French onion soup

Ingredients

Onions

• 1.5 kgonions, thinly sliced
• 60 gbutter
• 1 tbspoil
• 1 tspsalt

Soup

• 150 mldry white wine
• 2 tbspplain flour
• 2 litresgood beef stock
• 2 sprigsthyme
• 1bay leaf
• 1 tbspbrandy
• black pepper

To gratinate

• 1baguette, sliced and toasted
• 250 gGruyère or Comté, grated

Directions

1. Slice the onions thinly and evenly, with the grain rather than across it, so they hold together instead of dissolving entirely.
2. Melt the butter with the oil in a wide heavy pot and add the onions with the salt.
3. Cook them over a medium-low heat for a full 45 minutes to an hour, stirring every few minutes.
4. Forty-five minutes is the honest number and most recipes understate it. Onions caramelised in fifteen minutes are browned rather than caramelised, and that difference is the entire soup.
5. Scrape the fond off the base every time it darkens, using a splash of water if it starts to catch. Those scrapings are where the colour comes from.
6. When the onions are deep mahogany and jammy, stir in the flour and cook it for 2 minutes.
7. Add the wine and let it reduce almost to nothing, scraping the pot as it goes.
8. Add the stock, thyme and bay leaf and simmer for 30 minutes.
9. Use good stock. There is nowhere for a weak one to hide in a soup with four ingredients in it.
10. Finish with the brandy and plenty of black pepper, and season.
11. Ladle into heatproof bowls, float toasted baguette on top, and heap grated cheese over so that it covers the bread completely and touches the rim.
12. Take the cheese right out to the rim. It welds to the bowl and holds the whole crust up, which is why a properly made one does not sink.
13. Grill until bubbling and browned in patches.
14. Serve at once, and warn people that the bowl is extremely hot.
15. Onion soup is medieval, but the gratinéed bowl of bread and cheese is tied to nineteenth-century Paris and the night workers of Les Halles.

Technique

• Do not add sugar to hurry the caramelisation. It gives sweetness without the depth, and the difference is obvious.
• Stale bread is better than fresh for the raft, because it holds up under the cheese.
• It is better made a day ahead and gratinéed to order.

Substitutions

• Dry sherry or dry cider in place of white wine.
• Emmental or Comté for Gruyère, both of which melt well.

Variations

• Made with a mixture of onions, shallots and leeks.
• With a splash of port instead of brandy.
• Served ungratinéed as a plain onion soup, which is the older form.

History

Onion soup is medieval, but the gratinéed bowl of bread and cheese is tied to nineteenth-century Paris and the night workers of Les Halles.

Frequently asked questions

What is French onion soup?

French onion soup is a soup & stew from France: onion soup in beef stock, gratinéed with bread and Gruyère. Onion soup is medieval, but the gratinéed bowl of bread and cheese is tied to nineteenth-century Paris and the night workers of Les Halles.

How long does French onion soup take to make?

French onion soup takes 20 min of preparation and 1 hr 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in French onion soup?

Yes, within limits. Dry sherry or dry cider in place of white wine. Emmental or Comté for Gruyère, both of which melt well.

What is the most important thing to get right in French onion soup?

Slice the onions thinly and evenly, with the grain rather than across it, so they hold together instead of dissolving entirely.