Egyptian Walking Onion
Given Name: Allium X proliferum
Nicknames: tree onions, topset onion, winter onion, perennial onion, top onion
Hi! What's your name? Where are you from? What's it like there? Maybe I can visit you sometime.
Have you ever been to Newfoundland, Canada? I grow there! What about New Zealand? I grow there too! Yup, I'm happy to live in a cold temperate climate, a tropical paradise or anything in between.
I may not be fussy about climate but I do prefer full sun, neutral pH and moderate water. And I like to keep moving! You see, I always wonder about what life is like over there. And over there. And over there too.
In my eagerness for new experiences, I tumble across the landscape in slow motion.
It's true! The cluster of small bulbils at the top of my stalks lets me “walk” across the land. They form over the summer and in the autumn when I die back, my stalks fall and the bulbils grow where they drop- usually about a foot away from my main plant.
So, if you do invite me into your garden, either give me space to move or easily keep me in one place (even though I'd rather wander...) by pulling me up by my roots and eating me like a green onion or leek.
Speaking of green onions, I'm actually a hybrid of them (Allium fistulosum) or their wild ancestors (A. vavilovii and altaicum) and bulb onions (Allium cepa).
These species natural rages don't overlap so I must have been made on purpose! Hmmmm... that makes me question why people would have created me in the first place. And why did they call me Egyptian walking onion? I'm from India or Pakistan- not Egypt. I have so many questions about my history.
But enough about me, tell me about you.
Would you eat my leaves, my immature bulb or the cluster of bulbils at the top of my stalk? How would you use my oniony flavour? Would you saute me in a stir fry, use me in a soup or add me to an omelette? I wonder if I could fit into dishes from all over the world? Ooooo... what would I taste like in Mexican food? What about in a Vietnamese salad roll? Could I flavour perogies? I wonder if I would compliment Moroccan spices?
There are so many possibilities and I want to experience them all.
Give me the chance to explore your garden and together we can create all sorts of culinary masterpieces!
What do you think?
Curious Egyptian Walking Onion
References:
Chicago Botanic Gardens (n.d.). Allium X proliferum. https://www.chicagobotanic.org/plantcollections/plantfinder/allium_x_proliferum--top_onion
Jacke, D., Toensmeier, E. (2005). Edible Forest Gardens: Volume Two. White River Junction: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, pp 466-7.
Newlands, W. (2020, April 30). How to Gorw Egyptian Walking Onions. The Field. https://www.thefield.co.uk/gardens/egyptian-walking-onions-24399
Voyle, G. (2016, June 30). Egyptian Walking Onions- what are these strange looking plants? Michigan State University Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/egyptian_walking_onions_what_are_these_strange-looking_plants
Wisconsin Horticulture: Division of extension (n.d.). Egyptian Walking Onions.https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/egyptian-walking-onions/
oooo i 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕 eating these onions