Up to you. Both online and in-store purveyors offer more options for frozen and pickled pearl onions. For obvious reasons, these are easier to stock and store, so you will likely pay less.

Cocktail onions are pearl onions that have been pickled. They can most famously be found speared on the edge of a martini.

In a large pot of salted boiling water, blanch the pearl onions for about 3 minutes. Remove from the water, shock in a bowl of ice water, and drain. Peel onions, leaving a little of the root end ...