So I was so keen on the onion soup recipe that I decided to do it on my own.
The ingredients were extremely simple: onions, white wine, almonds and salt. thats it. so here is me trying to make this dish:
Chopping the onions. I had to do 4 of them.
Soo many onions in the pot. I had been concerned that the soup was going to be too thin, but looking at the amount of onions in the pot I got worried it would be too onion-y
I got a little teary-eyed. stupid onions... and silly me for forgetting to chill them before cooking. I wonder if medieval cooks had a technique for dealing with the onion-eye problem...
This is the wine that will be the base of the soup. Yay wine!
I needed to have a 1/2 cup of boiling water, but I happen to lack a kettle, so I improvised and used my little frying pan. it worked out just fine.
Here is some almonds soaking in boiling water and wine. It looked a little gross, but I was hopeful.
Onions were cooked (about 17 min) so it was time to add the wine. Yes the whole bottle (less the amound soaking with the almonds).
Waiting on the onion/wine mix to simmer for a good 15 min
After simmering
In goes the almond mush. It seemed to help thicken up the soup a bit, and it made me wonder if that was its main purpose.
Pinch of salt
Traditionally it was served on top of bread so I put it on a nice french bread (the recipe just said bread)
A close up of one of the completed soups ^_^
After trying it, I was a little taken back at how alcohol-y the flavour was. I think I thought it would have cooked off a bit more. The other things I thought about was that I think I picked a bad wine for the recipe, I think it wasnt quite dry enough so the soup ended up being a little sweet. I also wondered how using different onions would change up the flavours, I used simple white cooking onions, but there are more types out there and the recipe did not specify which ones to use. Also how would changing to bread add to the flavour? Maybe having a more flavourful bread would help to add a bit more punch to the soup.
Overall it was good, but I wouldn't make it again without making some changes. I think I would want to add garlic into the cooking process, as well as pepper, and maybe have a couple different types of onions. Tastes back then were definitely different (if I did indeed get an authentic flavour :P )
That is amazing! I love your pictures and your apron! I hate chopping onions though, so I'm glad I wasn't there. I wonder if a red wine would have tasted better? Don't onion soups traditionally end up darker and stuff? With carmelized onions? Or do you think that's a more modern thing? All in all, looks like you had fun!
ReplyDeleteI thought that perhaps it might be a good idea to add in the recipe here... you know in case anyone wants to make it on their own.
ReplyDeleteOnion Soup
Ingredients:
3-4 large onions, minced or thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 bottle dry white wine (or use half wine half water)
4 tbsp ground almonds
bread, sliced and toasted
salt to taste
Heat the oil in a large stew-pan and stir the onions in; let them cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, soak the almonds in 1/2 cup of the wine plus 1/2 cup boiling water. Then add the rest of the wine to the onions; cover the pot and let simmer for 15 minutes; add almond mixture and cook for a few more minutes. Salt to taste.
To serve in true medieval style, place a slice of toasted bread in each serving bowl, and pour the soup over the toast.
there you have it ^_^ enjoy trying it yourself!