Basler Mehlsuppe — Toasted Flour Soup

Ingredients

• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 5 tbsp butter
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 6 cups beef broth
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 3 oz Gruyère, grated
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt, black pepper, and nutmeg

Method

1. Toast the flour dry in a heavy pot over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly, for 15–20 minutes. It goes pale, then sandy, then the color of milk chocolate and smells like toast. This is the entire soup — do not walk away.
2. Add the butter and onion and cook 5 minutes, stirring, until the onion softens into the roux.
3. Whisk in the wine, then the broth, a ladle at a time, keeping it smooth. Add the bay leaf.
4. Simmer gently 25 minutes, until glossy and thick enough to coat a spoon. Season with salt, pepper, and a scrape of nutmeg.
5. Ladle into bowls, top with grated Gruyère, and eat with a hunk of bread. Traditionally consumed at four in the morning, but any hour works.