The Proletarian Gourmand

Nothing satisfies the soul quite like a bowl of hearty soup. And what better suited for this purpose than say an onion soup? The oldest recipes for onion soups transport us back to a plebeian dwelling. The definition of 'poor food', even the cruelest of feudal lords would probably have allowed a few onions to be allocated to his serfs after a long, thankless fortnight of toiling.

Today, it's not uncommon to spend 8 euros on a bowl of French onion soup in Paris. To put that into perspective, that's the rough equivalent of the yearly combined income of every single Roman peasant - after heavy taxes of course. Though in Paris you're bound to get bourgeois ingredients with surroundings (almost) fit for Henry VIII, the idea hasn't really changed. This one came to me by pigeon from a friend in France, and I attempted it last week with fair success. Sorry, no measurements in Troy weight...

Here's what you need to feed 6-8 legionaries:

- 6 cups of cooking onions, sliced lengthwise

- 2 tablespoons of oil with a higher smoke point + olive oil for drizzling

- A good dollop of butter 

- 6 cups of beef stock (hut-made if you can)

- 4 tablespoons of flour

- 1 tablespoon of sugar

- Gruyere cheese (3/4 of a pound)

- Parmesan, for garnish

- A bay leaf and a sprig of thyme

- Salt and pepper

- 1 cup dry white wine (Alsace)

- A couple tablespoons of cognac

- 8 or so flat slices of baguette

* Heat a pan with cooking oil and butter, add the onions and cook covered and low until tender

* Raise the heat, add sugar, season with salt, and cook the onions until caramelized - the last two steps will take an hour, don't burn it!

* Once they're brown, add the flour and a bit more butter, mixing evenly

* Add a cup of the stock to deglaze, and scrape the pan

* Transfer to a large pot (Le Creuset), add the rest of the stock, bay leaf, thyme, season with pepper and simmer for half an hour

* Lay the bread on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and bake at 350 until hard as rock - don't burn it!

* Remove the sprig and bay leaf, stir in some Gruyere, add the cognac, and simmer for another minute

* Now you can transfer the soup to oven-ready ramekins, or keep it in the pot and make a vat of it!

* Layer with bread and cover with the rest of the cheese - exposed bread will burn

* Bake at 350 for another half an hour and then broil to brown

* Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with Parmesan, and distribute!

If you burn anything, the livestock won't even eat it - if all is good, it's fair trade for a king's ransom

GG