His illustration of the plant looks very much like the Welsh or bunching onion although his description of it being a poor seed producer is curious in that the Welsh Onion is generally a reliable seeder while the shallot seldom produces seeds. Evelyn, in Acetaria (1699), seems to make a clear distinction between scallions and shallots writing that the French call them [scallions] "Appetites, which it notably quickens and stirs up." However, in Evelyn's translation of De la Quintinie's The Complete Gardener (1693) he records that the French refer to the "English Cives, otherwise called Appetites." A further confusion is the use of the tops of shallots as chives or scallions.

Miller, in The Gardeners Dictionary (1754) gives a very confusing parallel between chives and shallots which may refer to this practice: "there is likewise so great an Affinity between the Eschalot or Sallot, as it is commonly called, and the Cives as to render it doubtful whether they are distinct Species." The confusion may result from the same term being applied to several different plants. Stephen Switzer, in The Practical Kitchen Gardener (1727) writes: "what we call chibouls, or by some scallions," but then seems to distinguish between the two by observing: "In Italy…they frequently make a sallet of scallions, cives and cibouls." Phillip Miller writes in The Gardeners Dictionary (1768): "The Scallion or Escallion, is a sort of Onion which never forms any bulbs at the roots, and is chiefly used in the spring for green Onions…but this sort of Onion, how much soever in use formerly, is now so scarce as to be known to a few people, and is rarely to be met with." He also writes that the scallion will grow in almost any soil and is, "so hardy as to resist the severest of our winters, and being green, and fit for use so early in the spring, renders them worthy of a place in all good kitchen-gardens." From this description, i.e., never forming bulbs and extremely winter hardy, it sounds very much like a Welsh Onion but then he lists the Welsh Onion separately observing that the leave blades disappear in winter, reappear in January and "by March will be fit to draw for young Onions, and are, in the markets, more valued than any other sort at that season." He also writes that "The Ciboule, and the Scallion, I believe to be the same, although by most Authors they are made two distinct Species; and the Welsh Onion differs so little from them as to render it difficult to determine wherein the Difference consists."

In a final bit of confusion he identifies the "true scallion" as a shallot. It may be that there were several varieties of Allium fistulosum available to the 18th century gardener. In Asia the Welsh or Bunching Onion is devided between two groups, the taai ts' ung, which is the larger form and the koo ts' ung which is the smaller. It is possible that the smaller form, from which we get our green onions or Scallions today was present in Europe at this time and was referred to as the scallion or ciboul, to differentiate it from the larger Welsh Onion. It is clear that some attempt at selecting desirable strains of the Welsh Onion or Ciboul was being made at a very early date. John Evelyn, in his translation of De la Quintinie's The Complete Gardener (1693) writes that the "Cibouls or Chibouls…produce but a small Root, and several Stems, or upright Shoots, and those which produce most of them, are most esteemed, which are the sort of which we should be most careful to preserve Seed."

Scallion is also used as a term for off-sets obtained from the bulb onion. This is likely what Leonard Meager is referring to in The English Gardener (1683) where he recognizes a plant, probably the Welsh Onion, and then goes on to say where scallions "ordinarily" come from: "Scallions are said to be a different thing from Onions, somewhat resembling Shelot or Sives, but ordinarily amongst most Gardiners, small or spired; Onions being set in the Winter, or remaining all the year in the ground, and drawn in the Spring for use, are called Scallions." What he is referring to is the practice of leaving fully formed onion bulbs in the ground and collecting sprouts from these bulbs in the spring. Batty Langley, in New Principles of Gardening (1728), uses the term scallion strictly in this sense: "Scalions or Off-sets of Onions, produced in the Spring, when the Onions are going to Seed, supply their Place till succeeded by a fresh Crop." These are often obtained from onions that sprout in storage according to Abercrombie in Every man his own gardener (1776): "The dry onions which begin to shoot in the house may be planted…and will serve to pull up for scallions." He also observes in Universal Gardener (1797) that scallions obtained from bulb onions are superior to those obtained from the Welsh Onion which: "merits culture only to draw as young green onions…but on account of its strong temperament of taste, is greatly inferior to those of the Common Onion."

In this country, the Welsh Onion is listed by Randolph, A Treatise on Gardening (1793), McMahon, American Gardener's Calendar (1806) and perhaps by Jefferson who lists the scallion as a distinct plant from the onion and shallot in 1813. However, it probably had a very small presence among experimental gardeners and scallions here, as in England, were likely obtained from bulb onions. A New System of Husbandry (1785) written by Varlo in Philadelphia, lists in his instructions for January: "Onions, for escallions and seed." By 1865, when Fearing Burr publishes Field and Garden Vegetables of America he observes: "The Welsh Onions are of little value, except in cold latitudes; and are rarely found in the vegetable gardens of this country."

The Welsh Onion is known only in cultivation and seems to originate in Central China. It gets its name not from the country but from a similar German word meaning foreign which was given it by a Swiss Botanist who sent this onion to England in 1562 (Weaver, Heirloom Vegetable Gardening, 1997).

C. Shallot

The shallot (Allium cepa, var. aggregatum) is also listed in older works as Allium ascalonium after the town of Ascalon, Syria where it is said to originate. Theophrastus (372 - 288 BCE) describes the "Askolonion krommoon" which may or may not be a reference to the shallot. Pliny (23 - 79 CE) describes "the Ascalon onion, named for a town in Judaea" in the Natural History, Book XIX but this seems to be in reference to a different Allium, because it is propagated from seed rather than divisions. The first clear reference seems to come in the Capitulare de Villis prepared for Charlemagne around 800 CE in which "ascolincas" are listed with chives, onions, leeks and garlic. It is possible that the shallot was first brought to England by Crusaders returning from the middle east but if it was it apparently disappears and then is reintroduced to England in the 16th century. A 19th century edition of Hortus Kewensis gives the introduction date as 1548.

William Turner describes a member of the Onion family in A New Herball (1551) that he calls the holleke which may be a shallot. "The onions that we call hollekes…that if one be set alone, that there well be a great sort within a short space grow of that same root…and if ye take one of the cluster off, where as there are a dozen together, and set it in harvest in the ground alone, that one shall bring you out a dozen…wherefore seeing this herb lasteth in the ground all winter it were better to call it winter onyon than holleke." He also observes that this is the onion that Theophrastus calls "Cepa fissiles (which hath their name that one is cloven from another)." Cepa is the Latin term for onion rather than the Greek that Theophrastus would have written in so this translation is not definitive.

The Scallion describe by Thomas Hill in The Gardeners Labyrinth (1577) is almost certainly a shallot. Hill writes: "The Scalions better prosper and come up, being set then sown…the owner may bestow the Scalions in well dressed beds, from the beginning of November, until the end of February." As shallots are much more reliable from sets than they are from seed, it is probable that Hill's Scalion is what we would call a shallot.

Gerard's fourth kind of onion described in the Herball (1597) is also likely a shallot. "There is also another small kinde of Onion, called by Lobe, Ascalonitis Antiquorum, or Scallions; this hath but small roots, growing many together…It seldom beares either stalke, floure, or seed." The shallot is seemingly of limited distribution in England until late in the 17th century. Worlidge does not list shallots in the 1675 edition of the Systema agriculturae but by the time his Systema horti-culturae is published in 1683 he writes: "eschalots art now from France become an English condiment." In the same year, 1683, Leonard Meager records in The English Gardener: "Shelot is set in a manner as Sives or Garlick… and is said not to offend by the smell." Many authors cite this attribute of imparting an onion flavor to the dish without the strong smell of onion after this time.

It is also about this time that the change in terminology from scallion to shallot occurs. Bradley writes in Dictionarium botanicum (1728): "called…by some Scalions, but more commonly Eschalots, or according to some shalots." Not everyone agrees with the name change, as late as 1822 Henry Phillips writes in History of cultivated vegetables that the shallot is "more properly named, Scalion, from Ascalon." By the early 18th century the shallot becomes a common component of the kitchen garden in England. Batty Langley records in New Principles of Gardening (1728): "Eschalots, or Shallots, being of the same Family with the Garlicks…are of great use in Sauces, and therefore a Kitchen Garden ought not to be without them. A Border of four Feet wide, and about thirty five or forty Feet long is sufficient for a very large Family."

It is not certain when the shallot comes to North America. Here, as in England, Shallots often goes by the name of Scallion and is probably what Martha Logan refers to in Directions for managing a kitchen garden (1756) as scallions. Randolph, in A Treatise on Gardening (1793), describes: "Cepa ascalonica, from ascalon, a city in India, or the scallion or escallion." Jefferson records planting shalots in 1794 and Robert Squibb gives instructions for planting shalots in the Carolinas in The Gardener's Calendar (1787). The shallot is never as important a crop as the common onion. As late as 1861, when Robert Buist publishes The Family Kitchen Gardener in New York, he observes: "Though it has been two hundred years in cultivation, very little of the article is used in this country, unless by the French."

The oldest American variety is an un-named white skinned shallot listed as the heirloom shallot or small white shallot (Weaver, Heirloom Vegetable Gardener, 1997).

D. Leek

The garden Leek (Allium ampeloprasum, var. porrum) is a cultivated form of the wild European Leek, A. ampeloprasum, which is found throughout Europe and Asia. There is evidence that the Egyptians were using the Leek as early as 3200 BCE and Pliny (23 - 79 CE) records in the Natural History, Book XIX that the best Leeks come from Egypt. Pliny also records the often repeated story of the emperor Nero's use of the Leek for the sake of his voice: "It may also be suitable to mention the leek in this family of plants, especially as importance has recently been given to the chive by the emperor Nero, who on certain fixed days of every month always ate chives preserved in oil, and nothing else, not even bread, for the sake of is voice." The Leek is known to the Greeks as well and is recorded in the De Materia Medica written by Dioscorides sometime around 64 CE. The earliest Leeks were much like the wild form; remains of Leeks found in Egyptian tombs from 1550 - 1320 BCE had long, slender leaves. The broad leaf form, characteristic of Leeks today was know in Rome by c. 500 CE (Weaver, Heirloom Vegetable Gardening, 1997).

The medieval Anglo Saxon kitchen garden was called the "Leek-garden" and the gardener the "Leek-ward." The Anglo Saxon word for Leek was "Por leac" while the name for onion was "Yul leac." To this day many English towns derive their name from the Leek including, Leckhampstead, Latton and Leighton Buzzard (Webber, Market Gardening, 1972). The gardener to King Edward I was charged in 1290 to "find worts from Michaelmas to Lent and Leeks throughout Lent." Young boys were hired to plant Leeks at Westminster Abby in 1321.

The Leeks most famous association in the British Isle, however, is with the Welsh who, on the direction of St. David, wore Leeks to distinguish their troops in a victorious battle over the Anglo Saxons in the sixth century. Peter Adam Schenck records in The gardeners text-book (1851) the tradition on St. David's Day when "Welshmen are accustomed to sport Leeks in their hats upon this fesitival, the first of March." Evelyn also attributes fertility properties to the Leek in Acetaria (1699): "The Welsh, who eat them much, are observ'd to be very fruitful and of Vertue Prolifick; since Latona, the Mother of Apollo long'd after them."

Thomas Hill writes in The Gardener's Labyrinth (1577) "The Leek for that it is a root of the Garden to be eaten and used in the Pot," observing that the unset Leek is grown for its tops. Parkinson records in Paradisi in sol (1629) "sundry sorts of Leekes, both great and small…The unset Leeke hath longer and slenderer roots than the other." Hill, Parkinson and Gerard (Herball, 1597) all typify Leeks as set and unset, meaning the former is transplanted while the latter is not and all agree that the difference between the two seem to be primarily cultural. Gerard writes: "both these grow from the same seed, and they differ only in culture." The unset Leek is used for its foliage, or chives. As late as 1727, Switzer, in Practical Kitchen Gardiner, identifies a variety of Leek as transplanted Leek.

All 18th century English authors list the Leek and generally cite its use in soups and pottages. Batty Langley records in New Principles of Gardening (1728) that Leeks are: "chiefly eaten in Spring Pottage. The Quantity is generally at Pleasure…may be made in less or greater Quantities as desired." In the middle of the 18th century distinct varieties begin to emerge. Philip Miller lists, in The Gardeners Dictionary (1754) two types of Leek, the Common Leek and the "Broad-leav'd Leek, commonly call'd the London Leek." He also observes: "The two Sorts here mentin'd are by many Persons affirm'd to be the same, both of them rising from the same Seed: but this is what the Gardeners near London will not believe; for they never sow Seeds of the latter, if they can procure those of the first Sort, there being a great Difference in the Size of the Head, or Principal Part of the Leek." By 1771 when the Rev. Hanbury's A Complete body of planting and gardening is published he records that there are two or three sorts of Leeks and observes that the best is the London Leek.

After this time the broad leaved varieties of Leek seem to take precedence. The flag type leek, developed late in the 18th or early in the 19th century, is the type grown today. The primary difference between the two is in the arrangement of leaves around the stem. Robert Buist describes the two types of Leek in The Family Kitchen Gardener (1861) as the London Leek, with leaves spaced evenly around the stem and the Scotch or Flag Leek as: "the leaves being on two sides of the plant only, flag like. They are both equally good."

In this country Leeks are listed second only to the bulb onion. McMahon, in American Gardener's Calendar (1806) lists the common, narrow-leaved and broad-leaved Leek. Most references to the Leek in 18th century Virginian documents do not give varietal types. Varieties of Leek available today are almost exclusively of the flag type. One of the oldest flag Leeks is the Musselburgh. The Dutch first settled Musselburgh, Scotland in the 14th century. Tradition has it that the Musselburgh Leek was developed there from stock acquired from France or Holland and used to develop the Musselburgh Flag, probably late in the 18th century, and variants of this variety eventually gave rise to the London Flag (Weaver, Heirloom Vegetable Gardening, 1997).

E. Chives

The Chive (Allium schoenoprasum) is wide spread throughout Europe and Asia and was probably brought in to cultivation from the wild in many places over the centuries. There is no clear reference to the Chive by Greek or Roman writers although Palladius, who writes a book on Husbandry in 350 CE may have a reference to Chives (Harvey, Midieval Gardens, 1981). Chives are listed in the Capitulare de Villis, prepared for Charlemagne in 800 CE and are also noted in Germany by Abbess Hildegard of Bingen (1098 - 1179). In England the Friar Henry Daniel writes in De re Herbaria (1375): "Herb common among us. It groweth not but set. It keepeth himself in ground over winter…in his top but one flower, red purple, shape most like the top of Sowkle [clover] save more fair, and no seed but dwineth away. We call it Chives."

While almost all authors after this time list the Chive,or Cive, very little is said of it, perhaps because there is very little to say. It is a perennial plant that requires little, if any care, so cultural instructions are not as necessary for the Chive as they are for other vegetables. Batty Langley, in New Principles of Gardening (1728) records: "Their taste is between an Onion and a Leek, and are by many called the Leek-rush. That a Border about three Feet and half in breadth (which will receive seven Rows) and twenty five or thirty Feet in length, is fully sufficient to serve a very large Family." Chives are clearly a popular vegetable with the English. Bradley writes in the Dictionarium botanicum (1731): "Chives should always be found in the Kitchen Garden." Hanbury observes in A Complete body of planting and gardening (1771): "Chives are preferred by some to any of these sorts…They are very common, afford and excellent potherb for the housewife, and are in great esteem in spring-sallads." Stephen Switzer, in Practical Kitchen Gardiner (1727) records another favorite attribute of the Chive that is valued to this very day; its simple beauty: "Cives, one of the prettiest little kind of onion or permanent garlick, or rattle-leek, that our gardens are furnished with."

Other than Randolph's reference to "Cives" in A Treatise on Gardening (1793) and William Byrd II reference to Chives in the Natural History (c. 1730), the Chive is not listed by any other 18th century Virginia author. They are listed in Gardiner and Hepburn's The American Gardener (1804), McMahon's American Gardener's Calendar (1806) and by Jefferson in 1812. The lack of reference to the chive does not necessarily mean that it was not found in pre-revolutionary Williamsburg. It would probably not be found offered for sale by stores because it is propagated by division rather than seed so does not lend itself to storage for sale.

F. Garlic/Rocambole

Garlic (Allium sativum) and the closely related Rocambole (Allium sativum, var. ophioscorodon) have both been grown for thousands of years and probably arose from the wild Allium longicuspis of Central Asia. The common name, Garlic, comes from the Anglo Saxon "Garleac," Gar, meaning spear or lance, and leac, the name for Leek. Garlic was prized by the Egyptians and evidence for Garlic from Egyptian tombs date to 3200 BCE. Pliny (23 - 79 CE) lists several varieties of garlic as well as medicinal uses for the plant in the Natural History Book XIX : "Garlic is believed to be serviceable for making a number of medicaments, especially those used in the country…the difference between the various kinds consists in the time they take to ripen - the early kind ripens in 60 days - and also in their size. Ulpicum also comes in this class, the plant called by the Greeks Cyprian garlic, or by others antiscorodon; if holds a high rank among the dishes of the country people, particularly in Africa, and it is larger than garlic." Pliny's Ulpicum is almost certainly Rocambole or what is often referred to as Spanish Garlic and its reputation as a milder flavored garlic is repeated by all authors after this time. It is also interesting that Pliny refers to its use specifically by country people, meaning the poorer families. It is generally shunned by the upper classes of both the Roman and Greek. The Greeks held it in particular distaste and an often-repeated legend records that the Greeks would feed it to criminals to purge them of their crimes.

Garlic, like Onion and Leek, is found in many medieval references as well as the literary works of Chaucer, Tusser and Shakespeare. The English, like the Greeks and Romans generally find the garlic too rank for the English palette although it may have been more in favor prior to 17th century. Turner records in A New Herball (1551): "Garlyke is not only good meat but also good medicine." Thomas Hill, in The Gardener's Labyrinth (1577) observes: "The Garlike much desired." He also recommends the universal breath cleanser when he writes: "the ranke savor of Garlike may be extinguished, with the onely eating of green Parsley-blades." By the end of the century when Gerard writes his Herball (1597) he records that: "It yeeldeth to the body no nourishment at all, it engendreth naughty and sharpe bloud" and treats it only as a medicinal plant. He also gives the common name of "pooremans Treacle," in regard to its medicinal virtues. Nicholas Culpeper also uses this term in The English Physician (1652): "This was anciently accounted the Poorman's Treacle, it being a remedy for all diseases and hurts." There are as many, or more references to garlic in English herbals than there are in English gardening works.

By the end of the 17th century garlic seems to have almost completely fallen out of favor as an English culinary plant. Evelyn writes in Acetaria (1699): "tho' both by Spaniards and Italians, and the more Southern People, familiarly eaten, with almost everything…we absolutely forbid it entrance into our Salleting, by reason of it intolerable Rankness…to be sure, 'tis not for Ladies Palats nor those who court them, farther than to permit a light touch on the Dish, with a Clove thereof, much better supply'd by the gentler Roccombo." Rocambole is held in much higher esteem than Garlic. Stephen Switzer writes in Practical Kitchen Gardiner (1727): "A finer plant the garden does not produce, for all uses where eschallots or garlick are used." The following year, 1728, Batty Langley records in New Principles of Gardening: "Rocambole, by some called Spanish Garlic, is a very useful Vegetable, and is much esteemed for its high Relish in Sauces." Curiously, just three years after this Bradley records in the Dictionarium botanicum (1731): "The Rocambole, for its high Relish in Sauces, has been greatly esteem'd formerly, but now-a-days is hardly to be met with."

There are no references to Garlic by the early writers in Virginia but it is possible that it was included among the generic "herbs" listed by many authors. It was certainly grown in 18th century Virginia. Jefferson records planting it on several occasions, the first being in 1774 and Joseph Prentis records planting Garlick in March of 1784 in his Garden Book. As a culinary plant, however, it was generally shunned here, as it was in England. Amelia Simmons writes in American Cookery (1796), "Garlick, tho' used by the French, are better adapted to the uses of medicine than cookery." This would have been true in Williamsburg as well.

In the December 7, 1769 supplement edition of the Virginia Gazette there is an article titled: "A celebrated CURE for the bite of a MAD DOG" that includes 2 oz. of Garlic along with several other ingredients. In the January 28, 1773 Virginia Gazette another medicinal use for Garlic is recorded: "A remedy for corns on the feet. ROAST a clove of garlic on a live coal, or in hot ashes; apply it to the corn, and fasten it on with a piece of cloth, the moment of going to bed." After three of four nights it will "leave the part as clean and smooth as if it had never been attacked with any disorder." An entry in the Virginia Gazette from July 25, 1766 may indicate that Garlic was used as a culinary dish to a limited extent: "Just imported to be sold at Norfolk - pickled garlic." It is equally likely that the Garlic was simply preserved in vinegar and meant for medicinal purposes.

While there are probably no surviving varieties of Garlic or Rocambole that date to the 18th century the bulbs known today are not dramatically different from those known in the 18th century. Batty Langley, in New Principles of Gardening (1728) describes the Garlic bulb as: "a very white colour towards the Bottom…and of a very light purple towards the top." In Virginia, William Byrd II, in his Natural History (c. 1730) records both red and white Garlic. Although Rocambole is not listed, as such, by Virginian authors it is possible that it was here but listed simply as Garlic. Of the varieties of Rocambole, the German or Carpathian are very old varieties and would best represent the 18th century plant (Weaver, correspondence, 2004).







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