French Onion Soup

Ingredients for 4 people:

4 large onions (or 6 medium)

100 grams (3½ ounces) grated cheese

200 grams (7 ounces) butter

1 bottle ordinary white wine

10 ml (2 teaspoons) bouillon powder

4 slices of white bread

1 clove of garlic

Recipe:

Peel the skin off the onions. Slice the onions into rings. Separate the rings and put them in a frying pan.

Add 100 grams of butter to the frying pan.

Cook the onions on medium heat until glazed (i.e. onion becomes soft).

Turn gently the onions periodically to avoid burning.

Add the bottle of wine and the bouillon.

Simmer for half an hour. - During this time:

Grate the cheese if it is not already grated, and pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and rub the garlic into white bread and cut it into 1 cm cubes, and fry it in the remaining butter.

Ladle (or spoon) the onion and wine into the bowls.

Sprinkle the cheese over the top of each bowl.

Put the bowls in the oven for 20 minutes. When the cheese is fully melted, it is ready to serve (some people prefer to wait until the cheese has cooked to a golden brown).

Sprinkle cooked bread (known as "croutons") on the soup just before serving

Side dish: baguette (the traditional French bread stick).

Notes:

The choice of cheese depends on personal preference. Generally a hard white cheese is used. In France you could use a Compte, in England you could use a Cheddar.