French Onion Soup: the Cook's Illustrated Way Recipe - Food.com (2024)

FAQs

Why do you put baking soda in French onion soup? ›

The caramelized onions for this soup cook more quickly due to a pinch of baking soda but still have that deep, slow-cooked flavor. Topping the soup with hot, cheesy toasts prepared while the soup simmers, eliminates the need to bake the soup in specialty French onion soup bowls.

The story behind this famous soup

In ancient times, Romans saw it as a dish for the poor. This is due to the fact that onion cultivation was accessible to all, especially to peasants.

Caramelizing the onions slowly in butter until they're rich golden brown (but not so dark as to taste bitter) produces the sweetest, most flavorful results. If you don't have homemade beef stock, the recipe's suggested homemade or store-bought chicken stock substitutions are better than most store-bought beef stock.

With such a soup, a knife is your friend, not your enemy. Using both the soup spoon and the knife, push the baked cheese against the rim of the cup or bowl and cut it gently with the knife. Once you've broken the cheese barrier, you can use the knife again to nudge bits of cheese onto the spoon.

My personal go-tos include worcestershire sauce, fish sauce, and brandy. Each deepens the flavor of french onion soup. Balsamic vinegar and soy sauce are other great options.

Wine is optional to deglaze the pan and add flavour to the soup. I recommend a dry white or red wine, such as a good quality Pinot Grigio/Gris, Sauv Blanc, Sémillon, Chardonnay, Merlot or Pinot Noir. Generally, if you can't drink it, don't cook with it.

What is the Difference Between Onion Soup and French Onion Soup? French onion soup is always made with beef stock. Other onion soups can be made with chicken, vegetable, or beef stock. Additionally, French onion soup typically contains wine or sherry, which isn't typical or necessary in other onion soups.

Onions are a great source of soluble fibre and therefore a good prebiotic; food for the good gut bacteria. Optimal gut health is crucial for weight loss and this delicious soup provides great nutrients to help boost weight loss as part of a weight management programme.

The classic French onion soup gets its name from its country of origin: France. After making its debut in the 18th century, it has become a national treasure. During ancient times (and still today), onions were cheap and easy to grow, and hence, readily available.

You can substitute sweet vermouth with sherry (not sherry cooking wine) or brandy. Lillet Blanc is similar to dry white wine but more aromatic. Your favorite dry white wine is fine.

What to use instead of wine in French onion soup? ›

If you prefer not to use Wine, you can substitute 3 Tablespoons white wine vinegar + chicken or beef broth to make 3/4 cup.

But, to answer the OP, if a French person were to eat onion soup, it would be as the starter course for dinner, so somewhere around 8 or 8:30 PM in Paris, 7 PM in the rest of the northern half of the country, and around 9 PM in the south.

Eating with your hands is considered impolite, so make sure to tuck into that steak frites with your knife and fork. Notable exceptions include bread and certain dishes including asparagus. One thing you may have noticed in France is people do not cut their salads. Do so, and you might receive a few funny looks.

French onion soup is the ultimate comfort food. Onions get slowly cooked until sweet and caramelized, then simmered in rich broth until they're practically falling apart. To finish it off, toasted bread is added to give it that lovable crisp-gone-soggy texture and a generous amount of Gruyère cheese is melted on top.

Adding baking soda to a soup raises the pH and contributes sodium ions, both of which make the pectin that holds many vegetables' cell walls together break down faster. The result? Restaurant-level creaminess.

Baking soda makes the onions more alkaline, which speeds up the browning reactions necessary for properly caramelized onions. But it also weakens the pectin that holds the onion's cells together, turning what should be soft but distinct pieces of browned onion into a nauseating stew of pea-green mush.

And adding a ½ teaspoon of baking soda to simmering carrots or broccoli for pureed soups helps the vegetables break down quickly and create restaurant-level creaminess.