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French onion soup: a starter or the whole dinner?
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What is French onion soup?
In France it is soupe à l’oignon, and when it comes with its crust of bread and melted cheese it is often just called la gratinée. Onions are cooked slowly in butter until they are soft and brown, simmered in stock, and finished under the grill with toasted bread and cheese.
Onion soups have been made in France since the Middle Ages. The one with the cheese crust is younger: it took its modern shape in Paris in the 19th century, and it reached New York in 1861, on the menu of Henri Mouquin’s restaurant.
Where does it come from?
From Les Halles, the central food market of Paris, which the French called le ventre de Paris, the belly of Paris. The market workers ate it in large quantities, and the bistros around the market began serving it with a thick layer of grated cheese, put under the grill.
One of those bistros is still there. In 1947 Au Pied de Cochon started staying open through the night, partly for the people who worked the market, and its onion soup is still the dish it is known for. The market itself is gone; the soup stayed.
There is an older story too. Alexandre Dumas wrote in 1873 that the soup reached Versailles in the 18th century, after Stanislas, Louis XV’s father-in-law, tasted it at an inn. His version had three ingredients: fried onions, water and croutons. Treat it as a good story.
How do you make it?
In three stages: brown the onions, simmer the soup, grill the top. The first stage is the whole recipe. The other two take half an hour together.
Tonight
What’s for Dinner? The French Way
Tell him the day, how many are at the table and how long you have. One French dinner, with the recipe and the wine.
Plan tonightWhich onions, which stock, which cheese?
Ordinary yellow onions. They brown well and turn sweet as they cook. Slice them thinly and evenly so they cook at the same pace.
Beef stock is the most common, and the one I use. Chicken or veal stock works, and some French cooks use only water and let the onions do the work. White wine is usual; cider, calvados or brandy also turn up.
For the top, a firm cheese that melts smoothly and browns: Comté, Gruyère or Emmental. Grate it yourself. Bags of pre-grated cheese are coated to stop them sticking, and they melt less well.
What makes it good?
Time on the onions. They should go from white to golden to a deep brown, slowly, over medium-low heat. Turning the heat up to save time scorches them before they soften, and the soup tastes bitter.
Dry bread and a late salt. The bread should be crisp all the way through so it holds the cheese instead of sinking. And taste for salt only at the end: the stock and the cheese both bring their own.
If you want the full French dinner around it, it is the kind of soup that becomes a whole weeknight meal: what a typical French dinner looks like.
French onion soup in France and in America
| In France | In America | |
|---|---|---|
| The name | Soupe à l’oignon, or la gratinée | French onion soup |
| The cheese | Comté, Gruyère or Emmental | Swiss or Gruyère; sometimes mozzarella |
| The stock | Beef, sometimes chicken, veal or water | Usually beef |
| The bread | Toasted baguette, floating under the cheese | Toasted bread or croutons under the cheese |
For the other French dishes that carry a winter, see boeuf bourguignon and a raclette night.
Sources
- French onion soup, Wikipedia: Les Halles origin, Dumas (1873), cheeses, stocks, Mouquin (1861).
- Les spécialités parisiennes oubliées, Paris Zigzag: la gratinée and the workers of Les Halles.
- Au Pied de Cochon, Atlas Obscura: open through the night from 1947, onion soup its emblematic dish.
Questions, answered
What is French onion soup called in France?
Soupe à l’oignon. With its crust of toasted bread and melted cheese it is often called la gratinée.
What cheese goes on French onion soup?
Comté, Gruyère or Emmental: firm cheeses that melt smoothly and brown under the grill.
How long do you cook the onions for French onion soup?
45 minutes to an hour over medium-low heat, stirring every few minutes, until they are soft and deep golden brown.
What stock is best for French onion soup?
Beef stock is the most common. Chicken or veal stock also works, and some French cooks use only water.
Can you make French onion soup ahead?
Yes. Without the bread and cheese it keeps for 3 days in the fridge. Reheat it, add the bread and cheese and grill just before serving.
Still wondering?
Ask my French husband.
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