I’m not going to claim authenticity this time around— I’ve used red onions instead of white, and red wine instead of white. Does the onion make a difference? Short answer, yes.
White onions don’t have as much sweetness and flavour to them, and French onion soup gets most of its flavour from the stock you’re using, not the onions itself. Red onions definitely make their presence known, so I could totally imagine it tasting better— more subtle and delicate— with white onions.
The main reasoning for white wine however would be to maintain the delicate caramelised brownness of the soup, without giving it a darker shade of red. I didn’t think this was much of a problem, considering I’d used red onions anyway. If you don’t mind a slight shift to darkness with respect to the colour once you add the wine, just use what you have. Can you skip the wine altogether? Sure, but you’re losing out on a special dimension of flavour.
The weight of the dish you’re caramelising your onions in also makes a big difference. Cast iron retains heat better and caramelises onions much faster. I managed to get it to the shade of darkness I wanted in about 40 minutes, as opposed to the hour regular utensils tend to take.
Be patient though, the caramelisation of the onions is a crucial step, and it requires time and attention. It isn’t difficult, but you do need to keep an eye on it to make sure your onions brown evenly.
I also played around with two ways of arranging the bread atop the soup. The flat way is simpler, but you need to break into it like a crème brûlée. The other stacked way does make it super easy to dig into the soup and get a few gorgeous looking cheese pulls, but if you’re not careful, you’ll quite easily burn the pointy tips of the bread bits. Turn the temperature down a bit if you choose to cook it that way— a slower 150ºC, perhaps.
This was actually the first time I ever made this soup, and I did enjoy the process and the complexity of the eventual outcome. It’s quite simple to make, and most of the nutrition comes from the stock (I have a video for this up too, I’ve lined it in one of the cards for this video— click on the little ‘i’ in the corner).
On a different note, I’m close to 200 subscribers! I know that doesn’t amount to much on the larger scheme of things, but I do appreciate the steady growth and interest you’ve all shown, and for all the interaction in the comments too. Stay tuned for more, be safe, and keep in touch!
*Ingredients*
(For one large serving)
500g Onions
One stale baguette or any bread
Butter
Olive/Cooking oil
White Wine (red also works, I’ve used red)
Brandy (just a splash)
500ml chicken stock
A sprig of Rosemary
A few sprigs of Thyme
Salt to taste
Gruyere Cheese (I used a combination of Fontina/Fontal and cheddar)
00:00 Intro
00:15 The Onions
01:45 Caramelising the Onions
02:56 Wine & Brandy
03:12 Stock
03:50 Prepping the baguette
05:24 Assembling the soup
05:45 Cheese!
07:14 The Broil
07:35 Digging in
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Music: “Jazz_Mango” by Joey Pecoraro