Onion cooked in salt water was the chief food of the poorest peoples of central Asia, Asia Minor and the Mediterranean region in days of old. It was also the mainstay of the diet of Egyptian labourers, who built the ancient pyramids in the third millennium B.C.
It was so popular with the Romans that they even had a special name - `porrinae' - for gardens where it was grown. In present-day England and America the leek is usually used only as a vegetable, whereas in Europe, particularly in France, it is also used as a kitchen herb.
The Welsh onion has a milder flavour than the common onion. Unlike the latter, which is grown as a biennial, it is hardy and perennial. Another advantage is that the small elongated bulbs grow in clusters as part of one single bulb which breaks up into several smaller onions as it grows.
The leek is used primarily as a seasoning for vegetable soups and other vegetables. It is also used in preparing fish soup, cooking fish and crabs, as well as in pork and lamb dishes.
Planting the seedlings in deep holes and earthing-up the plants blanches the leeks. The blanched sections are much more tender than the green parts, which are usually discarded.
Onions always caused an irritant reaction when you look at it. As in other onions, the irritant action is produced by an essential oil containing organically bound sulphur.
It was so popular with the Romans that they even had a special name - `porrinae' - for gardens where it was grown. In present-day England and America the leek is usually used only as a vegetable, whereas in Europe, particularly in France, it is also used as a kitchen herb.
The Welsh onion has a milder flavour than the common onion. Unlike the latter, which is grown as a biennial, it is hardy and perennial. Another advantage is that the small elongated bulbs grow in clusters as part of one single bulb which breaks up into several smaller onions as it grows.
The leek is used primarily as a seasoning for vegetable soups and other vegetables. It is also used in preparing fish soup, cooking fish and crabs, as well as in pork and lamb dishes.
Planting the seedlings in deep holes and earthing-up the plants blanches the leeks. The blanched sections are much more tender than the green parts, which are usually discarded.
Onions always caused an irritant reaction when you look at it. As in other onions, the irritant action is produced by an essential oil containing organically bound sulphur.
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