the.com/spring onion
An onion that never grew up, and tastes better for it.
means A young onion pulled from the ground before its bulb swells, eaten whole — white base, green stalk and all — for its mild, sharp bite.
from Straightforwardly descriptive: 'spring' because these onions are traditionally harvested in spring, pulled early rather than left to mature into the papery-skinned storage onions of autumn. No hidden trick here — the name just tells you when it's picked, same logic as 'spring greens' or 'spring lamb.' Confusingly, in various English-speaking regions the same word gets applied a bit loosely to scallions and green onions generally, plants that are botanically related but not always the same immature-onion-bulb thing — so the term's edges are blurrier than its etymology.
- actual identity
- young onion pulled before the bulb swells
- scallion confusion
- often sold as the same vegetable, botanically sloppy
- flavor curve
- milder and greener than its mature, pungent future self
- edible math
- white, green, and roots all usable, zero waste