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be a better cook: skills.

FRENCH ONION SOUP

No shortcuts. No cheat ingredients. Our best of the best series takes the view that if something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right. Each month we take a deep-dive into a classic dish, delving into the processes and analysing why it tastes so good, then we share the ultimate recipe. This month: Pollyanna Coupland lifts the lid on a Gallic favourite RECIPE AND FOOD STYLING POLLYANNA COUPLAND
PHOTOGRAPHS INDIA WHILEY-MORTON

A big bowl of caramelised onions topped with hefty melted cheese croutons is the perfect antidote to a cold February.Onion soup essentially consists of just onions (surprise!) and stock and it’s said to date back to Roman times. Onions were easy to grow and therefore cheap, so soupy onions remained a peasant staple until the 18th century, when the French king, Louis XV, ‘invented’ a new dish in a hunting lodge using onions, butter and champagne (all he had to hand). Suddenly, onion soup was en vogue and France’s best chefs upgraded the soup to the beefy, cheese croutontopped creation we know and love today. Here’s my ultimate version.

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delicious. Magazine
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