feta, sumac & herb salad

I’m back.

I took a bit of time off from blogging. I just wasn’t motivated enough.

I was still cooking up a storm in the kitchen, but I didn’t have the enthusiasm and drive to sit down and write about it.

I sinc received a few concerned emails, and this inspired me that people really are out there reading and I should keep on keeping on.

And so I’m back, with a salad that could equally suit the weather in the cooling southern hemisphere and the warming northern one.

The salad has a slightly Middle Eastern feeling to it and is great even for breakfast with a boiled egg, some freshly sliced tomato and a little hummus and labneh.

Feta, Sumac & Herb Salad
Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 4 as side.
Ingredients:200g feta, crumbled coarsely
¼ cup finely chopped parsley
4 tablespoons finely chopped coriander
2 tablespoons finely sliced white scallions
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon sumac
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Olive oil, to drizzle

Method:
1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix.
2. Drizzle with a little olive oil and serve immediately.

Although I use the term “scallions” on my blog, in my daily life I call those immature onion stalks “shallots”.

I can imagine a few puzzled faces from my blogging friends around the world, wondering if scallions are shallots, then what are shallots?

Yes, yet another confusing mix-up in the English language.

In Australia, there are shallots (increasingly called scallions), there are eschallots (increasing called shallots) and there are spring onions (sometimes called green onions).

Confused yet? I am!

But today I am focusing on scallions, as part of Weekend Herb Blogging.

I love scallions. You can use the whole onion from the white, fiery bulbs to the fresh, green tips. They work well in European, Asian and Middle Eastern cooking and are mild enough to eat raw.

Scallions can come from a wide variety of the Allium genus, wherever there is an under-developed bulb.

The most common species of scallions is Allium fistulosum, often called the Welsh onion.

Shallot and scallion both evolved from the Ancient Greek word “askolonion” which seemed to refer the Philistine town of Ascalon, now Israel’s Ashkelon. This was probably where the Greek’s sourced their scallions, although they were traded from further east.

According to Wikipedia, scallions have many names around the world, many translating into common threads: green, spring, new, small, leafy and young.

Our Weekend Herb Blogging host this week is Cinzia from Cindystar, who currently sports a gorgeous recipe for sciroppo di sambuco (elderflower cordial) on her blog. For those that don’t speak Italian, it’s worth trawling through the silly attempts of Babelfish for the results.


Other interesting scallion recipes include:Claypot Flounder w Ginger & Scallions - No Recipes
Corn, Scallion & Potato Frittata - Serious Eats
Ginger Scallion Chicken - Rasa Malaysia
Honey Scallion Sliders - Not Eating Out in New York
Kale & Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes w Scallions - 101 Cookbooks
Pajeon (Korean scallion pancake) - David Lebovitz
Savoury Cheese & Scallion Scones - Farmgirl Fare
Scallion Bread - Habeas Brûlée
Scallion Mushroom Soup - hey, that tastes good!
Scallion Spread - Beyond Salmon
Sesame Scallion Dumplings - Hugging the Coast
Sweet Potato, Scallion & Sage Risotto - The Lunchbox Bunch
Sweet Scallion Tofu - Book of Yum

Morsels from the Archive:
2008 - Soop Naw Mai (Thai bamboo shoot salad)
2007 - the food of Frankfurt
2006 - Htapodi Stifado (Greek octopus in red wine)

References & onion photo sources
http://www.allotment.org.uk/vegetable/onion-shallot/growing-shallots.php
http://www.maysiesfarm.org/csa/soto/
http://www.harvestwizard.com/2008/05/spring_onions_green_onions_and.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scallion