While shopping at Cattleman’s, you may have seen stacks of netted yellow onions on display.
And you may have wondered, beyond what most all onions are used for, “is there any special dish that THESE onions are famously used for”?
And the answer is…. Yes.
It’s none other than the classic. French Onion Soup, otherwise known as: Soupe Granitée à l’ Onion.
These special onions have been the primary ingredient for one of the most famous soups on the planet and its history in France specifically, goes back nearly 2 centuries.
Perfected by the addition of beef broth and a golden, bubbly gratin of toasted bread and cheese, in the Les Halles district of Paris, just a short walk from the Cathedral of Notre Dame and the Louvre, it’s a meal all unto itself.
Since those early days, this hearty soup has become a global favorite and a go-to winter dish.
This author has had the opportunity to enjoy a bowl of this iconic soup while strolling down the Avenue Champs-Élysées, just blocks down from its ancestral roots.
Ingredient wise, it’s a rather simple soup to make, but creating a great one, takes a bit of patience and love…. Just the way the Parisians would want it.
You rarely see this classic soup on American menus these days. It’s almost become a cliché.
When it DOES turn up on a menu, it’s quite often rather “meh”. Lacking any number of “essentials” (like onions), and even more likely, too salty or artificial tasting from the use of a poor-quality commercial paste or powder instead of a quality broth or stock.
Yet for something so “easy” how could it be so hard to do it well?
The answer? When a dish has a very simple method and very few ingredients, it all comes down to mastering (however simple) the slow method of cooking it, and quality of the ingredients used to make it.
It’s not rocket science, but this is ONE recipe where patience is a virtue.
Too high of heat, because you’re impatient, and the onions burn instead of caramelize and the result is bitter and unpleasant one.
Taking a shortcut by using a toasted piece of fresh bread instead of a toasted crostini or croutons, using mozzarella cheese instead of Swiss or Gruyere, or a poor broth or stock, all culminate in “meh”.
The recipe looks easy, and it really is, if you just pay attention to the details.
What type of onions?
Not all onions are created equal. That’s not to say some are worse than others in general but rather that some onions suit certain recipes better than others and French Onion soup is the perfect example.
THE best onion for French Onion Soup is the yellow onions you most often see in a netted bag and they look like this.
Yellow Onions. Ready for Making French Onion Soup
They look slightly smaller than a Spanish onion and for a good reason. Spanish onions are the same “grown up” onion but grown in low sulfur land, thus, the onion itself is lower in sulfur than the smaller yellow onion.
They are a good second choice however.
Red onions, white onions and all the “sweet” onion types such as Vidalia, Walla Walla and Bermuda are next on the list of candidates but in truth, they are actually a bit TOO sweet and lack enough onion “punch” to stand toe to toe with a good broth and melted cheese.
Having said all this, there are many additional opportunities within the recipe for cooks to “punch up” the quality of their soup and create something “truly” memorable. Among them are:
- Focusing on making a fabulous stock (or broth) from scratch and then reducing it to intensify its flavors
- Spritzing the toasted crostini /baguette slices with garlic oil before smothering with cheese.
- Using an aged Gruyere cheese and THEN a dusting of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese instead of something of lesser quality.
- Finishing with a quality Cognac (Julia Child’s favorite) or quality sherry wine.
So, you see that there is some room for personal expressions and choices even within this simple recipe. The devil, they say…is truly in the details.
THE Classic French Onion Soup
Makes about 2 ½ Quarts
½ Cup (1 Stick) Butter, Unsalted
8 Cups (About 3 Lbs.) Yellow Onions, Sliced ¼”
2 Garlic Cloves, Chopped
2 Bay Leaves, Whole
2 Fresh Thyme Sprigs
1 Cup Good Red Wine
3 TBSP All-Purpose Flour
2 QTS Strong Beef Stock or Broth
To Taste Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 French baguette, Sliced ½” On the Bias
½ Lb. Gruyere Cheese, Shredded
- Before beginning the soup, place the baguette slices on a cookie sheet and bake in a 350 F oven until crisp and slightly browned, then allow to cool.
- In a large soup pot with a heavy gauge bottom, melt the butter on medium heat then add onions, garlic, and bay leaves.
- Cook the onion mixture, stirring occasionally until the onions are softened and caramelize to a medium golden color. Be careful to adjust the heat as this mixture cooks so that the onions do not burn.
- When the onions are softened and browned add the wine and turn the heat up to medium high and simmer until the wine and juices gone and the mixture is only onions and the butter fat.
- Remove the bay leaves and thyme and sprinkle the flour over the onion mixture then cook, while stirring for 5 to 10 minutes on medium heat. Long enough to cook the raw flour into a sort of roux with the onions.
- Add the beef stock/broth and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- To serve, choose a serving bowl that can be placed under a broiler then ladle enough soup to fill the bowl 2/3 of the way.
- Place the baguette slices over the soup top cover the top surface, then ladle a small amount of soup broth over them.
- Finish with a ¼” layer of shredded Gruyere being careful to entirely cover the bread so that it does not burn.
- Place the soup under the broiler (about 6” from the heat source) and broil until the cheese is bubbly and speckled brown,
Last thoughts on recipe options:
- You can omit the flour and that part of the method if you prefer, the resulting soup will have a thinner “body” but taste nearly the same.
- Many Chefs, myself included, add a splash of either good quality Cognac or Sherry once the soup is removed from the burner and ready to be served.
- Swiss cheese can be substituted for the Gruyere
- Don’t “mince” the garlic, it can become bitter, a coarse chop will do.
- If you want your broth to be a bit darker, you can consider adding a small amount of Kitchen Bouquet (liquid).
- Not sure which onions? A mixture of any will do if that’s what you already have on hand.
- Regarding the wine, most Chefs use a Cabernet Sauvignon but in truth a Merlot, Zinfandel, Pinot Noir or any of the popular red varietals will do.
- Avoid iodized salt. Kosher or Sea Salt is best.
