Onions grow into a bulb and shallots like garlic grow into cloves.
Shallots taste somewhat like an onion but with a milder smooth sweet taste with a hint of sharpness similar to garlic and without the tangy bite onions offer. Shallots form in clusters of offsets (virtually complete daughter plant naturally and asexually produced on the mother plant) with a head composed of multiple cloves like garlic.
Shallots are extensively cultivated for culinary uses, multiplied by offsets. Shallots are deliciously eaten raw when added to dressings and salads and smoothly blend into quiches. Don’t cook shallots until brown because the taste will turn bitter.