I'm also having a heck of a time finding cheesecloth here (either Seihtuch or Kaesleinen?)
Appreciate your help.
I'm in the process of making this classic dish and can't seem to find simple plain & fresh pearl onions anywhere. Can anyone in the Zug to Lucerne region direct me to a good source?
I always use shallotts.
Migros sells these cheesecloth cloths for babies that you could use in cooking/baking (I do). I'm not sure what they are called but if you have a look at the section where they sell diapers/nappies, baby food etc, you'll find it. They are squares and measure about 40cmx40cm and are white.
Shallots will give the taste, but pearl onions, specially if lightly browned, look very nice in the dish. Or do you cook the shallots whole like pearl onions Never tried that, might be interesting.
Obviously I cannot help with finding either the onions or the cheesecloth
I thought most people used the small white "pickled" onions from any supermarket. Rinse them, dry them, use them.
Check out the onion area in Migros, when I've bought them I think there called Saucen-zwiebeln.
This was a great suggestion albieit more expensive than regular cheese cloth but it did the trick. Many thanks.
I don't want the pickled brands, I want fresh, you simply blanch them, peel them and add them to your dish. That way you don't end up altering the flavour of the dish with sugar & vinegar. Even better than doing the work myself I used to be able to find them already peeled in the frozen food section back home but no luck here. Sometimes I think I should open a gourmet food market but then I quickly come to my senses.
Just get bigger ones and peel layers off until they are the size you want
Migros sometimes have smaller ones -it's just luck whether they're there when you need them.
There is a difference in the flavour and texture between an regular and a pearl onion. Pearl onions are milder and a little sweeter than a regular onion and don't want to overwhelm the flavours of this dish with a strong onion. Shallots might work but it's also an aesthetic issue when making a classic dish like this, especially when browned like RetiredInNH said. I still have tomorrow morning for shopping as I've just finished the beef stock today and will put the Bourguignon together tomorrow.
Thanks for all your ideas.
I'm sure I've seen them in Migros.
As Oldhand wrote they are called Saucenzwiebeln or Silberzwiebeln and are widely available. I usually don't have any problems in finding them either in Migros oder Coop.
I have just seen them today in the Asian store opposite the park hotel in Zug. Thought I'd let you know.
I've been to lots of Migros & COOP's in the area in the past few days and these are not on the shelves in the fresh produce department nor the freezer area. Everyone takes me to the shelf with the pickled pearl onions called Silberzwiebeln. It would be a sin to put a pickled onion in a dish like this after all the time, money and effort.
I managed to find some lovely little shallots and have substituted those. So far it is smelling very good. Can't wait for dinner.
Too late for dinner tonight, and possibly too far away, but I always cross the border to buy mine at Picard in France. They sell them frozen .
Small enough to cook whole like pearl onions? I have never seen such shallots, should taste even better than the onions.
Following this thread has made me want to cook a bœuf bourguignon really soon
No they were definitely not as small as pearl onions, a bit more than double the size, I found them at COOP in Kuessnacht am Rigi in the bio section. I blanched them and browned them like I would a pearl then cut them in half just before adding them to the final reduction of the sauce. I must say we quite enjoyed them. The apartment is still drenched in all the good aromas and better yet I have enough left over for tomorrow, usually even better on the second day. The bigger bonus is that I now have a freezer filled with fresh homemade beef stock and demi glace ready for other sauces so it was all worth the effort.
Interesting idea, may well try it myself even though I have no problem finding pearl onions here.