10 September 2025
Spring has finally arrived, and with it comes a sense of renewal in kitchens across the country. After the heavier, slower dishes of winter, chefs are looking for ingredients that feel lighter, fresher, and more vibrant. It’s the season when menus change, new produce makes its way to the pass, and customers expect something that reminds them the cold months are behind us.
At the centre of that shift, you’ll often find shallots.
Shallots are often mistaken for onions – until you cook with them. Where onions can dominate a dish, shallots sit in the background, rounding out flavours with a sweetness and delicacy that onions rarely match. Their mild, almost garlicky depth is what gives salad dressings a lift, sauces a smoothness, and roasts that extra layer of richness.
In other words, they don’t shout. They support. And for chefs, that makes them invaluable.
Spring is a season of versatility. One night a diner might want a crisp salad, the next they’ll be looking for slow-roasted meats with just enough sweetness to cut through. Shallots do both.
Raw, they bring a gentle bite to vinaigrettes, ceviche, or salsa verde. Cooked, they caramelise into sticky, savoury sweetness that clings to roasted lamb, beef, or poultry. Folded into pastry or a tart base, they melt down to a silkiness that balances richer ingredients like cheese or cream.
It’s this flexibility that makes shallots a chef’s quiet workhorse. They don’t just fit one style of cooking; they elevate almost everything they touch.
Here at Menlo Fields, spring doesn’t always look like sunshine and green paddocks. This year it’s meant mud, rain, and heavy boots. Farming isn’t about waiting for perfect weather – it’s about working with what nature gives you and still delivering quality at the end of the day.
That’s the story behind every box we send out of our Scottsdale shed; and after careful grading and careful packing, they’re ready to land in kitchens from Hobart to Sydney to Perth.
Our family has been farming in North-East Tasmania for four generations. That means we’ve seen more than a few wet springs, and more than a few bumper crops. What’s stayed consistent is the belief that good food starts with good farming – and that flavour is the real test of whether you’ve done your job properly.
Chefs know it. Diners can taste it. And for us, it’s the reason we keep putting in the work.
As spring menus roll out and dining rooms fill again, chefs are looking for those small tweaks that set a plate apart. Choosing shallots over onions might seem like a minor detail – but it’s the kind of detail that defines a dish.
From our farm to your table, that’s why we believe shallots deserve a place in every kitchen this spring.
