What is French Onion Soup?
French Onion Soup is made by caramelizing thinly sliced onions, and then adding beef stock seasoned with herbs and a splash of vermouth. The soup is ladled into individual bowls and topped with toasted bread and grated gruyere cheese, and baked until the cheese is melted and lightly browned. It has a rich, savory flavor.
Ingredients
Beef stock is made from boiling beef bones in water, often with vegetables and seasonings. The stock boils for twelve to twenty-four hours typically. The result is a brown colored liquid with a thin layer of fat on top. The flavor is rich, meaty and somewhat vegetal. Beef stock is used in soups, sauces, and as a cooking liquid for many dishes.
The onion is a bulb vegetable, meaning its bulb and not its leaves are eaten. Onions come in many varieties, including white, yellow and red. Shallots are small and mild onions. Vidalias are sweet, while red onions are strong and sharp. The onion is usually round and has a thin dry skin around its juicy layers. This skin depends in the color of the onion, as does the flesh. The flesh, or body of the onion is made of multiple round layers, that get smaller towards the center. The flavor of onions are sharp and sweet when raw, with an astringent taste. When cooked, these flavors mellow and the sweetness emerges. Onion are a very common flavoring and ingredient for many savory dishes.
French bread, also called a baguette, is a mild yeast leavened white bread with a long body of about two feet in length and three inches across. It is rounded on top and a bit flatter on the bottom. French bread has a hard crust with a golden color and is dusted in flour. The inside is white, chewy and soft yet sturdy. The flavor is mild, plain and slightly nutty. Baguettes make great sandwiches, can be used to dip into olive oil, or spread with jam and nutella. They are best eaten within a day of buying, as they dry out quickly.
Gruyere Cheese is a hard Swiss cheese made from raw cow’s milk, pressed and soaked in brine, and then aged for from 5 to 18 months. It has a firm texture and a nutty, sweet flavor. It is used in sandwiches, salads, as an appetizer, and as a topping for french onion soup.
Butter is made from churned cream, usually from a cow. It has a cream color and a texture that is smooth and melts easily. The flavor is mild and creamy. Butter is often sold in square sticks, or as a flat or round block. It is delicious on bread. It pairs better in baked goods than salted butter, due to its more neutral taste. It also makes an excellent cooking fat.
Olive oil is extracted from the fresh olive, which grows on a tree. Many olives are needed in the extraction of the oil. This is done by a mechanical process and sometimes by a chemical process, though the mechanical method is highly preferred. Olive oil is a golden color and changes slightly due to whether it is extra virgin, or first cold pressed. The flavor of olive oil depends on how it was processed. Lower quality oils will taste mild, while high quality olive oils will have a robust flavor that is green, or may have a spicy quality. Extra virgin and first cold pressed or preferred. Olive oil lends a depth of flavor to any savory dish.
The peppercorn plant grows in tropical climate and produces tiny black fruit. The fruit is dried and become hard. At this point it is ground into a textured powder comprised of black and grey dots. It has a flavor that is spicy, pungent and sharp. Pepper is an extremely popular spice, especially in Western cuisines and lends a gentle heat to dishes. There are different varieties of black pepper and the flavor changes subtly because of this.
Thyme is an herb used in various cuisines for its gently sharp and cool pungency. A minty edge is present in its flavor. It grows on thin stalks and has very small tapered green leaves with a hint of white at the edges. The herb is often dried and takes on a muted green color. It goes well in soups and with meats, grains and vegetables.
