Chives

Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) are a member of the onion family (Alliaceae) grown for their leaves, which are used as an herb. Chives have a much milder flavor than onions or garlic. They are referred to only in the plural, because they grow in clumps rather than alone.

Chives are chopped raw and typically used for seasoning salads and omelettes, or as a topping for baked potatoes. They are quite commonly used as a garnish in a number of stir fry dishes in Chinese cuisine, long cuts of which are often tossed in after cooking is complete, for both color and their mild flavor.

The ancient Chinese are the first to documented using chives as long ago as 3000 years B.C. and Marco Polo is credited with bringing chives to Europe from China.

Romanian Gypsies have used chives in fortune telling.

It was believed that you should hang bunches of dried chives around your house to ward off disease and evil.

The Romans believed chives could relieve the pain from sunburn or a sore throat. They believed that eating chives would increase blood pressure and acted as a diuretic. Most sources tend not to agree with these claims.

The Romans also are attributed with bringing chives over to Europe where they now grow wild. In fact chives now grow wild across most of the Northern Hemisphere.