Soupe A L Oignon appears as a signature dish in 1 France cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Soupe à l'oignon · Paris
Soupe à l'oignon is the slow-cooked onion soup that the Les Halles market porters of Paris finished at 03:00 with toasted baguette and gratinated Gruyère. The dish defines French winter.
Onion soup, in its garlic-stock-and-bread peasant form, predates Paris by centuries. The Parisian version with melted cheese on top emerged in the markets of Les Halles in the 18th century, where the night porters and traders ate a fortifying late bowl to warm up before the dawn close. Au Pied de Cochon, founded 1947 at the Les Halles edge, kept the porter tradition alive past the 1969 market move to Rungis. The dish requires 45 to 60 minutes of patient onion caramelisation in butter, a beef or chicken stock, a splash of dry white wine, and a generous gratinated finish under the broiler. Every bistro in the city now serves a version; few earn it.
Where to eat in Paris:
- Au Pied de Cochon
- Bouillon Chartier
- Le Comptoir du Relais
- Polidor