Gratinée Lyonnaise

Parisians have tried to hijack French onion soup, but Lyonnais cooks can plausibly claim title to this bistro classic. A local traveler once observed, “After a meal of onion soup, sausage, a good Saint-Marcellin cheese, and a bottle of Juliénas, nothing more is needed but a good night’s sleep.” The same four specialties remain typical of Lyon. There are two keys to good onion soup: use pungent yellow onions, and cook them to a dark, almost burnt caramel for good depth of flavor. In this rec