Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) are the smallest and daintiest of the cultivated onions, grown not for a bulb but for their slender, hollow, grass-like leaves, which carry a mild, fresh onion-and-garlic flavour. Snipped raw over eggs, baked potatoes, soured cream and soups, they give a gentle allium lift and a clean green colour without the bite of a raw onion. Their flavour is delicate and volatile, so chives are almost always added raw at the very end; the round, pompom-like purple-pink flower heads are edible too, with a stronger oniony punch.