Know your alliums

The world’s oldest-known recipes, which date back to 1730BC and are from Mesopotamia, show that the ingredients used were not entirely dissimilar to those of today. When you prepare a spag bol or simple stir-fry, for example, it’s likely you’ll be slicing or dicing some form of allium. Garlic, onions, shallots, spring onions, leeks and chives are part of the Allium family, and they all feature in the four ancient recipes now on display at Yale University.

Alliums are at home in the oven, especially when seasoned with salt and drizzled with plenty of olive oil. Spring-onion