In this guide, we detail the spring alliums in our lineup this week. Learn the differences and interchangeable uses of these aromatics to effortlessly enhance your seafood dishes and recipes. From the pungent punch of ramps to the subtle sweetness of leeks, get ready to bring the essence of the season to your table.

Spring's Aromatic Flavor Guide

(as pictured above)

🌱 Ramps - A wild delight, ramps announce the arrival of spring with their bold blend of garlic and onion flavors. Sauté these tender greens to elevate your seafood pizzas or fold them into quiches for a brunch bursting with seasonal taste.

🌿 Green Garlic - Harvested young, this allium brings a tender crispness and a subtler garlicky note. It's excellent in stir-fries, adding a fresh zest that complements delicate seafood beautifully.

💡 Did you know? Green garlic and ramps can effortlessly replace green onions in any recipe. They also serve as a zesty alternative to cilantro in salsas, enlivening your dishes with their robust flavor.

🍃 Leeks - With a mild, oniony sweetness, leeks are the giants of the allium family. They’re the secret to a creamy potato leek soup and add a gentle yet flavorful touch to seafood broths.

🌾 Scallions - Known for their mild bite, scallions are fantastic both raw and cooked. Sprinkle them over a smoky guacamole or incorporate them into sauces for a subtle, spicy kick that seafood craves.

🌰 Shallots - These small, elegant bulbs pack a delicate, almost sweet flavor that's excellent in vinaigrettes or sautéed with seafood. Shallots can transform your dishes, offering a hint of garlic without overpowering your palate.

🧅 Yellow Onions - The workhorses of the culinary world, yellow onions are versatile, offering a balance of sweetness and depth to seafood stews and sautés.

⚪ White Onions - Their sharper flavor and tender profile make white onions ideal for raw salsas that accompany seafood or for adding a zing to chutneys.

🔴 Red Onions - Add a splash of color and a mild flavor to your raw dishes. When serving seafood salads or ceviche, red onions are your ally for a gentle, edible garnish.

🧄 Garlic Bulbs - A staple in seafood cookery, garlic bulbs provide an unmistakable depth of flavor. When roasted, their intensity mellows, pairing seamlessly with shellfish and fish, enhancing the natural flavors without dominating.

Alliums Ranked By Flavor Intensity

Given the complexity of allium flavors and their transformation through cooking, each flavor on this list also varies between their raw and cooked intensities. Here is my take on their raw pungency and flavor complexity:

1. Green Onion (Scallions) - Mild and versatile, often used both raw and cooked for a gentle, oniony flavor.
2. Leeks - Mild to medium in flavor, sweet with a delicate oniony taste, often used in soups and stews.
3. White Onion - Medium pungency, with a crisp and clean flavor that becomes sweeter when cooked.
4. Shallots - A mix of garlic and onion flavors, mild to medium pungency, and becomes sweeter and less sharp when cooked.
5. Yellow Onion - More robust than white onions, with a balance of astringent and sweet flavors, commonly used in cooking for their rich, caramelized profiles.
6. Red Onion - Known for their sharpness when raw and sweetness when cooked, offering a medium to high pungency.
7. Green Garlic - Young garlic with a fresher, milder flavor than mature garlic, but can still be quite sharp when raw.
8. Garlic - Very pungent with a strong, distinctive flavor that mellows and sweetens with cooking.
9. Wild Ramps - Highly pungent with a strong garlic-onion flavor, more intense than many other alliums, especially when raw.

This order reflects the spectrum from milder, more versatile alliums to those with a strong, distinctive flavor profile, especially considering their raw state based on my experiences cooking with each. Wild ramps, being known for their intense flavor, are placed at the higher end of the pungency scale, while green onions, with their milder taste, start the list.

Alliums Combinations and Interchangeable Uses

Here's a guide to the alliums mentioned and how they can be used interchangeably in your dishes, emphasizing their unique flavors and the types of combinations that work well together: