French Onion Soup (Travel Memory + Recipe)
Last Summer C and I took a trip to Latvia and spent ten amazing days there exploring and eating. On our way back home we had a layover in France at Charles de Gaulle airport and I mentioned that I had never been to Paris before. C looked at his watch and said, “Well we have 6 hours until our next flight. Do you want to have lunch in Paris?” It was probably the most romantic question I have ever been asked. Of course I’d like to have lunch in Paris! I have I mentioned that I love this guy? So he took my hand and we hailed a taxi. I explained to the taxi driver in my very broken college French that we would like to go to the Arc de Triomphe, and off we went.
When we arrived at the Arc de Triomphe it had begun to rain—in true Parisian fashion of course. This didn’t bother us at all, and we took our time perusing shops and even had a snack of macarons (I remember the raspberry ones vividly). Finally we decided on a place to have lunch called, Le Triomphe, and my god was it amazing.
Everyone there was very hip and very French—dressed all in chic black clothing, smoking cigarettes, and having a glass of red wine with lunch. We had the most beautiful lunch of onion soup, duck confit with potatoes, and a lovely Bordeaux. While everything was incredible, the most astonishing dish was the onion soup. It was velvety, decadent, and had such depth to it. To this day when I think of that onion soup I can remember vividly the taste of the soup on my tongue, the smell of the Parisian rain, C’s arm around my shoulder, and how neither of us cared one bit that we were cold and wet from the downpour—we were cocooned by our happiness and the warmth of the soup… maybe the wine had something to do with it as well :)
Today in Nashville it rained. A lot. On my way to the grocery store I was struck with the desire to recreate that onion soup. A French friend once told me that onion soup is the cure for hangovers and broken hearts, but I don’t think either one of those ailments is needed as an excuse to make it.
Ingredients:
5 Large onions
Olive oil
Red wine
Beef stock
Bourbon
Salt
Black pepper
White pepper
2 bay leaves
Thyme
Garlic powder
Dried parsley
Oregano
Sourdough bread
Cheese (I used parmesan because that’s all I had, but gruyere would be better)
Performance:
First I donned my onion goggles. I got them as a gift from C’s Aunt, and I must say they are amazing. I usually cry like a baby when I cut onions, but no longer! I cut up all five onions and put them into a large pot with olive oil and turned the heat to medium. The onions filled the pot over the brim, but not to worry, they cook down to a very small amount. This is the only fussy part about the soup—it takes about 30 minutes to an hour to cook all the way down to a golden brown.
Once the onion was bronzed, I deglazed the pot with about 2 glasses of red wine. I then added the beef stock, salt, black pepper, white pepper, bay leaves, thyme, garlic powder, dried parsley, and oregano. I allowed the soup to simmer for about 30 minutes, poured in a shot of bourbon to lift the flavors, then ladled into a bowl. Traditional French onion soups usually call for a baguette rubbed with garlic then smothered with cheese to be placed on top of the soup then baked until the cheese is bubbling. I don’t have to ramekins or the patience for this. I simply cut a slice of sourdough bread into a heart shape then toasted in a toaster. I then applied olive oil spray onto the bread and shimmied a bit of garlic powder on it. Since everything was already so hot, I sprinkled a bit of Parmesan cheese on top and it melted just fine.
C and I ate this happily with a side of mixed greens and a glass of Bordeaux. To enhance our evening, I also popped in the movie “Midnight in Paris” (which I highly recommend). It was like Paris in Nashville, except we weren’t soaked with rain, but warm and dry at home.
