This recipe for French Soupe à l’oignon gratinée is another in our series from food and travel writer Ann Mah’s new cookbook Instantly French. This book shows you how to use your electric pressure cooker to create classic French dishes.
“In France, “French onion soup”—topped with a decadent crust of golden, melted cheese—is often called simply la gratinée. Historically served at the bistros surrounding Les Halles—Paris’s former central market—these days it’s more often a late-night supper, slurped at weddings after a long night of dancing.
Traditionally, French onion soup simmers for hours (in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, authors Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck advise setting aside at least two and a half hours to concoct the “perfect brew”). But the intense heat of the pressure cooker—along with a pinch of baking soda and sugar to encourage the Maillard reaction that turns foods mouth-wateringly golden brown—shortens the process to about thirty minutes. And though, admittedly, the texture of pressure-cooked caramelized onions is best described as a dark golden puree, their flavor is every bit as deep and richly sweet. Once the soup is capped with bubbling, golden, broiled cheese, I bet you won’t notice the difference.”
Copyright © 2018 by Ann Mah. Reprinted with permission of St. Martin’s Griffin.