i love this Channel, and from the way things are looking for the future of America, we are all gonna have to know these things. Thanks for the info. Great stuff
When I was younger I worked in a restaurant in a small tourist town. If business was slow, we’d whip open the windows and door and the chef would sauté onions. The smell wafting out into the street smelled amazing and got customers in the door every time. The onion has such amazing aromatic power for such a small, simple food staple.
My mother’s grandparents had a lunch counter and would do the same onion trick. My church would help with a dining hall at the local county fair. I’d be making eggs, pancakes and toast for breakfast and hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch. In a slow period, i put some sliced onions on the griddle for a burger first myself; only 2-3 slices. It suddenly wasn’t slow.
We all really need to stop and think how good we have it. Being able to walk into any grocery store and have access to the amount of selections we have all year long is amazing.
Wrecked my car a few days ago. Total loss. Ice. Snow. Ditch. Came home feeling sorry for losing 40% of my savings.. Came home to a warm home, a warming meal and a warm bed. Where I slept safely after a dram of whisky. Absolutely agree with you! We don't know we're born most of the time.
Yes! So true. The other day at the farmer's market I bought strawberries shipped in from who knows where. I actually felt a little guilty, but they were going spoil if somebody didn't eat them and for $2 a pound I couldn't resist. Every time I open my spice cabinet I remind myself that I literally eat like a king.
I like him a lot. Looking forward for his next presentation. His tone and pace of speaking is great. You can really hear how genuinely passionate and interested he is, and his excitement make ME excited and interested. Keep going strong!
I'm from Finland and our traditional cuisine is very much about surviving our long and harsh winters. It's still common here for people to forage mushrooms and berries and store them for winter. Not because it's necessary, but because the food from the forests is healthy. Whenever I make a hearty soup or stew in the winter, I somehow feel close to my ancestors and stop to think about what kind of lives they lead and how they survived. Loved this video!
This is the first Townsends video I’ve seen from this dude. He really sets the scene and slays it. Fully on board with having this guy in the mix, five stars bro
I did the recipe. I'm brazilian. Im a 18 years-old engineering student. Whenever I see myself with no money from now on -which happens often-, I will just do the recipe so cheap medieval french peasants could afford. It was marvelous. I'm an autistic france nerd so that made my day. Thank you
Now watch the next video in the series about potato soup, and you'll have everything you need to make hearty meals out of anything as long as you have either onions, meat, stale bread, flour or potatoes. Or any combination of them. Start by frying the onions and/or meat until golden brown, add flour for thickening if you have, otherwise just let your crusts or potatoes boil until it becomes thick. Egg yolks give a nice silky texture, but if all you have is flour, crusts or potatoes (or a bit of all of them) then it still tastes great. If you don't have onions, leek, garlic chives will substitute. If you don't have "proper meat" a bit of bacon, or some kind of sausage, diced finely, goes in nicely too, as long as you have onion (or substitutes) to do the heavy lifting. Heck, any leftover bits of dinner meat or slices of sandwich meat goes in great. But as you know now, not having meat isn't a deal-breaker either. I've done this with sausages that were so crappy-cheap that I wouldn't dream of eating them as-is, but when they get diced finely and fried along the onions the end result was fantastic. I've done it with mushrooms, but otherwise pretty much the same as in this video, and it was heavenly. You can eat like a king on a student budget if you master "the thick soups".
@@A7xeno To me the concept of potato soup and onion soup are two sides of the same coin. It's just two different angles of attack on the concept of "savoury, fat and starch". It always work, regardless of which of them you have at hand. Combine them and the end result is always good.
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Kinda mirror situation, I'm French but a big bit of a Brazil nerd. Therefore i'll try to find the Brazilian equivalent of French Onion soup as a peasant dish and I'll try it out. Pretty sure this will involve feijãos.
Autistic nerds unite! Let's cook like we're going out of style tomorrow. Loved making the soup too. Although I put too many onions in mine by using a massive one without realizing it.
@@Paulstrickland01 What are you even talking about? The OP never suggested wholesome == nice. This video has a real feel-good vibe that makes it good for our mental health. Hence, wholesome.
@@inazuma3gou Conducive to or indicative of good health or well-being; salutary: synonym: healthy. So that doesn't fit the definition Conducive to or promoting social or moral well-being, nope Tending to promote health; favoring health; salubrious; salutary. This is nutritional related Hence wrong so Learn English. Peace.
@@Paulstrickland01 According to Cambridge Dictionary "good for you, and likely to improve your life ... emotionally" Since most people feel better after watching this video, it is wholesome.
Paul Strickland, you’re very wrong. Words are not stationary, permanent things. By the very nature of language, words are always in a state of fusion. They mean different things at different times and in today’s culture wholesome not only applies to food but also to things that make us feel well. This is food for the mind, so it is nutritious… wholesome. Please Paul, lighten up and join us in this great fusion that is human communication. Peace x
I was having a really rough day. I have lost a lot of things and people this year and the pressure of starting from scratch for the millionth time was weighing me down. Thankyou for this video. It calmed my spirit.
Yo. Same. The past two years or even three really I've been losing friends and colleagues and family and the toll on me has been larger than I thought. But being able to watch these videos has brought me some comfort today. That all of this is a tale as old as time. Just another day being human.
Yes, you are not alone in loss sucking the life outta you. Watching 'ages gone by' soothing videos like this can lift us away from reality for enough time to enable the hurt psyche repair somewhat.
I just made this today as it is -45C where I live, and onions are my favourite vegetable. Not only does the house smell amazing, but this is the best onion soup I’ve ever had. I baked a honey oat loaf to go with it and they are a great complement. I caramelized the onions down for two hours and the flavour is superb. Thank you for sharing this beautiful humble meal.
My wife's grandfather was born in 1920. As part of a college class project, I had to interview him about changes in technology during his lifetime. One of this things he told me about was putting up food for the winter. This included a big wooden box of sausages covered over in lard, onions (he said they got pretty rank by spring), root vegetables (buried in the root cellar), sauerkraut, and (of course) whatever fruits and vegetables you canned during the summer. It's amazing the things we take for granted these days, like central heating, vehicles with heat (rub an onion on the windshield to keep it from frosting up), direct dial phones, and television (his family had one of the first television sets in Lancaster, PA). He said that television was the biggest technological benefit in his lifetime as far as information and entertainment.
Is he still with us? The stories he could tell. Also I wonder how often before refrigeration people actually ate food that had gone off. Obviously there were preservation techniques like you mentioned but food still didn’t last forever.
Ooof! My father was born in 1920 and my mother in 1919. My grandmother was born in 1896 and my grandfather was born in I think 1888 or 1889. Mom's family were farmers and Dad's lived in the country, but weren't technically farmers. They did, however have a couple of goats for milk as well as a milch cow or two, chickens for eggs, Guinea fowl for security and meat, and raised a huge garden every spring, summer, and fall, as did Mom's family. When they slaughtered a couple of hogs in the fall they'd fry up the meat and put it into ceramic crocks with lard poured over to seal out the air. Cabbage got turned into sauerkraut in the same type of crock. Grandma canned and canned everything possible from the garden, as well as braiding onions into strings by braiding their stems together and hanging them in the root cellar aka the "storm cellar" (Central Illinois has tornadoes) and so did Grandmother. They ate like kings compared to a *lot* of folks during the depression. They always had at least cornmeal and beans they grew themselves and milk as well as the cellar contents. They may have had underwear sewed on the old Singer treadle machines from flour sacks and dresses, pants, and shirts sewn out of the cheapest cotton they traded for with garden truck and/or cornmeal, but compared to a lot of people in cities where no one could have even a garden and people stood in bread lines they were rich with plenty of food, even if it wasn't fancy, and clothes that covered them and kept them warm in the winter. Mom's father had learned cobblering from his father and could resole their shoes on his last he inherited from his father more than once to keep shoes on their feet for school and cold weather.
I remember being the typical kid that hated onions...that changed pretty quick once I learned that onion is the best paired vegetable for basically every kind of meat from sea to air.
@VEC7ORlt hey you can eat green onions and garlic, that's pretty good. We all have a list of foods we don't like, don't sweat it. If this onion soup sounded delicious, you can use your green onions, shallots, garlic, and even leeks to make a delicious soup.
@@GrizzloxRight. No matter how adventurous your palate is, everyone has foods they simply don’t like. And onions are a common one because they’re overpowering.
The scenery you brought to life is the exact winter season here in the Alps. After a few weeks of cold windy days, rainy nights and icy skies all around. What I saw you cooked was something warming my very heart. Thank you for bringing grandma memories !!!
I love these "meager" recipes because I feel like that is something I can prepare myself, compared to a lot of modern dishes which can get quite complicated. Thank you!
That was the point of them back in the day. These simple recipes were something anyone could make with only a little instruction and no complicated steps.
Yeah, these are practical for everyday people vs Instagrammers and professionally trained chefs to prepare. Tastier than most of those complicated recipes too, in my opinion.
Very true. These days, recipes sound like "Yeah, okay, so we're making deconstructed soufflé and you need 12 phoenix eggs, six bags of ground unicorn horn, a pinch of Himalayan salt harvested on a blue moon BUT ONLY ON A TUESDAY, and cheese made of chicken milk."
My mom actually give onions a lot of importance. We grow it in our lawn and some big pots on our terrace. Mom makes a onion curry very rich & thick. We also use corn flour bread with it. No doubt, nothing can beat this onion dish when there's a wet chilling winter outside ! 🤍
I‘m in Lapland right now, its -17 degrees outside, sitting infront of the fireplace, having judt cooked and eaten this fabulous soup! thank you so much for this recipe and your great presentation mate!
This is super interesting. I'm from Southeast Asia and we never have to think about preparing food and supplies to survive winter. Keep up the good work!
I grew up behind the Iron Curtain and our winter food was very similar. The only fruit available at the stores were apples and maybe some small Cuban oranges around Christmas, white and red cabbage, and some root veggies. We stored potatoes, carrots, apples, lots of canned plums, cherries, applesauce, and pears in the basement. My grandmother made some sort of sweet puree from the fruits of our Rowan tree because they are a great source of vitamin C and we ate it with applesauce as a dessert.
Only for Saffron milk caps, since we don’t eat the white ones over here. You can either cut them in slices or bite size pieces, cook them in water for about 5min, put them in ice water and dry them afterwards. In the meantime mix vinegar with veggie broth, whole peppercorns, salt, bay leaves and a bit of sugar. Bring it to a simmer for 3-5min. Put the mushrooms in prepared canning jars and fill with the hot vinegar mix.
@@antjecasarez5059 thank you for the reply, and the recipe. Yes, the recipes I've seen all are for saffron milkcaps or sometimes Chantrelle mushrooms. I'm in oregon and we have a couple mushrooms that are very similar to saf. Milkcaps but they have heat to them like peppers
I remember precious little of the 80s, but from what I can remember I can say that we survived on preserves, compote and root vegetables. I will never forget the Christmas oranges. They grew to a sort of symbol here, and even after so many years since the fall of the Iron Curtain, you'll still find them in many Polish houses come Christmas.
@@KARMAZYNA same here. They were the big, sweet navel oranges and we were only allowed to buy one or two per family, so we all stood in different places of the long line, hoping nobody would recognize us. I still consider them special and put one in the bottom of every Christmas stocking I put up. 😊
I had an elderly client who lived through great financial poverty, and schooled me on foods he, and family survived on. One were onion sandwiches. Just onion, some mayo (when they had it), sandwiched between sliced bread.
A friend of my family's was a French war bride who had been a child in Paris during WWII. I asked her once to show me how to make French onion soup. Her version was what they ate during the war. Sweat and carmelize a pan of onions and add to a pot of water with a cubed potatoe. Cook until the potatoe disintegrates and thickens the water. Season with salt and pepper. I love any onion soup but they always seem too rich and salty after I learned to do it this way.
Potato which is native only to Peru, this country has over 4 000 varieties of potato. The yellow ambo potato melts in the soup like butter and makes it thick gold color@@estebanod
Thanks so much for making this video. I have been struggling with very bad anxiety and panic attacks the last weeks and for some reason I found this video to be very calming and comforting to watch❤️
Not just an incredible chef, an incredible communicator of concept, history, and the very nature of what the recipes are all about. Just as nutritious and filling as the meal! Sorry if that makes you blush, but it has to be said!
Typing this through tear-filled, burning eyes - just a note that onions may have been smaller in those times. Turned out delicious. I added a bouillon cube for a little more spice. 100% recommend.
I love this channel and I love this guy. The way he speaks and works on camera is just perfect. Its not enough that the food always looks good, but he goes and gives me a history lesson while he does it.
Today I made this soup! I followed the recipe in the video almost exactly (other than using margarine rather than butter - an unfortunate substitution made necessary by my lactose intolerance). The end result is indescribably delicious! It took a lot of effort and time (anyone who has browned/caramelized onions knows how long it takes) but the end result is, in fact, an incredibly savory yet inexpensive pot of soup to make - definitely stood the test of time! You pay for the flavor with patience rather than with expensive ingredients. Thanks for such an insightful and enjoyable video, as per usual, and for the inspiration to cook something fun!
what they make is perfectly attainable just doing what they say. flour and butter make a roux, and that makes things so much creamier than you think would be possible. i'm still surprised every time i have something made with a roux
My mother lived in her childhood through the war and I was able to taste some dishes which helped her and others to survive and your video brought those memories back to me. One was caramelized onions with flower and dried bread pieces, just mixed in enough water to have it not too thick or too thin and mixed in some herbs and/or spices what you might have available. I looked at it as an vegetarian stew and enjoyed it a lot. Another meal, as she spend the war time on a farm was cracked up chunks of dried bread soaked into fresh milk with, when available a bit of sugar. Also very simple and quite tasty, especially when you are truly hungry and not just feel nibbly like we tend to in our spoiled modern world. One of the values I got from her on my way through life: One secret of finding happiness in life? NEVER EVER through your life forget to appreciate what you got! It served me well because these days I keep seeing left and right what happens when people forget it. They get spoiled and then entitled and selfish which leads to a nasty downward spiral in personality and many learn too late what they lost once it is gone for good. :/ If you like that advice, another wise advice was: Whenever you look in life for a friend, a partner, lover, doesn't matter who or what. But when you do make sure you look for ONE quality they should all have: A healthy sense of humor. Because humor is often the only thing which stands between a future together or a pile of rubble as humor helps to smooth down waves when there are moments of frictions and there will be 100% such times as we all know. Instead of going confrontational with my partner when there are such moments I wrap 'complains' in some humorous wrap to take the sharp edges and deepen disagreements instead of deepen them. Like with everything in life, it takes some training, but it works for decades very well for me as it did for my parents. Thank you for this very nice video I found by pure chance. I hope my side tracking was not too much. But if it just sheds some light into someone's life then it was worth it. Be well and stay healthy. :)
I make this exact thing: butter, onions, flour, egg yolk, and bread crust, but with chicken broth to serve over fried chicken. Add some cream and rosemary to step it up a bit if you so desire, but totally not necessary, it is good enough to just eat on its own
@@BlackFoxTheBest You can just put them in the fridge and use the next day when making scrambled eggs. Or freeze them, then use in the future for any recipe that calls for eggs whites
Oh man, winter is really the best season. It has this really comforting charme, and is so nostalgic. Every year, im looking forward to the winter. I really love cooking in that season, i plant myself somewhere comfortable, i open a window, have something warm to drink near me and either read an actual book or i read on my phone. It's the best feeling ever. Yes, i know this has not much to do with the video, but the soup and how he described the early winters, i was just obligated to share that experience.
My dad is from Mississippi, and he always said that I couldn't be properly Southern until I learned to love onions. The man was devoted to them. 😂 He carefully stashed Vidalias away for the off-season. I see his wisdom now. Bring on the onions!
Get yourself some Tree Onions and some Scallions. They'll come back every year by themselves and are extremely hardy. I have both, and plant shallots(spring) and fall garlic as well. I'm still eating my own tomatoes into December again(saving some money) and I'm in Ohio, where at times it gets extremely cold.
I know there's a small amount of people that genuinely can't eat them, but for most people I can't imagine not liking onions. They add so much to any meal.
The perfect dish for a cold, biting day. Quite fond of onions, and Ryan brilliantly explores this humble winter food staple. Thank you so much for showcasing it, and looking forward to trying the recipe!
Onions really are amazing. The variety, the flavor, the versatility, and the hardiness/abundance of them. One of the all time ultimate foods the world has ever seen.
What a fantastic episode. John, thank you for introducing us all to Ryan and his fantastic presentation. All of the hosts on this channel are absolutely terrific and unique in their own way.
The one thing that brought home to me how awful winter was before high-yield farming was that the original millennia-old meaning of the word "starve" was simply "die." That was the old English word for die. But dying for want of food was so incredibly common that it just grew to have that specific meaning. Yikes ... We live in heaven today, but we think and act -- and treat each other -- as if we lived in hell. We are the luckiest generation of human beings ever to exist.
The Israelites come out of Egypt and pluck manna from Heaven every day to eat, and they got mad about it too. Ingratitude is a feature of the human condition. Thanks for sharing that about the meaning of starve. That is fascinating to learn.
@@fairnut6418 When I saw the original comment, I thought '...but Maslow's pyramid'. I agree with you. Heaven and hell are relative states anyway. Besides, people die from starvation even today.
I'm going to have to try this. The only thing I'll do differently is to cook it all in one pot, so those browned bits from the fried onions sticking to the pot don't go to waste!
I made this for dinner tonight (a much smaller scale for two) and it was delicious! My husband had never had onion soup before and I’ve never tried cooking it before. We really enjoyed it. Thank you. It’s a great meager meal for our meager budget!
I have a friend who cooks up a pot of onions when she feels like she is getting sick (which is rare). I don't think she adds much else to her onion stew (she's a vegetarian), but that medicine always works for her.
Some of are like this. Onion soup always was my cold medicine. Honey, with or without tea never did a thing to me but onion soup made wonders! And I loved it too ;) I ate a lot of onions when I was healthy as well but mostly in my scrambled eggs (they were mostly fried onions with some eggs ;) ). I don't often eat onions nowadays but it is a necessary, very flavorful ingredient in many dishes, I mostly have it in stews (you can't make a Hungarian stew without onions and I am a Hungarian liking Hungarian stews) and soups.
@@shiNIN42 I've never had Hungarian food. That would be something I'd like to try. Onions are one food I've never liked much, though I would be greatful for this onion dish if I were hungry.
I always make a chicken dumpling soup for illnesses in my family. I boil the chicken with the skin on to get the oils into the broth,with loads of onions, carrots, celery, rosemary, and home made dumplings.
@@shiNIN42 You started talking about having scrambled eggs that are more onion than egg, and I nodded along like 'hell yeah, I didn't know other people did that' and then I got to you mentioning that you're Hungarian and I was like 'oh okay, that explains everything' 😂 I don't know a single Hungarian savoury dish whose recipe doesn't start with 'sautée some onions', lol 😀
You meant nice not wholesome as if you knew the definition you'd know that wholesome refers to nutrition by majority with one definition that defines it as active promotion of morality which he is not. Cringe cringe cringe.
This is quite similar to cooking from the Great Depression in North America. The most cheapest and easiest to store foods can be used to make a meal that fills you up. A great addition to that soup would be a bit of pocket soup, and some freshly grated nutmeg. Caramelized onions with freshly grated nutmeg, and a splash of red wine vinegar is really good. This episode also shows us how we can take farmers for granted. I'm originally from a very large farm in Alberta, so I'm aware of how important farmers are. If crops fail, we need to have something to help get us through. In Canada, and in the northern United States, winters can be harsh. A good bowl of hot soup is very satisfying. Cheers!
I believe they made what you refer to as pocket soup in one episode but i don't think they called it pocket soup. Addendum. they did and it's called portable soup.
I enjoy watching Townsends, there's an honest and directness in both the recipes and teaching that works. This video is delivered with a warmth that makes me feel like a friend is doing it. Townsends have kept skills and recipes alive which are more relevant than many realise. If the world goes a bit pear shaped then this type of cooking in or over a fire with cast iron etc. will be what we fall back on.
I grew up in upstate NY on a farm. My father's family came from Germany. We raised cattle sheep and in the garden was onions garlic green beans tomatoes potatoes and peppers. Worked construction all summer, hunted and trapped in the fall and made maple syrup in the spring. I love these videos thank you so much
Wow, that looks so good! All the French onion soups I've had were just thin watery broths with a few onions in it. That one looks really hearty and filling!
As a Spaniard I love this kind of recipes. Our winters are not that tough, we instead have a lot of recipes based on god-tier ingredients with less complexity. For example: Jamón ibérico, Gazpacho, Morcilla, Cocido or Paella. All simple foods, but I guarantee you that the only place you can truly taste them is here in Spain. Italians instead focus more on crafting excellence and certain type of spices. Just see how they mastered the craft of a pizza or the love put into pasta making. This video instead shows the gastronomy of cold places, where you needed to survive for months without supplies because of the weather. Exploring the smell and comfort of warm food. With a lot of flavour and fat. It really brings me to a comfortable place watching this video. Love how food from each country is very defined by culture and climate.
I love these “poor man’s” cooking videos! They are fun to try at home and are awesome survival means if/when in need. Thank you so much for providing quality videos like this, you guys are the best!
I just prepared this, and it's amazing. Much simpler flavor profile than the french onion soup as expected, but you get like 80% of the taste without having to spend 10 hours cooking.
You guys are my favorite go to for camp recipes. I’m always looking for simple but unique (sometimes forgotten) recipes that can help make the camp out feel just a little more special for my kids and friends. This one is going in my cookbook.
The classic French onion soup which I used to make working in a French restaurant - and the Head Chef said mine was better than his - was a bit different from this, no flour/roux. Sweat a lot of onions down until they start to caramelise. Then add sugar, a splash of white vinegar, some white wine, and beef stock - we actually used Knorr powder. Then to serve we put the hot soup in an oven resistant dish, with a crouton - basically a pre-toasted slice of baguette - on top, with grated Gruyere over it (but you could use Emmenthal or another cheese) and finish in the oven for a few minutes. Ratios are importing, it should be 2/3rds onion, 1/3rd liquid. There's also another version using milk and vegetable stock, Tiroler Zwiebelsuppe, which does use a roux, and is garnished with herbs.
whoa, my recipe's something similar. i tried onion soup one day and wanted to recreate it, but with the limited ingredients i had. caramelised onions, sugar, salt, pepper, soy sauce, chinese rice wine, a little bit of thyme, and of course, knorr chicken powder. it's a far cry from french onion soup - with the ingredients it might as well be chinese onion soup - but it's wonderful no matter the time of year. onion is versatile but it really does have a few best friends.
Immediate subscribe. Love how you presented the dish and worked on a historical context in the meanwhile. Thank you, I'm definitely trying it out anytime soon.
I really enjoyed watching Ryan’s video today. His enthusiasm for the history of food shines through! I love how he explained the connection of food and survival with the work of gardening and preserving. And the sources he shared made it so fun! Thank you so much!
I'd like to see you doing the drying process for root vegetables, how dry you can get it vs. how they look in our grocery stores, and how well the period's dried veg works in food prep and re-hydration.
Good God, you'd think I'd have learned by now not to watch these videos when I'm already hungry!! 🤤 But in all honesty, this looks amazing, I love simple recipes like this, I'm so thankful you shared this with us. I swear I could smell it through my screen.
I introduced my husband to the amazing Swede, aka Rutabaga. I grew 4 in our raised beds, and he grew a dozen turnips. We just picked the first swede, and it was as big as half of his turnips he harvested. Diced it up and cooked it with the leaves and some onion and cubed ham. He ate 4 bowls and announced they were much better than white turnips. I also explained that they store very well, so he said that next fall, we will grow rutbaga instead of turnips. I can't wait for lunch tomorrow since we still have plenty of leftovers from just one plant. 😊
The direction, editing, camera work, scripting and theme of this entire video is perfect. An amazing nostalgic vibe thats entertaining and educational, and keeps you watching the entire time. Passion driven work above all else.
in europe in winter onions are still a cheap staple, so many people cook much less seasonally! i think we can take a page out of the history books on using cheaper, more accessible ingredients like this!!
We are French/German and have lived on onion soup all our lives, very similar to this, except we top it with French bread with toasted Muenster cheese. Absolutely loved every moment of this. Thank you. 💖🧅🥖🧀
@@jasper677currently residing in eastern France and Munster is quite everywhere as it's from here. Maybe the munster in the US is different? It seems like a staple here. I wonder if the germans have their version too :)
Hknestly, you've got an enchanting voice for this topic, i could listen on a hiw to guide from you about a lot of things of this nature, they way you out the backstory to the dish was phenomenal, i appreciate that
I started a Free Food Diet about 10 years ago. Every year I get better at it. I found some bunching onions, a huge relief, because onions are critical for savory soups. I started with 5 and now have about 100. I found naturalized salsify, and have a lot of them around my house, but I notice them on all the roads nearby. My asparagus is multiplying. I have naturalized barley uphill. I have been trying to get Sonoran wheat to naturalize, this summer was my first returns, they thrilled me! I have naturalized Amaranth and Chenopodium. It is different, but after gardening 60 years, I enjoy adding these to my staples. My best survival advice is grow onions. This year my onions came up all around from seeds. I quit buying green onions spring 2023.
Call me an uncultured swine but please tell me how you can make your free food lifestyle work. Does it just mean you grow alot of food yourself and have it self renewing or is there more to it? Thanks
I wouldn't call you a name. I started gardening with my mum before gradeschool and we always had a big fruit and vegetable garden. I learned canning and freezing from her. My dad taught me to forage wild foods. I combined both, I both forage and plant native edibles to increase production for me and wildlife. I have built 2' tall hugelkultur beds around my house where I grow European vegetables like sugar beets, beans, peas, parsnips, carrots, potatoes, asparagus, amaranth, barley, Sonoran wheat, whatever I want and will grow here in the mountains. Hugelkultur has deadwood which holds water like a sponge. I also grow native edibles in those beds like purslane. A full bed of wild sunflowers gives summer salad greens, seeds for sprouting all winter, and attracts birds. I walk my place every day to see what is available (free) and eat at least 30 varieties of vegetables mostly in soups and salads. Pine nuts are the base tree and are nutritious. It is too dry here for most fruit trees so I keep expanding my prickly pear orchard for fruit. I have banana yucca for dates. Two years ago I got a wild Giant Hyssop, and this fall it seeded babies all around, that means I will have plenty to dehydrate for another tea. I do add fresh leaves to my salads. I have wild mustard plants in late winter, collect about 2 cups of ripe seed for seasoning all year. I grow radishes and turnips indoor all winter. I just added beans for greens, although they bloom and set seed. I seldom eat sprout, I let them get bigger and eat microgreens. Ditto for kale, which is better grown in shade. I picked up a dehydrator for $5 and dehydrate food for winter. I still can, especially vegetable relishes, pickled jalapeños and so on. I don't know if this helps, but I used to garden in town in an elderly lady's yard for shares. Then in a city park with permission. Last in my own yard. Later I gardened in my son's yard, then added his neighbor's yard when he caught his 3 kids asking for snacks from our garden. I added fruit trees and shrubs. This is my Free Food Diet. I cook from scratch. I spend time identifying wild plants. My neighbor has livestock and we trade. I buy tropical foods, avocados and such, but when food got expensive, not so much. I started eating more flatbreads because I only grow soft wheat and yeast bread prefers hard wheat. I do better every year.
@@LowebotzIt is mostly self-renewing. I toss seeds out if I find something good along the road or growing in a parking lot. I am not doing backbreaking farm labor. My son teases me by singing Tiptoe Through the Tulips when I am gathering. My little grandson sings it while he gathers, wait til he figures out who Tiny Tim was. My DIL gets dolled up with a pretty sun hat and gathering basket, too cute. I still live in the Garden of Eden because my Mother Earth feeds me. The rest of you were exiled when Father Gawd made you blind to Free Food and turned you into farm labor. Now the Corporate Succubus Slavers turned you into a Consumer Unit then starves you as you walk past Free Food. Even big cities have huge amounts of Free Food growing in every nook and cranny. Try wild purslane next summer, it is a superfood that grows everywhere, no poison lookalikes. Good luck to you.
Onion soup is my whole family's Christmas eve dish (mainly south of France, farmer family). Can't wait to go home in a few days and enjoy it! Now I'm definitely curious about trying that recipe some time soon 🤤🥰
As much as I love this entire channel, it's always such a treat to watch Ryan's cooking episodes. It's my absolute favorite, even more than the cabin series. And I'm obsessed with the cabin series. This whole channel rocks. Thanks, guys! You're all amazing.
The vividness of the description and the obvious love for the subject of the video just makes me so damn happy. Thank you for this! Definitely making it!
Love onion soup. Sounds like my grandparents on both sides as they grew all year and put up for the winter months . It was a family job and with 10 kids on both sides that was quite the production. Of course hunting was involved and both had root cellars . A lot of beans , potatoes and cornbread were eaten 👍
This was such an immersive, peaceful, and entertaining presentation. For those who never tried onion soup, try it! And that's even if you don't like onions; really one of the best soups out there.
We grew up with this and sometimes my mom put some cheese on top....I absolutely love these series and I live more self reliant, which is such a rich type of living ❤️ These shows are some of my most favorite things and in that respect technology has allowed me to take advantage of this
I came here to get some food inspiration for my fantasy novel set in a harsh climate, but I came away wanting to try this recipe 🙂 Brilliant video, I love the explanations of how the ingredients would've been grown and stored and why they'd be selected as well as the recipe itself! I'll be coming back for sure 😁
I regularly have people asking me to get them started on cooking their own food and I always start them out on FOS. It's cheap, it's delicious, and it's good knife practice.
I love how the recipes mention complicated cooking ideas without being complex in any way, such as 'tempering your eggs' being 'add a small amount of your soup to the eggs and incorporate well'.
I just made some (approximately) and it's really tasty considering how simple it is! I used bacon fat instead of butter, since I had a surplus of the former, and I forgot the vinegar with the egg yolks, but it turned out just fine. I also threw in a couple bay leaves, since I had them - and I grated a little Parmesan cheese over it (seemed the most suitable of the cheeses I had in stock).
@@Staingo_Jenkins I assumed that the original recipe was meant to make enough for several servings for an entire family; I downscaled the recipe to make one serving, so I used 1.5 onions and reduced everything else to (approximately) match.
@Alfwin well I underestimated how incredibly huge the original recipe was. Went in halfing the recipe, then cut it to a quarter once I started cutting the onions. Definitely was off on the ratio of ingredients, but got close enough to make it work. Ryan wasn't kidding about the rich flavor lol.
I always learn new things here! "hough, n. The joint in the hind leg of a quadruped between the tibia and the metatarsus or cannon-bone, the angle of which points backward; the hock." Source: OED
Great video! Hey John et al: could you produce a video that discusses the contents of the typical 18th century "root cellar" and how important subterranean storage of root vegetables was for winter survival?
there's a good way to use onion's button, keep the root after cutting the eadible part, make sure the root touches water on a jar, it grows buds. those buds taste nice in soup or fry
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
A playlist of Ryan's cooking videos ua-cam.com/play/PL4e4wpjna1vwy_2QlwOmiPI1R0LfIGU1q.html
oh hello
So why didn't Western countries not use Garlic in the 18th century
i love this Channel, and from the way things are looking for the future of America, we are all gonna have to know these things. Thanks for the info. Great stuff
I really enjoyed this video! Ryan did great!
Thank you! I love how Ryan presents these recipes and it's great to have them all in one spot.
When I was younger I worked in a restaurant in a small tourist town. If business was slow, we’d whip open the windows and door and the chef would sauté onions. The smell wafting out into the street smelled amazing and got customers in the door every time. The onion has such amazing aromatic power for such a small, simple food staple.
That chef harvested the power of a cartoon pie in onion form
Yep you just float along til you arrive at the source 😊
I worked cooked for an italian place and we did this with fried garlic lol
This would totally work on me, not ashamed to admit.
My mother’s grandparents had a lunch counter and would do the same onion trick.
My church would help with a dining hall at the local county fair. I’d be making eggs, pancakes and toast for breakfast and hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch. In a slow period, i put some sliced onions on the griddle for a burger first myself; only 2-3 slices. It suddenly wasn’t slow.
We all really need to stop and think how good we have it. Being able to walk into any grocery store and have access to the amount of selections we have all year long is amazing.
all thanks to the hard work of those who came before us who built this civilization
Wrecked my car a few days ago. Total loss. Ice. Snow. Ditch. Came home feeling sorry for losing 40% of my savings..
Came home to a warm home, a warming meal and a warm bed. Where I slept safely after a dram of whisky.
Absolutely agree with you! We don't know we're born most of the time.
Indeed. Taking a minute to be grateful for what we have today is a healthy exercise in humility and being grounded.
Yes! So true. The other day at the farmer's market I bought strawberries shipped in from who knows where. I actually felt a little guilty, but they were going spoil if somebody didn't eat them and for $2 a pound I couldn't resist. Every time I open my spice cabinet I remind myself that I literally eat like a king.
@@brucetidwell7715 I love to buy strawberries from wherever. Stop breading kids and saying I cannot have strawberries coz your kids..
He is such a good speaker, so pleasant to just hear.
He's a good presenter for sure.
Agreed, tho I took a shot every time he said "store back" and I died
I like him a lot. Looking forward for his next presentation. His tone and pace of speaking is great. You can really hear how genuinely passionate and interested he is, and his excitement make ME excited and interested. Keep going strong!
@@OnewheelordealI'll drink to that
He was practically drooling while talking about it 🤗🤣
I'm from Finland and our traditional cuisine is very much about surviving our long and harsh winters. It's still common here for people to forage mushrooms and berries and store them for winter. Not because it's necessary, but because the food from the forests is healthy. Whenever I make a hearty soup or stew in the winter, I somehow feel close to my ancestors and stop to think about what kind of lives they lead and how they survived. Loved this video!
What is THE winter food in Finland?
@@crapparcKilju
we do the same here in sweden
Calls for a "Finland Ordenary Winter Mealtime channel"
Miss the one from your swedish neighbours :((
@@ColaMixx3000 REGULAR! ORDINARY! FINNISH! MEALTIME! IN FINGLISH!
This is the first Townsends video I’ve seen from this dude. He really sets the scene and slays it. Fully on board with having this guy in the mix, five stars bro
He's great. There's ones with both him and John as well which are double great
He's been around for several years, but I agree he sets the scene well.
Never trust a thin cook or chef.
same i really want to see more of him
He's been a part of several of videos, definitely should be in more like this :]
I did the recipe. I'm brazilian. Im a 18 years-old engineering student. Whenever I see myself with no money from now on -which happens often-, I will just do the recipe so cheap medieval french peasants could afford. It was marvelous. I'm an autistic france nerd so that made my day. Thank you
Now watch the next video in the series about potato soup, and you'll have everything you need to make hearty meals out of anything as long as you have either onions, meat, stale bread, flour or potatoes. Or any combination of them. Start by frying the onions and/or meat until golden brown, add flour for thickening if you have, otherwise just let your crusts or potatoes boil until it becomes thick. Egg yolks give a nice silky texture, but if all you have is flour, crusts or potatoes (or a bit of all of them) then it still tastes great.
If you don't have onions, leek, garlic chives will substitute.
If you don't have "proper meat" a bit of bacon, or some kind of sausage, diced finely, goes in nicely too, as long as you have onion (or substitutes) to do the heavy lifting. Heck, any leftover bits of dinner meat or slices of sandwich meat goes in great. But as you know now, not having meat isn't a deal-breaker either.
I've done this with sausages that were so crappy-cheap that I wouldn't dream of eating them as-is, but when they get diced finely and fried along the onions the end result was fantastic. I've done it with mushrooms, but otherwise pretty much the same as in this video, and it was heavenly.
You can eat like a king on a student budget if you master "the thick soups".
@@andersjjensenThat potato soup was absolutely phenomenal
@@A7xeno To me the concept of potato soup and onion soup are two sides of the same coin. It's just two different angles of attack on the concept of "savoury, fat and starch". It always work, regardless of which of them you have at hand. Combine them and the end result is always good.
Kinda mirror situation, I'm French but a big bit of a Brazil nerd. Therefore i'll try to find the Brazilian equivalent of French Onion soup as a peasant dish and I'll try it out. Pretty sure this will involve feijãos.
Autistic nerds unite! Let's cook like we're going out of style tomorrow. Loved making the soup too. Although I put too many onions in mine by using a massive one without realizing it.
I love Ryan. He is so well spoken and you can sense his passion for the subject.
First time watching Ryan, and I totally agree. I'm only halfway through the video and he's awesome.
plus itsy bitsy spectacles
Yes I like him he's good.
Sounds like he is about to pass out.
@smallsignals did he use 12 onions? It seemed like alot less??
This video once again proofs, that there is not a single channel on YT more wholesome, entertaining, soothing and informative other than Townsends!!
Please learn that nice and wholesome don't mean the same thing at all, you mean nice as the definition for wholesome is incorrect here.
@@Paulstrickland01 What are you even talking about? The OP never suggested wholesome == nice.
This video has a real feel-good vibe that makes it good for our mental health. Hence, wholesome.
@@inazuma3gou Conducive to or indicative of good health or well-being; salutary: synonym: healthy. So that doesn't fit the definition
Conducive to or promoting social or moral well-being, nope
Tending to promote health; favoring health; salubrious; salutary. This is nutritional related
Hence wrong so Learn English. Peace.
@@Paulstrickland01 According to Cambridge Dictionary "good for you, and likely to improve your life ... emotionally"
Since most people feel better after watching this video, it is wholesome.
Paul Strickland, you’re very wrong. Words are not stationary, permanent things. By the very nature of language, words are always in a state of fusion. They mean different things at different times and in today’s culture wholesome not only applies to food but also to things that make us feel well. This is food for the mind, so it is nutritious… wholesome. Please Paul, lighten up and join us in this great fusion that is human communication. Peace x
I was having a really rough day. I have lost a lot of things and people this year and the pressure of starting from scratch for the millionth time was weighing me down.
Thankyou for this video. It calmed my spirit.
Yo. Same. The past two years or even three really I've been losing friends and colleagues and family and the toll on me has been larger than I thought.
But being able to watch these videos has brought me some comfort today. That all of this is a tale as old as time. Just another day being human.
Stay strong brothers, it's darkest before dawn.
I know that feeling and am wishing you well. ❤
Yes, you are not alone in loss sucking the life outta you. Watching 'ages gone by' soothing videos like this can lift us away from reality for enough time to enable the hurt psyche repair somewhat.
I just made this today as it is -45C where I live, and onions are my favourite vegetable. Not only does the house smell amazing, but this is the best onion soup I’ve ever had. I baked a honey oat loaf to go with it and they are a great complement. I caramelized the onions down for two hours and the flavour is superb. Thank you for sharing this beautiful humble meal.
My wife's grandfather was born in 1920. As part of a college class project, I had to interview him about changes in technology during his lifetime. One of this things he told me about was putting up food for the winter. This included a big wooden box of sausages covered over in lard, onions (he said they got pretty rank by spring), root vegetables (buried in the root cellar), sauerkraut, and (of course) whatever fruits and vegetables you canned during the summer. It's amazing the things we take for granted these days, like central heating, vehicles with heat (rub an onion on the windshield to keep it from frosting up), direct dial phones, and television (his family had one of the first television sets in Lancaster, PA). He said that television was the biggest technological benefit in his lifetime as far as information and entertainment.
Is he still with us? The stories he could tell.
Also I wonder how often before refrigeration people actually ate food that had gone off. Obviously there were preservation techniques like you mentioned but food still didn’t last forever.
Ooof! My father was born in 1920 and my mother in 1919. My grandmother was born in 1896 and my grandfather was born in I think 1888 or 1889. Mom's family were farmers and Dad's lived in the country, but weren't technically farmers. They did, however have a couple of goats for milk as well as a milch cow or two, chickens for eggs, Guinea fowl for security and meat, and raised a huge garden every spring, summer, and fall, as did Mom's family. When they slaughtered a couple of hogs in the fall they'd fry up the meat and put it into ceramic crocks with lard poured over to seal out the air. Cabbage got turned into sauerkraut in the same type of crock. Grandma canned and canned everything possible from the garden, as well as braiding onions into strings by braiding their stems together and hanging them in the root cellar aka the "storm cellar" (Central Illinois has tornadoes) and so did Grandmother. They ate like kings compared to a *lot* of folks during the depression. They always had at least cornmeal and beans they grew themselves and milk as well as the cellar contents. They may have had underwear sewed on the old Singer treadle machines from flour sacks and dresses, pants, and shirts sewn out of the cheapest cotton they traded for with garden truck and/or cornmeal, but compared to a lot of people in cities where no one could have even a garden and people stood in bread lines they were rich with plenty of food, even if it wasn't fancy, and clothes that covered them and kept them warm in the winter. Mom's father had learned cobblering from his father and could resole their shoes on his last he inherited from his father more than once to keep shoes on their feet for school and cold weather.
radio e.e
@@smartviewer2004if you do, slice it up so it will last all week. If it doesn't, you still have most of the onion to cook or eat raw.
@terminallumbago6465 no, he's been gone a while now. This interview was almost 20 years ago. I think he passed somewhere around 2007.
I feel like Ryan and Joe Pera are both in the running for "people I want to read a book to me during a snowstorm while eating onion soup".
You're in the running for "people I want to punch in the face" hehehe
I remember being the typical kid that hated onions...that changed pretty quick once I learned that onion is the best paired vegetable for basically every kind of meat from sea to air.
Still hate them, guess I'm just one of those people - can eat green ones, shallots, garlic, but just plain ol onions - instavomit.
@VEC7ORlt hey you can eat green onions and garlic, that's pretty good. We all have a list of foods we don't like, don't sweat it.
If this onion soup sounded delicious, you can use your green onions, shallots, garlic, and even leeks to make a delicious soup.
I can't eat onions... They make me hurl immediately
@@GrizzloxRight. No matter how adventurous your palate is, everyone has foods they simply don’t like. And onions are a common one because they’re overpowering.
I think I didn't like them as a kid because in Canada no one knew what a caramelized onion was until roughly 1996
He is such a good speaker, so pleasant to just hear.. Ryan is a national treasure..
If it was a bitter cold winter in 1776 I would be at Ryan's house with trading furs to secure some provisions I'll tell you what!
Came here to say how great of a speaker he is too!
Joe Pera.
I would love to eat at his inn or restaurant too!
Ryan is an absolute charismatic and wholesome champion
Would watch him explain and cook everything
Wish he had more videos
The scenery you brought to life is the exact winter season here in the Alps. After a few weeks of cold windy days, rainy nights and icy skies all around. What I saw you cooked was something warming my very heart. Thank you for bringing grandma memories !!!
I love these "meager" recipes because I feel like that is something I can prepare myself, compared to a lot of modern dishes which can get quite complicated. Thank you!
im over here replaying it taking notes cuz this looks fun to cook but my gf would kill me because i make such a mess LOL
That was the point of them back in the day. These simple recipes were something anyone could make with only a little instruction and no complicated steps.
Yeah, these are practical for everyday people vs Instagrammers and professionally trained chefs to prepare. Tastier than most of those complicated recipes too, in my opinion.
@@animula6908 Fun fact: Even professionally trained chefs tend to prefer simple and fairly easy to prepare dishes like this.
Very true. These days, recipes sound like "Yeah, okay, so we're making deconstructed soufflé and you need 12 phoenix eggs, six bags of ground unicorn horn, a pinch of Himalayan salt harvested on a blue moon BUT ONLY ON A TUESDAY, and cheese made of chicken milk."
My mom actually give onions a lot of importance. We grow it in our lawn and some big pots on our terrace.
Mom makes a onion curry very rich & thick. We also use corn flour bread with it.
No doubt, nothing can beat this onion dish when there's a wet chilling winter outside ! 🤍
i contend that a Vietnamese pho would offer stiff competition, but I am intrigued to try that onion stuff. i can imagine it.
I‘m in Lapland right now, its -17 degrees outside, sitting infront of the fireplace, having judt cooked and eaten this fabulous soup!
thank you so much for this recipe and your great presentation mate!
This is super interesting. I'm from Southeast Asia and we never have to think about preparing food and supplies to survive winter. Keep up the good work!
I grew up behind the Iron Curtain and our winter food was very similar. The only fruit available at the stores were apples and maybe some small Cuban oranges around Christmas, white and red cabbage, and some root veggies. We stored potatoes, carrots, apples, lots of canned plums, cherries, applesauce, and pears in the basement. My grandmother made some sort of sweet puree from the fruits of our Rowan tree because they are a great source of vitamin C and we ate it with applesauce as a dessert.
Ive been looking at recipes for pickled milkcap mushrooms that are supposed to be popular among Eastern Europeans, any experience?
Only for Saffron milk caps, since we don’t eat the white ones over here. You can either cut them in slices or bite size pieces, cook them in water for about 5min, put them in ice water and dry them afterwards. In the meantime mix vinegar with veggie broth, whole peppercorns, salt, bay leaves and a bit of sugar. Bring it to a simmer for 3-5min. Put the mushrooms in prepared canning jars and fill with the hot vinegar mix.
@@antjecasarez5059 thank you for the reply, and the recipe. Yes, the recipes I've seen all are for saffron milkcaps or sometimes Chantrelle mushrooms. I'm in oregon and we have a couple mushrooms that are very similar to saf. Milkcaps but they have heat to them like peppers
I remember precious little of the 80s, but from what I can remember I can say that we survived on preserves, compote and root vegetables. I will never forget the Christmas oranges. They grew to a sort of symbol here, and even after so many years since the fall of the Iron Curtain, you'll still find them in many Polish houses come Christmas.
@@KARMAZYNA same here. They were the big, sweet navel oranges and we were only allowed to buy one or two per family, so we all stood in different places of the long line, hoping nobody would recognize us. I still consider them special and put one in the bottom of every Christmas stocking I put up. 😊
I had an elderly client who lived through great financial poverty, and schooled me on foods he, and family survived on. One were onion sandwiches. Just onion, some mayo (when they had it), sandwiched between sliced bread.
In the same vein as "Bread'n'Butter" w/ pickle Sandwiches from the Great Depression.
@@Lugnut_93and the salad cream sandwiches my boyhood friend Jo ate in the 1970s (London).
Onions on fresh bread with salted butter, yummy.
Cheese and onion sandwiches! Use a white onion and sharp cheddar with rye bread and some Dijon.
A friend of my family's was a French war bride who had been a child in Paris during WWII. I asked her once to show me how to make French onion soup. Her version was what they ate during the war. Sweat and carmelize a pan of onions and add to a pot of water with a cubed potatoe. Cook until the potatoe disintegrates and thickens the water. Season with salt and pepper. I love any onion soup but they always seem too rich and salty after I learned to do it this way.
What kind of potatoe melts in water???
Any kind, although russets work best because they have the highest starch content. Just cook it long enough.
merci beaucoup pour cette recette! je vais essayer...
@@kaki3151 de rien!
Potato which is native only to Peru, this country has over 4 000 varieties of potato. The yellow ambo potato melts in the soup like butter and makes it thick gold color@@estebanod
Thanks so much for making this video. I have been struggling with very bad anxiety and panic attacks the last weeks and for some reason I found this video to be very calming and comforting to watch❤️
Thanks, an Arab here just tried this recipe, quite hearty and enjoyable!
Not just an incredible chef, an incredible communicator of concept, history, and the very nature of what the recipes are all about. Just as nutritious and filling as the meal! Sorry if that makes you blush, but it has to be said!
Typing this through tear-filled, burning eyes - just a note that onions may have been smaller in those times. Turned out delicious. I added a bouillon cube for a little more spice.
100% recommend.
I was wondering how many onions did he actually use??
@@linwill1720 I think the amount he has visible in the first few seconds of the video is a safe number, given the quantity of other ingredients.
Ryan is a national treasure.
He must report to the Smithsonian for national preservation.
for a moment, I thought Jon gained quite a bit of weight
he's looking healthier compared to older videos, good to see
I like Jon’s voice and narration a little better but Ryan is still great :)
Careful he might try and steal the declaration of independence..
I'm not exaggerating, this and the potato soup video is some of the most delicious looking cooking I've seen in a long time. Definitely making this
I love this channel and I love this guy. The way he speaks and works on camera is just perfect.
Its not enough that the food always looks good, but he goes and gives me a history lesson while he does it.
Today I made this soup! I followed the recipe in the video almost exactly (other than using margarine rather than butter - an unfortunate substitution made necessary by my lactose intolerance). The end result is indescribably delicious! It took a lot of effort and time (anyone who has browned/caramelized onions knows how long it takes) but the end result is, in fact, an incredibly savory yet inexpensive pot of soup to make - definitely stood the test of time! You pay for the flavor with patience rather than with expensive ingredients.
Thanks for such an insightful and enjoyable video, as per usual, and for the inspiration to cook something fun!
Butter flavored shortening is the way to go if it's not uneconomical.
how does it match the video? the townsends are trustworthy but it looks like there's cream in there somewhere. I don't believe how good it looks.
Paying with patience is the best value you can have. =)
what they make is perfectly attainable just doing what they say. flour and butter make a roux, and that makes things so much creamier than you think would be possible. i'm still surprised every time i have something made with a roux
Try butter ghee, very low levels of lactose. Give it a Google instead of relying on some rando on YT
My mother lived in her childhood through the war and I was able to taste some dishes which helped her and others to survive and your video brought those memories back to me. One was caramelized onions with flower and dried bread pieces, just mixed in enough water to have it not too thick or too thin and mixed in some herbs and/or spices what you might have available. I looked at it as an vegetarian stew and enjoyed it a lot.
Another meal, as she spend the war time on a farm was cracked up chunks of dried bread soaked into fresh milk with, when available a bit of sugar. Also very simple and quite tasty, especially when you are truly hungry and not just feel nibbly like we tend to in our spoiled modern world.
One of the values I got from her on my way through life:
One secret of finding happiness in life? NEVER EVER through your life forget to appreciate what you got!
It served me well because these days I keep seeing left and right what happens when people forget it. They get spoiled and then entitled and selfish which leads to a nasty downward spiral in personality and many learn too late what they lost once it is gone for good. :/
If you like that advice, another wise advice was: Whenever you look in life for a friend, a partner, lover, doesn't matter who or what. But when you do make sure you look for ONE quality they should all have: A healthy sense of humor. Because humor is often the only thing which stands between a future together or a pile of rubble as humor helps to smooth down waves when there are moments of frictions and there will be 100% such times as we all know.
Instead of going confrontational with my partner when there are such moments I wrap 'complains' in some humorous wrap to take the sharp edges and deepen disagreements instead of deepen them. Like with everything in life, it takes some training, but it works for decades very well for me as it did for my parents.
Thank you for this very nice video I found by pure chance. I hope my side tracking was not too much. But if it just sheds some light into someone's life then it was worth it. Be well and stay healthy. :)
I make this exact thing: butter, onions, flour, egg yolk, and bread crust, but with chicken broth to serve over fried chicken. Add some cream and rosemary to step it up a bit if you so desire, but totally not necessary, it is good enough to just eat on its own
Love that! I was thinking; add mushrooms and serve it over hamburger steaks.
"Over fried chicken"? That sounds so good!
That sounds delightful, kinda like an Irish Onion Gravy.
Did you use the egg white? Sounds wasteful to throw it away
@@BlackFoxTheBest You can just put them in the fridge and use the next day when making scrambled eggs. Or freeze them, then use in the future for any recipe that calls for eggs whites
Oh man, winter is really the best season. It has this really comforting charme, and is so nostalgic.
Every year, im looking forward to the winter. I really love cooking in that season, i plant myself somewhere comfortable, i open a window, have something warm to drink near me and either read an actual book or i read on my phone.
It's the best feeling ever.
Yes, i know this has not much to do with the video, but the soup and how he described the early winters, i was just obligated to share that experience.
My dad is from Mississippi, and he always said that I couldn't be properly Southern until I learned to love onions. The man was devoted to them. 😂 He carefully stashed Vidalias away for the off-season. I see his wisdom now. Bring on the onions!
Get yourself some Tree Onions and some Scallions. They'll come back every year by themselves and are extremely hardy. I have both, and plant shallots(spring) and fall garlic as well. I'm still eating my own tomatoes into December again(saving some money) and I'm in Ohio, where at times it gets extremely cold.
@@gregzeigler3850 multipliers, walking onion, and elephant garlic
Vidalia onions rot too quickly, especially n the southern climate!
@@aliceschmid9697 hay or lime and underground.
I know there's a small amount of people that genuinely can't eat them, but for most people I can't imagine not liking onions. They add so much to any meal.
I love Ryan. He is so pleasant and calm and informative.
"The king of all the simple ingredients that are cheap and easy to store..." what a great line!
I dont know what it is but the atmosphere is so cozy. Your video really put a wide smile on my face. Thank you!
Imagine starving during winter back in the day, and just out of desperation finding a little house with this guy inside
I really like Ryan's approach to the subject its always a pleasure to watch him cook.
The perfect dish for a cold, biting day. Quite fond of onions, and Ryan brilliantly explores this humble winter food staple. Thank you so much for showcasing it, and looking forward to trying the recipe!
Onions really are amazing. The variety, the flavor, the versatility, and the hardiness/abundance of them. One of the all time ultimate foods the world has ever seen.
I have to say, the simplicity and joy of this video, he should be cooking guy. I wholeheartedly loved this episode. So kind and gentle
What a fantastic episode. John, thank you for introducing us all to Ryan and his fantastic presentation. All of the hosts on this channel are absolutely terrific and unique in their own way.
He’s such a great speaker. You can hear his passion in his voice for cooking. I’m glad to have him on this channel
The one thing that brought home to me how awful winter was before high-yield farming was that the original millennia-old meaning of the word "starve" was simply "die." That was the old English word for die. But dying for want of food was so incredibly common that it just grew to have that specific meaning. Yikes ...
We live in heaven today, but we think and act -- and treat each other -- as if we lived in hell. We are the luckiest generation of human beings ever to exist.
Very true
The Israelites come out of Egypt and pluck manna from Heaven every day to eat, and they got mad about it too. Ingratitude is a feature of the human condition. Thanks for sharing that about the meaning of starve. That is fascinating to learn.
There’s its own hell to each level of Maslow’s pyramid. If we got food (somewhat) covered doesn’t mean there aren’t other things to suffer from.
Never thought about the word "starve". Now I realize that it bears similarity with the Dutch and German word for "to die": "sterven" and "sterben".
@@fairnut6418 When I saw the original comment, I thought '...but Maslow's pyramid'. I agree with you.
Heaven and hell are relative states anyway. Besides, people die from starvation even today.
I'm going to have to try this. The only thing I'll do differently is to cook it all in one pot, so those browned bits from the fried onions sticking to the pot don't go to waste!
I made this for dinner tonight (a much smaller scale for two) and it was delicious! My husband had never had onion soup before and I’ve never tried cooking it before. We really enjoyed it. Thank you. It’s a great meager meal for our meager budget!
Idk who this man is, but he makes me feel so calm
I have a friend who cooks up a pot of onions when she feels like she is getting sick (which is rare). I don't think she adds much else to her onion stew (she's a vegetarian), but that medicine always works for her.
Some of are like this. Onion soup always was my cold medicine. Honey, with or without tea never did a thing to me but onion soup made wonders! And I loved it too ;) I ate a lot of onions when I was healthy as well but mostly in my scrambled eggs (they were mostly fried onions with some eggs ;) ). I don't often eat onions nowadays but it is a necessary, very flavorful ingredient in many dishes, I mostly have it in stews (you can't make a Hungarian stew without onions and I am a Hungarian liking Hungarian stews) and soups.
@@shiNIN42 I've never had Hungarian food. That would be something I'd like to try. Onions are one food I've never liked much, though I would be greatful for this onion dish if I were hungry.
I always make a chicken dumpling soup for illnesses in my family. I boil the chicken with the skin on to get the oils into the broth,with loads of onions, carrots, celery, rosemary, and home made dumplings.
@@shiNIN42 You started talking about having scrambled eggs that are more onion than egg, and I nodded along like 'hell yeah, I didn't know other people did that' and then I got to you mentioning that you're Hungarian and I was like 'oh okay, that explains everything' 😂
I don't know a single Hungarian savoury dish whose recipe doesn't start with 'sautée some onions', lol 😀
I'm in the camp that believes onions kill bad stuff
God your channel ist just the most wholesome and precious thing on this whole website
Totally 😍😍😍
You meant nice not wholesome as if you knew the definition you'd know that wholesome refers to nutrition by majority with one definition that defines it as active promotion of morality which he is not.
Cringe cringe cringe.
@@Paulstrickland01okay
@@Paulstrickland01 Speaking of cringe...
This is quite similar to cooking from the Great Depression in North America. The most cheapest and easiest to store foods can be used to make a meal that fills you up. A great addition to that soup would be a bit of pocket soup, and some freshly grated nutmeg. Caramelized onions with freshly grated nutmeg, and a splash of red wine vinegar is really good. This episode also shows us how we can take farmers for granted. I'm originally from a very large farm in Alberta, so I'm aware of how important farmers are. If crops fail, we need to have something to help get us through. In Canada, and in the northern United States, winters can be harsh. A good bowl of hot soup is very satisfying. Cheers!
Grocery prices have jumped.
Are farmers getting any of that profit?
@@veramae4098 not at all.
I believe they made what you refer to as pocket soup in one episode but i don't think they called it pocket soup. Addendum.
they did and it's called portable soup.
@@genespell4340 Pocket soup is also referred to as portable soup.
I enjoy watching Townsends, there's an honest and directness in both the recipes and teaching that works. This video is delivered with a warmth that makes me feel like a friend is doing it. Townsends have kept skills and recipes alive which are more relevant than many realise. If the world goes a bit pear shaped then this type of cooking in or over a fire with cast iron etc. will be what we fall back on.
I grew up in upstate NY on a farm. My father's family came from Germany. We raised cattle sheep and in the garden was onions garlic green beans tomatoes potatoes and peppers. Worked construction all summer, hunted and trapped in the fall and made maple syrup in the spring. I love these videos thank you so much
FWIW, the hough of beef would be the shins! I love this channel so much. I'm glad so many wonderful people are still part of this great project.
Wow, that looks so good! All the French onion soups I've had were just thin watery broths with a few onions in it. That one looks really hearty and filling!
A proper "Soupe à l'Oignon Gratinée" is divine.
At a minimum, all that's really needed to make Ryan's recipe "French" is to add croutons and cheese.
I love this, a cozy mood, a great host, a little history lesson, and a recipe to boot. Thank you, these videos are always a treat.
This man is a talented presenter. He’s so passionate about this simple yet beautiful food.
As a Spaniard I love this kind of recipes. Our winters are not that tough, we instead have a lot of recipes based on god-tier ingredients with less complexity. For example: Jamón ibérico, Gazpacho, Morcilla, Cocido or Paella. All simple foods, but I guarantee you that the only place you can truly taste them is here in Spain. Italians instead focus more on crafting excellence and certain type of spices. Just see how they mastered the craft of a pizza or the love put into pasta making. This video instead shows the gastronomy of cold places, where you needed to survive for months without supplies because of the weather. Exploring the smell and comfort of warm food. With a lot of flavour and fat. It really brings me to a comfortable place watching this video. Love how food from each country is very defined by culture and climate.
I love these “poor man’s” cooking videos! They are fun to try at home and are awesome survival means if/when in need. Thank you so much for providing quality videos like this, you guys are the best!
Poor mans shield
Good morning fellow food historians
Mornin feller
Good morning friend
😊good morning!!
Good morning to you too! :D
Good morning to you too
I just prepared this, and it's amazing. Much simpler flavor profile than the french onion soup as expected, but you get like 80% of the taste without having to spend 10 hours cooking.
You guys are my favorite go to for camp recipes. I’m always looking for simple but unique (sometimes forgotten) recipes that can help make the camp out feel just a little more special for my kids and friends. This one is going in my cookbook.
This is just so awesome. I’m literally hopping off the couch now to cook this. Thank yall for the most fulfilling cooking channel on UA-cam 🔥🔥
The classic French onion soup which I used to make working in a French restaurant - and the Head Chef said mine was better than his - was a bit different from this, no flour/roux.
Sweat a lot of onions down until they start to caramelise. Then add sugar, a splash of white vinegar, some white wine, and beef stock - we actually used Knorr powder. Then to serve we put the hot soup in an oven resistant dish, with a crouton - basically a pre-toasted slice of baguette - on top, with grated Gruyere over it (but you could use Emmenthal or another cheese) and finish in the oven for a few minutes. Ratios are importing, it should be 2/3rds onion, 1/3rd liquid.
There's also another version using milk and vegetable stock, Tiroler Zwiebelsuppe, which does use a roux, and is garnished with herbs.
Did you just make me want to try this? Yes you did
@@mfhex1398Well worth it. Takes a bit of time to sweat the onions down - don't be tempted to turn the heat up at that stage.
whoa, my recipe's something similar. i tried onion soup one day and wanted to recreate it, but with the limited ingredients i had. caramelised onions, sugar, salt, pepper, soy sauce, chinese rice wine, a little bit of thyme, and of course, knorr chicken powder. it's a far cry from french onion soup - with the ingredients it might as well be chinese onion soup - but it's wonderful no matter the time of year. onion is versatile but it really does have a few best friends.
Knorr powder? It's your choice.
@@archevenault That sounds delicious too.
I don’t think I’ll ever look at an onion the same way again. Fantastic video.
I really enjoy Ryan’s cooking videos. You can feel his passion for food and history when he speaks.
Immediate subscribe. Love how you presented the dish and worked on a historical context in the meanwhile. Thank you, I'm definitely trying it out anytime soon.
I really enjoyed watching Ryan’s video today. His enthusiasm for the history of food shines through! I love how he explained the connection of food and survival with the work of gardening and preserving. And the sources he shared made it so fun! Thank you so much!
I'd like to see you doing the drying process for root vegetables, how dry you can get it vs. how they look in our grocery stores, and how well the period's dried veg works in food prep and re-hydration.
Good God, you'd think I'd have learned by now not to watch these videos when I'm already hungry!! 🤤 But in all honesty, this looks amazing, I love simple recipes like this, I'm so thankful you shared this with us. I swear I could smell it through my screen.
Townsends is the best channel on UA-cam. Thank you to all the people on the channel for the wonderful content through the years ❤
Ryan, I would like to thank you and Jon for all the amazing videos and history lessons.
I introduced my husband to the amazing Swede, aka Rutabaga. I grew 4 in our raised beds, and he grew a dozen turnips. We just picked the first swede, and it was as big as half of his turnips he harvested. Diced it up and cooked it with the leaves and some onion and cubed ham. He ate 4 bowls and announced they were much better than white turnips. I also explained that they store very well, so he said that next fall, we will grow rutbaga instead of turnips. I can't wait for lunch tomorrow since we still have plenty of leftovers from just one plant. 😊
The direction, editing, camera work, scripting and theme of this entire video is perfect. An amazing nostalgic vibe thats entertaining and educational, and keeps you watching the entire time. Passion driven work above all else.
in europe in winter onions are still a cheap staple, so many people cook much less seasonally! i think we can take a page out of the history books on using cheaper, more accessible ingredients like this!!
I love French onion soup. I also tried that oven baked onion you did ages ago and it was so good.
We are French/German and have lived on onion soup all our lives, very similar to this, except we top it with French bread with toasted Muenster cheese. Absolutely loved every moment of this. Thank you. 💖🧅🥖🧀
as a german, choosing german cheese and french bread and not the other way around is beyond my understanding
@@jasper677German cheese ?
@@hadelidell4285 münster-cheese came with german immigrants to the USA, but to be fair today its mostly used in the USA
@@jasper677 Mostly in the USA ? Oh seigneur. Les américains ne connaissent pas le vrai munster français...
@@jasper677currently residing in eastern France and Munster is quite everywhere as it's from here. Maybe the munster in the US is different? It seems like a staple here. I wonder if the germans have their version too :)
Hknestly, you've got an enchanting voice for this topic, i could listen on a hiw to guide from you about a lot of things of this nature, they way you out the backstory to the dish was phenomenal, i appreciate that
I started a Free Food Diet about 10 years ago. Every year I get better at it. I found some bunching onions, a huge relief, because onions are critical for savory soups. I started with 5 and now have about 100. I found naturalized salsify, and have a lot of them around my house, but I notice them on all the roads nearby. My asparagus is multiplying. I have naturalized barley uphill. I have been trying to get Sonoran wheat to naturalize, this summer was my first returns, they thrilled me! I have naturalized Amaranth and Chenopodium. It is different, but after gardening 60 years, I enjoy adding these to my staples.
My best survival advice is grow onions. This year my onions came up all around from seeds. I quit buying green onions spring 2023.
Call me an uncultured swine but please tell me how you can make your free food lifestyle work.
Does it just mean you grow alot of food yourself and have it self renewing or is there more to it?
Thanks
I wouldn't call you a name.
I started gardening with my mum before gradeschool and we always had a big fruit and vegetable garden. I learned canning and freezing from her. My dad taught me to forage wild foods.
I combined both, I both forage and plant native edibles to increase production for me and wildlife. I have built 2' tall hugelkultur beds around my house where I grow European vegetables like sugar beets, beans, peas, parsnips, carrots, potatoes, asparagus, amaranth, barley, Sonoran wheat, whatever I want and will grow here in the mountains. Hugelkultur has deadwood which holds water like a sponge. I also grow native edibles in those beds like purslane. A full bed of wild sunflowers gives summer salad greens, seeds for sprouting all winter, and attracts birds. I walk my place every day to see what is available (free) and eat at least 30 varieties of vegetables mostly in soups and salads. Pine nuts are the base tree and are nutritious. It is too dry here for most fruit trees so I keep expanding my prickly pear orchard for fruit. I have banana yucca for dates. Two years ago I got a wild Giant Hyssop, and this fall it seeded babies all around, that means I will have plenty to dehydrate for another tea. I do add fresh leaves to my salads. I have wild mustard plants in late winter, collect about 2 cups of ripe seed for seasoning all year. I grow radishes and turnips indoor all winter. I just added beans for greens, although they bloom and set seed. I seldom eat sprout, I let them get bigger and eat microgreens. Ditto for kale, which is better grown in shade.
I picked up a dehydrator for $5 and dehydrate food for winter. I still can, especially vegetable relishes, pickled jalapeños and so on.
I don't know if this helps, but I used to garden in town in an elderly lady's yard for shares. Then in a city park with permission. Last in my own yard. Later I gardened in my son's yard, then added his neighbor's yard when he caught his 3 kids asking for snacks from our garden. I added fruit trees and shrubs.
This is my Free Food Diet. I cook from scratch. I spend time identifying wild plants. My neighbor has livestock and we trade.
I buy tropical foods, avocados and such, but when food got expensive, not so much. I started eating more flatbreads because I only grow soft wheat and yeast bread prefers hard wheat. I do better every year.
@@RebeccaTreeseed I am blown away. What you do is phenomenal.
I had no idea such a life was possible.
Thankyou!
@@LowebotzIt is mostly self-renewing. I toss seeds out if I find something good along the road or growing in a parking lot. I am not doing backbreaking farm labor. My son teases me by singing Tiptoe Through the Tulips when I am gathering. My little grandson sings it while he gathers, wait til he figures out who Tiny Tim was. My DIL gets dolled up with a pretty sun hat and gathering basket, too cute.
I still live in the Garden of Eden because my Mother Earth feeds me. The rest of you were exiled when Father Gawd made you blind to Free Food and turned you into farm labor. Now the Corporate Succubus Slavers turned you into a Consumer Unit then starves you as you walk past Free Food. Even big cities have huge amounts of Free Food growing in every nook and cranny. Try wild purslane next summer, it is a superfood that grows everywhere, no poison lookalikes.
Good luck to you.
@@RebeccaTreeseed wow, I'm envious
Onion soup is my whole family's Christmas eve dish (mainly south of France, farmer family). Can't wait to go home in a few days and enjoy it!
Now I'm definitely curious about trying that recipe some time soon 🤤🥰
As much as I love this entire channel, it's always such a treat to watch Ryan's cooking episodes. It's my absolute favorite, even more than the cabin series. And I'm obsessed with the cabin series. This whole channel rocks. Thanks, guys! You're all amazing.
The vividness of the description and the obvious love for the subject of the video just makes me so damn happy. Thank you for this! Definitely making it!
This guy is so nice, we can feel his enthusiasm and love for what he's doing. Great video, hope there's more soon!
Love onion soup. Sounds like my grandparents on both sides as they grew all year and put up for the winter months . It was a family job and with 10 kids on both sides that was quite the production. Of course hunting was involved and both had root cellars . A lot of beans , potatoes and cornbread were eaten 👍
It's a good morning when an idea for lunch can be found here. Great job Ryan 😊
This was such an immersive, peaceful, and entertaining presentation. For those who never tried onion soup, try it! And that's even if you don't like onions; really one of the best soups out there.
This guy seems awesome. Keep it up bro 🎉 love all the history and knowledge presented so well
We grew up with this and sometimes my mom put some cheese on top....I absolutely love these series and I live more self reliant, which is such a rich type of living ❤️
These shows are some of my most favorite things and in that respect technology has allowed me to take advantage of this
I came here to get some food inspiration for my fantasy novel set in a harsh climate, but I came away wanting to try this recipe 🙂 Brilliant video, I love the explanations of how the ingredients would've been grown and stored and why they'd be selected as well as the recipe itself! I'll be coming back for sure 😁
I regularly have people asking me to get them started on cooking their own food and I always start them out on FOS.
It's cheap, it's delicious, and it's good knife practice.
I love how the recipes mention complicated cooking ideas without being complex in any way, such as 'tempering your eggs' being 'add a small amount of your soup to the eggs and incorporate well'.
I am not a fan, they are being bastardized
What an informative video, can really feel Ryan’s passion for historical eating and food. Thanks Ryan!
Beautiful format. It makes me feel at home
I just made some (approximately) and it's really tasty considering how simple it is! I used bacon fat instead of butter, since I had a surplus of the former, and I forgot the vinegar with the egg yolks, but it turned out just fine. I also threw in a couple bay leaves, since I had them - and I grated a little Parmesan cheese over it (seemed the most suitable of the cheeses I had in stock).
How many onions did you use? The recipe he cites calls for 12 large onions, which seems like a ton.
@@Staingo_Jenkins I assumed that the original recipe was meant to make enough for several servings for an entire family; I downscaled the recipe to make one serving, so I used 1.5 onions and reduced everything else to (approximately) match.
@Alfwin well I underestimated how incredibly huge the original recipe was. Went in halfing the recipe, then cut it to a quarter once I started cutting the onions. Definitely was off on the ratio of ingredients, but got close enough to make it work. Ryan wasn't kidding about the rich flavor lol.
I always learn new things here! "hough, n. The joint in the hind leg of a quadruped between the tibia and the metatarsus or cannon-bone, the angle of which points backward; the hock." Source: OED
Great video!
Hey John et al: could you produce a video that discusses the contents of the typical 18th century "root cellar" and how important subterranean storage of root vegetables was for winter survival?
This just deserves to be a history or discovery channel show, but I think the charm is that this is done by people who LOVE this stuff.
there's a good way to use onion's button, keep the root after cutting the eadible part, make sure the root touches water on a jar, it grows buds. those buds taste nice in soup or fry