French Onion Soup

Peel the onion, cut it in half, and then slice it into half-centimeter thick pieces.

In a large pot, heat the butter and oil over high heat and add half of the onion. Sauté very intensely and quickly until the onion turns golden in places. Color is important, so keep stirring and sautéing until it's about to burn. At that moment, deglaze the onion with a few tablespoons of water and let the browned bits at the bottom dissolve. This will temporarily prevent burning, and once the water evaporates, you can continue sautéing the onion. Repeat this deglazing two or three more times until the onion has an even, golden color.

Once the first half of the onion is sautéed, add the rest and let it soften again, stirring carefully. This time, you don't need to let it turn golden. After this different treatment, the onion in the soup will not be uniformly soft, but some pieces will provide a more interesting texture. Finally, add the sugar and stir for another minute until it dissolves.