Azille French Onion Soup

The origins of this soup are unclear but likely to come from medieval times. It is sometimes credited back to Louis XV, who allegedly came back after weeks of hunting to discover the only thing in the pantry was onions, stock and champagne, so he cracked one open and got started. 

The tradition of adding toasted bread and melted cheese on top came once the soup made its way to the Les Halles district in Paris

Ingredients

 8 x Onions, halved and thinly sliced

50g x Butter

1 x Tbsp Olive Oil

1 x tsp sugar

3 x garlic cloves ( Optional and highly controversial in my family)

1.5 Ltrs x Beef stock

4 x Slices of Baquette

150g x Gruyere cheese, finely grated

1.      Melt the butter with the olive oil in a soup pot. Add the onions and fry lightly for 10 minutes. 

2.      Sprinkle in the sugar, helps caramelize and cook very slow for 25 minutes. You want the onions to be soft but not burned.   

3.      Add the garlic ( if you really must) and then pour in the stock. Cover and bubble away for 20 minutes. 

4.      Toast the bread on the grill, turn over, add the cheese and grill until it melts. 

5.      Serve the soup with the grilled cheese and sprinkle with some black pepper. Be careful not to burn the roof of your mouth, it will be hot baby. 

So back to the argument over garlic. Technically Jane is correct, most people will make it with garlic. But in my household my Dad thought garlic was foreign muck, so my mums onion soup never had it. As most of our connections from food, come from childhood memory it doesn’t feel right. But who am I to take on the Duchess.