Sweet, humble onion of Cévennes, France

Sweet Onion of Cévennes with Black Truffle

• 1 medium-sized sweet onion from Cévennes (or, failing that, a white sweet onion)

• 1 black melanosporum truffle (12–15g)

For the sauce:

• ½ large shallot, very finely chopped

• 100ml chicken juice 

• 20g butter

• 1 tbsp port wine

• ½ tbsp powdered sugar

For the tile:

• 30g spelt or buckwheat flour

• 140ml grapeseed oil

• 140ml water

• 140ml chicken broth

How is this recipe prepared? 

There are several important steps. First, the whole onion is cooked, unpeeled, on a bed of coarse salt in the oven at 160°C for more than an hour and a half. This renders the onion tender without being overcooked. It's then left to cool before being peeled. The next step is to cut the onion in half, separate each leaf and spread them individually. On each slice, a little olive oil is brushed, then a little piment d'Espelette chilli powder is added – to replace the pepper – and finally, a slice of black truffle is placed.

Simultaneously, a caramelised shallot purée and truffle meat juice are prepared. The minced shallots are fried in an anti-adhesive frying pan, with a little butter and sugar to caramelise them before being blended. Finally, the meat juice (preferably chicken) and truffle pieces are added before being blended as well. We then recreate each half of the onion. For the layers to be held together, we prick each half of the reconstituted onion.

When the order for the dish is placed, we slightly roast the truffle onion – and we add a "tile" that is made with spelt or buckwheat flour, mixed with a little water and a little oil. It is cooked in the pan that was used to caramelise the onion for one to two minutes. This tile will bring the crispness to the dish. The onion is then ready to be placed on top of the plate.