Berlin, Germany (Weltexpress). It is true that an onion soup is a soup made from onions, but which ones? What ingredients does an onion soup contain and what does it have to do with Paris?
Onions – namely steamed onions – are the main ingredient of an onion soup, which is generally considered to be a vegetable soup. But a Palatinate onion soup contains mainly water and wine, as well as cream. It is seasoned with caraway seeds at the very least. Fried bread and cheese are thrown in on the side, rather than just added during the cooking process. This makes the Palatinate onion soup similar to the French onion soup, the soupe a l’oignon.
The French onion soup was already mentioned in the recipe collection Le Viandier by Guillaume Tirel. François-Pierre de La Varenne, who was born in Dijon in 1618 and died in Dijon in 1678, wrote about bread in onion soup. He didn’t mention mustard or caraway. In his time, Tirel was not only the French chef and pastry chef (sic!), but also the author of the cookbook Le Cuisinier François, which no gastrosophical library should be without.
The onion soup of the enlarged West Frankish Empire probably began its triumphal march in the market halls of Paris as Soupe d’oignons aux Halles (English: onion soup from the market halls) in the 18th century. It is quite possible that a French field marshal also contributed to this. However, Charles de Rohan, Prince of Soubise, preferred the creamier version, or soupe soubisse.
Nevertheless, in many places around the world, the following method of preparing the following ingredients has been adopted to a greater or lesser extent:
- Cut onions into thin slices, also garlic if you like.
- Slowly fry the onions (and garlic) in butter or oil until they turn a golden yellow colour.
- If necessary, dust with flour. In any case, deglaze with white wine.
- Add water and enrich the soup with vegetables or, classically, with lots of meat broth.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Let it cook and then pour it out of the pot into the tureen.
- Add toasted croutons, which are diced slices of stale white bread.
- The crowning glory: grated cheese.
At the Berlin restaurant Le Consulat, they use Bergkäse, which is just right!
Besuchen sie die Les Halles, im “Bauch von Paris”, wie Émile Zola die Markthallen der Metropole der Französischen Republik nannte, und das Restaurant Le Consulat in Berlin-Charlottenburg, Bundesrepublik Deutschland.
