Classic sauce soubise is made with what alliums?

Classic sauce soubise is primarily made using onions, which are essential to its flavor profile. This sauce is a derivative of béchamel and features a blend of cooked onions that are puréed and incorporated into the white sauce. The technique involves gently cooking the onions, typically with butter, to soften them before blending them into the sauce, which gives that characteristic smooth and creamy texture.

Onions are a fundamental allium used in many classic French sauces for their sweet and aromatic qualities when cooked. While other options such as garlic and shallots can be used in various sauces, they are not the defining ingredients of soubise. Garlic may impart a strong flavor that could overshadow the more delicate nuances of the sauce, and shallots, while often used in fine cooking for their mild taste, do not play a key role in the classic preparation of a soubise. Chives, on the other hand, are generally used as a garnish rather than as a base flavor in sauces.