Soup or Soupe? The Benefits of Chucking Cheese Toast on Top of Stuff

When I was in Paris, I had soupe l’oignon au gratin that was sublime. There! Look upon the most pretentious line I’ve ever written! (And I’m an Arts student).

Of course, when I was in Paris, I also had soupe l’oignon au gratin that was Gods-awful. It actually had a layer of molten grease floating on top that was two centimetres  thick. We had to ladle the grease off the top with a spoon and pour it into a planter pot, before we could eat our soup. Luckily, the soup was pretty good (under the grease) and the bowls were big enough that we still had a decent amount left after fattening the pot-plant in the corner.

Soupe l’oignon au gratin, or French onion soup.

But back to business. Soupe l’oignon au gratin, often called French onion soup. The modern version of French onion soup dates from the mid-19th century, in Les Halles, which is a big food market in Paris. The restaurants around the market – La Poule au Pot, Chez Baratte, Au Pied de Cochon – served the soup with a thick topping of grated cheese, put under a grill and served au gratin.

A lot of authors claim that this was a peasant dish. Bollocks. The reason for this mistake is based on the fact that 18th Century French cooking didn’t use onions much, because they were considered ‘coarse’, fit therefore, only for the peasantry. You can also tell that it’s not a peasant dish, because it only uses one vegetable. In general, peasant peoples don’t usually get enough of one kind of vegetable at any one time, to eat a whole dish of them in one go. City workers though, they do. And toasted stale bread and cheese turns a bowl of soup into a filling lunch.

Anyhoo, here’s my recipe.

Soupe L’oignon Au Gratin

Ingredients.

* 1kg brown onions, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp butter.0\

* 4 tbsp sifted flour, 2l chicken stock, 300ml white wine, 1 tsp MSG, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper.

* 1 tbsp brandy, 20 thick slices of French bread, 2 cups grated Gruyere.

Peel and finely slice the onions. Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large pan. Fry the onions at a high heat for a few minutes, vigorously stirring them and breaking them up as they fry. Turn down the heat and leave the onions to caramelise slowly, stirring them around every few minutes. After forty-five minutes or so, the onions should look brown and syrupy.

Stir the flour into the onion, stirring it in very well. It’s important that all the lumps of flour are broken up. Cook the flour and onions together for five minutes or so, stirring it all the time. Add the stock, wine, MSG, salt and pepper and simmer the soup for an hour or so, stirring it a bit as it cooks. Adjust the seasonings. Toast the little bread slices and put them aside.

Take four big deep bowls and add a little brandy to each one.  Ladle the soup into the bowls. Lay the toast slices on top of the soup and top the toast with the cheese, making sure that each bowl has a thick layer of cheese on top. Put the bowls under the griller until the cheese is bubbled and slightly browned. It’s fine if some of the cheese dribbles over the sides. In fact, it’s almost inevitable.

Serves four as a main course, twelve as an entrée. (That’s ‘appetizer’ to all you American readers).

OK, now I’m getting a few American followers, I need to clarify something. I’m an Australian, from Sydney. We call the main dish of a meal, the “main course”. Some pretentious types who like to use restaurant jargon say “main”. (Wankers). When I say “entrée”, I mean the small, first course which is served before the main course. I know that Americans (from both the States and Canada) call their main course, their “entrée”. I find it odd, but I guess they find me odd too.

But anyway.  This is a classic French soup. It’s pretty easy too, although it takes a bit of time. This version is not an entrée; it’s really a main course for lunch or a light dinner. If you want to serve it as an entrée, serve about a third as much in a little bowl, with a single slice of baguette and cheese on top. (The picture shows a little, entrée-sized portion). By the by, the traditional recipe uses beef stock, but I prefer the chicken stock. It’s not traditional but I think it’s better.