Onion Soup

Ingredients

• 6 large onions
• 2 oz butter
• salt
• pepper
• 1/4 pint cream
• 1 quart stock

Method

Slice the onions into thin half-moons — roughly 5 mm — and melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. The point here is caramelisation without browning: you're after translucent, sweetened onions that release their umami through slow evaporation of moisture, not the dark crust that comes from high heat. This distinction matters. Add the onions and a three-finger pinch of salt — salt draws water out of the cells, accelerating the softening and preventing the butter from burning. Stir every few minutes. The onions will slump and weep within the first 5–8 minutes; keep going. After about 20 minutes, when they've turned glossy and collapsed to roughly a quarter of their original volume, taste one. It should be completely soft with no bite at the centre. If there's still a pale firmness, give it another 5 minutes.

Pour in the stock — cold or warm doesn't matter, though cold stock prevents any butter from splitting. Bring to a bare simmer and hold it there for 10 minutes. This is not a reduction; you're simply letting the flavours marry and the onions fully surrender their sweetness to the stock. Season with salt and pepper now, tasting as you go — the saltiness will seem quiet here but will amplify once you add the cream.

Pass the soup through a fine sieve, pressing gently on the onions with the back of a spoon to extract as much purée and flavour as possible without forcing pulp through. This gives you a silky texture with body from the onion solids, not a thin broth. Heat the cream separately until it steams — do not boil it, as this can cause it to split from the stock's acidity — then stir it in just before service. The soup should be pale gold with a subtle sheen. Finish with a crack of pepper and serve at once.