Anyunsoppe inde vasten – Onion soup

Original:

This recipe is from MS Gent UB 476. An excellent edition of this (by R. Jansen-Sieben and Johanna Maria Van Winter) is available online (and in print) in De keuken van de late Middeleeuwen, een kookboek uit de Lage Landen (1998). It is exclusively in (Middle-)Dutch, with glossary in modern Dutch.

67 Om te maicken een anyunsoppe inde vasten

Men sal die anyun scellen ende snijen die in scijven in tween, fruten wel in die olije, mer niet veel olije daer in, ende nemen die korsten van den broot ende fruten die mit den anyun ende nemen wat asijn ende bier ende laten dat sieden met den anyun ende mit dat broot ende doen daer in wat suker ende wat gengebaerpoer ende laten dat te samen sieden totdat bijcans dicke wordt ende stellet dan of.

Translation:

One should peel the onions and slice them into half discs, fry them well in oil, but not too much oil, and take crusts of bread and fry them with the onions and take some vinegar and beer and let that boil with the onions and the bread and put in some sugar and some ground ginger and let it boil until it thickens and remove it from the fire.

Redaction:

For two persons:

• 2 onions
• oil
• 1 end slice bread (the crusty bit)
• a little ground ginger
• 0,1 liter Herfstbok Grolsch (Dutch Autumn bock beer)
• 1/2 herbal stock cube
• 0,5 liter water
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar

Just follow the translated instructions. Note that the original doesn’t add water or (herbal) stock, but it does add to the taste.