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Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Between Béthune and the clay soils of Artois, a small village has for generations planted, harvested, and plaited by hand the shallot that bears its name — and a brotherhood ensures the craft is not lost.
Vegetable from Nord-Pas-de-Calais.
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According to legend, a lord of Artois set off on crusade accompanied by a peasant named Guillaume de Busnes as his travelling companion. Returning from the Holy Land after fighting near the city of Ascalon, the latter is said to have brought back a few bulbs of a kind of garlic or onion discovered there, and planted them in the soil of his village, which is thus said to have given its name to the "Echalogne". Legend or not, it speaks to the age-old bond between Busnes, a small village in the Béthunois, and its shallot.
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Since 1997, the Confrérie Gastronomique de l'Ordre de l'Échalote de Busnes has watched over the product: founded by nine members, it now counts around twenty, including its senior member Bertin Brévart. Its raison d'être is to defend the genuine shallot "from our gardens", planted and harvested by hand, against seed-sown shallots whose quality bears no comparison to that of the planted bulb. Generation after generation, the producers of Busnes thus continue to weed, plant, lift, and clean their shallots bulb by bulb, by hand.
Appearance
Round or elongated bulb depending on the variety, with thin skin.
Taste
Subtle flavour, with well-defined aromas depending on the variety.
Texture
Firm flesh, violet-tinged, white, or pinkish depending on the variety grown.
rounded bulb, violet-tinged flesh.
elongated bulb, white flesh.
large round bulb, pinkish flesh.
by hand, in March, in the clay soils of the pays de Busnes.
carried out by hand throughout the growing period.
in summer, followed by gathering the bulbs by hand.
peeling and cleaning by hand, bulb by bulb.
at ambient temperature, in slatted trays.
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Both vegetable and condiment, low in fat and calories, and rich in potassium, manganese, and vitamin B, the échalote de Busnes is traditionally used to enhance the flavour of a roast or a salad.
Échalote de Busnes does not hold any official quality mark. Its traditional cultivation, planted and harvested by hand, is defended against seed-sown shallots by the Confrérie Gastronomique de l'Ordre de l'Échalote de Busnes, founded in 1997, which organises the annual Foire à l'échalote de Busnes.
Brotherhood
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