The story
Onion soups are ancient, eaten since Roman times as cheap, filling food, and legend links one version to the court of Louis XV, supposedly introduced by his father-in-law Stanisław Leszczyński after he tasted it at an inn. The famous gratinéed bowl, though, belongs to Paris. In the 19th century, cafés around Les Halles, the city's vast central food market, began covering the soup with bread and grated cheese and browning it under a grill. Market porters ate it at dawn, and late-night revellers came for it as a hangover cure. It reached New York by the 1860s and became a bistro classic worldwide.
Rival claims
Older onion soups are linked to Louis XV's court (via King Stanisław and an inn in Lorraine); the cheese-gratinéed version is credited to the cafés around the Les Halles market in Paris.
Also known as soupe à l'oignon, soupe à l'oignon gratinée, gratinée des Halles, onion soup gratinée.
On the Meridish menu
French onion soup was the soup course on menu No. 19 on October 19, 2026. Its clue in the game, which hints at the place without naming it:
Caramelised onions in beef broth under toasted bread and bubbling grilled cheese. Porters at this capital's giant food market slurped it at dawn beside hungover night owls.
In Meridish, every dish is pinned to the town or city most widely credited with creating it. A guess within 25 km scores all 100 points. How scoring works.
Sources
Food history is often disputed. Think we've pinned it in the wrong place? Tell us at hello@meridish.com, ideally with a source.
