Onion soup is one of the most famous and popular dishes of classical French cuisine, which today is revered not only at home, but all over the world.
There are different versions of its origin, but the main one says that the dish appeared during the reign of Louis XV – according to legend, once the French king, longing for dinner, found nothing in the kitchen of his hunting lodge but onions, champagne and butter.
By mixing all the ingredients together, the monarch created a soup that later became a favorite dish of gourmets in France.
According to another version, the recipe came to Louis XV from his father-in-law, the Polish king Stanislaw I Leshchinsky, who, in turn, tried onion soup in one of the restaurants in France and asked the chef to share the secret of its preparation.
And the third legend says that the now exquisite dish was extremely popular with the French poor, who appreciated it for its nutritional value and cheapness of ingredients.
Today, there are a huge number of variations of its preparation – in some recipes, onion soup is served to the table immediately after cooking in a saucepan, in others, the dish is baked in the oven with croutons and cheese, and in others, alcohol is added to the main ingredients without fail (usually wine, sherry or cognac).
The most famous version of onion soup preparation involves the following procedure: first, a large amount of young onions are sautéed in a pan until golden brown, then beef broth, thyme, wine are added to the main ingredient, and then the soup is poured into pots, croutons, grated hard cheese are laid out on top, and the dish is sent to the oven until a golden crust appears.
Then the soup is served in the same pots in which it was baked.
French onion soup consists of two main components – broth and onions. Be sure to use natural fresh beef broth and browned onions.
To give the soup a special piquancy, rose wine is added to the finished dish before cooking is completed, enhancing the aroma.
A piece of fresh baguette and cheese is placed on top, and then the soup is sent to the oven until fully cooked.
The dish turns out to be pleasantly thick and very rich, and the sweet taste of the onion and the tart aroma of thyme give a special aftertaste.
Ingredients:
Onion – 1 kg
- Beef broth – 1 l
- Butter – 100 g
- Thyme – 5 g
- Salt – 6 g
- Rose semi-sweet wine – 125 ml
Cook:
Fry the onion in butter until a nice caramel color. Add sugar, rose wine and thyme.
When the wine has evaporated, add the beef broth and simmer over low heat until the onion is soft.
If you wish, you can continue cooking further – pour the soup into pots, put baguette croutons on top, cheese and bake in the oven at a temperature of 180 degrees (you need to bake for 5-10 minutes – the cheese should completely melt, but not “boil”).
Serve the finished dish immediately to the table in the same dish in which it was baked.
1 comment
Will definitely try this