1907: Soupe à l’Oignon Gratinée (Published 2007) (2024)

For reasons of tradition, and perhaps inertia, the custom of separating sweet and savory foods — begun when meals took on a more sequential structure and sugar was considered a digestive — largely continues, especially now that sugar is viewed as anything but health-giving. There has been some cautious overlap (chocolate soufflé and cheese soufflé), the occasional misfortune (bacon ice cream) and even a few revelations (pineapple tartare seasoned with chili and salt), but for the most part, cooks stick to the rules. They fear that if sweets start arriving too early in a meal, they will inspire doubt rather than surprise and pleasure.

It takes not only talent but also nerve to mix the two without disrupting people’s entrenched expectations. When I gave Amaryll Schwertner, an owner of Boulettes Larder in the San Francisco Ferry Building Marketplace, a 100-year-old recipe for gratinéed onion soup and asked her to use it as a springboard for a new dish, she came back with the following peculiarity: a barely sweetened rice pudding scented with bay leaf, currants, pine nuts and sun-dried tomatoes, topped with bread crumbs and a pistachio praline. It wasn’t dessert, exactly, and it wasn’t dinner either, but it should definitely join pineapple tartare with chili in the book of sweet/savory revelations.

Although her rice pudding may seem utterly unrelated to its progenitor — the onion soup — it is not. The two dishes are prepared by layering ingredients and result in an array of brittle and delicate textures.

The onion soup originates from the French cookbook “Gastronomie Pratique,” which was written in 1907 by Henri Babinski. The Times published the recipe in 1974, when the book was first translated into English.

It is one of the strangest and most delicious soup recipes I’ve encountered. Baguette toasts are spread with butter and layered with grated cheese, sautéed onions and tomato purée. Then, in what seems to be a nod to stone soup, salted water is gently poured in. The dish is then simmered and baked, and by the time it is done, the “soup” is like a savory bread pudding and the top has a thick, golden crust that your guests will fight to the death over.

“It’s a variation on a litany of dishes based on those ingredients,” Schwertner says of the bread-based soup. Panade and ribollita are probably the most well known. Surprisingly, the leap from onion soup to Schwertner’s rice pudding is not a long one: in place of cheese, her pudding is topped with pistachio praline; instead of onions, it has currants; and instead of tomato purée, it has sun-dried tomatoes.

The rice pudding was just one of many hunger-provoking ideas Schwertner had. There was a cabbage-and-bread stew, and crepes layered with ragout. Ultimately, I couldn’t resist asking her to make a second variation: a fortifying “baked soup” made with grits and capped with a crust of bread crumbs and grated cheese. This time, Schwertner kept to the rules: it is decidedly savory.

1907: Soupe à l’Oignon Gratinée

From “Gastronomie Pratique,” by Ali-Bab. This recipe appeared in The Times in a 1974 article by Craig Claiborne.

1 baguette, cut into 1/2-inch slices (about 25 to 30)

9 tablespoons butter, softened

9 ounces Emmental cheese, finely grated

8 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced (about 12 cups)

1 tablespoon kosher salt, more to taste

1 cup tomato purée.

1. Toast the baguette slices and let them cool. Spread a generous layer of butter on each slice (you will need about 5 tablespoons), then lay the slices close together on a baking sheet and top with all but 1/2 cup of cheese.

2. In a large saucepan, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add the onions, season with salt and sauté, stirring occasionally, until very soft and golden, about 15 minutes.

3. In a 5-quart casserole, arrange a layer of bread slices (about 1/3 of them). Spread 1/3 of the onions on top, followed by 1/3 of the tomato purée. Repeat for two more layers. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese. To avoid boiling over, the casserole must not be more than 2/3 full.

4. In a saucepan, bring 1 1/2 quarts water to a boil. Add the salt. Very slowly pour the salted water into the casserole, near the edge, so that the liquid rises just to the top layer of cheese without covering it. (Depending on the size of your casserole, you may need more or less water.)

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the casserole on the stove and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, then transfer to the oven and bake uncovered for 1 hour. The soup is ready when the surface looks like a crusty, golden cake and the inside is unctuous and so well blended that it is impossible to discern either cheese or onion. Each person is served some of the baked crust and some of the inside, which should be thick but not completely without liquid. Serves 6.

2007: Baked Sweet-Savory Carnaroli-Rice Pudding

By Amaryll Schwertner, executive chef and an owner of Boulettes Larder in San Francisco

Mastic comes from the mastic tree and is often used as a spice. Here, it adds an herbal note. Mastic crystals and powder (sold as gum mastic) are available at kalustyans.com.

For the pistachio praline:

Vegetable oil for greasing pan

½ cup sugar

½ cup pistachios

For the pudding:

½ large loaf of challah bread, cut into 1-inch dice (about 5 cups)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing

2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

½ stick cinnamon

Several threads of saffron

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon mastic crystals (optional)

1 teaspoon grains of paradise

¼ teaspoon sea salt

6 cups half-and-half, plus more for serving

¼ cup candied citron peel

1 bay leaf

Kosher salt

1 cup carnaroli rice

3 tablespoons sugar

½ vanilla bean, seeds scraped

2 tablespoons dried currants, soaked in warm water

8 sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in warm water

1 cup fresh ricotta.

1. For the pistachio praline: Oil a baking sheet. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, cook the sugar; swirl the pan as it begins to brown. When dark caramel, remove from the heat and stir in the pistachios. Spread on the baking sheet. Cool completely, then chop finely.

2. For the pudding: Grind the challah in a food processor. Add 3 tablespoons butter and pulse until mixed. In a mini processor, grind the pine nuts, then blend with 3 tablespoons butter. Using a spice grinder, grind the cinnamon, saffron, nutmeg, mastic, grains of paradise and sea salt. In a small pan, heat 1 cup half-and-half with finely chopped citron peel and bay leaf until steaming.

3. In a large pot, bring 2 quarts water and 1 tablespoon salt to a boil and add the rice. Blanch for 1 minute, then drain. Pour 5 cups half-and-half in a saucepan over medium heat until just steaming. Stir in 3 tablespoons sugar, the vanilla bean and seeds and the ground spices. Add the rice and simmer uncovered on low heat until the rice is al dente, 45 to 60 minutes. Drain well and discard the vanilla bean.

4. Butter a 3-inch-deep, 4-quart casserole. Drain the currants. Drain and coarsely chop the tomatoes. Spread half the rice in the casserole, then spread the ricotta and sprinkle with the currants, tomatoes and pine nuts. Spread with the remaining rice. Discard the bay leaf from the citron-peel infusion and pour over the rice. Cover with bread crumbs, then the praline. Bake until the topping is crisp, 15 to 20 minutes. If desired, gently fold in half-and-half when serving. Serves 8.

2007: Savory Rice Grits Baked Soup
By Amaryll Schwertner, executive chef and an owner of Boulettes Larder in San Francisco

Coarse sea salt

4 cups Anson Mills Carolina Gold Rice Grits, or other grits

4 to 6 cups chicken broth

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter

3 onions, cut into 1/2-inch dice

2 leeks, white and light green parts only, cut into 1/2-inch dice

Extra-virgin olive oil

8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, cut into 1/2-inch slices

1 1/2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper

1 whole bird's-eye or Tuscan chili, ground coarsely

8 ounces fontina cheese, thinly sliced

16 dried tomato halves, rehydrated in warm water and coarsely chopped

2 2/3 cups cubed crustless country bread

1/3 cup finely chopped parsley

1 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

White truffle, for garnish, optional.

1. In a medium stockpot or other large pot, combine 4 1/2 quarts of water and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil and add the grits while stirring and sprinkling them into the water. Cook at a gentle boil for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat the chicken broth and keep warm.

2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a sauté pan, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter and add the onions and leeks. Sauté until translucent and transfer to a bowl. Wipe the pan clean and add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt and sauté until tender and caramelized; set aside. In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon sea salt, black pepper and chili; set aside.

3. In a deep, heatproof, 7- to 8-quart casserole, spread a third of the grits. Top with half each of the onion mixture, sliced cheese, tomato, mushrooms and salt mixture. Spread a layer of half of the remaining grits and all of the remaining onions, sliced cheese, tomato, mushrooms and salt mixture. Top with the remaining grits. Pour in enough of the hot stock to just cover the grits. Place a sheet of parchment paper directly on top of the grits, and cover the casserole with foil. Bake for 40 minutes.

4. Using a food processor, purée the bread with the remaining 4 tablespoons butter until finely ground. Add the parsley and pulse to combine; set aside.

5. Preheat a broiler or raise oven to 500 degrees. Remove the foil and parchment from the casserole. If the dish is dry, add enough broth so that the grits are very moist but not flooded. (The texture should be spoonable with a seeping stock and melted cheese.) Top with the bread crumbs and sprinkle with the Parmesan. Broil or bake until browned, about 5 minutes. To serve, spoon into bowls and drizzle with olive oil. If desired, garnish with sliced truffles. Serves 10.