Instant Pot French Onion Rice

François Pierre de La Varenne published Le Cuisinier François in 1651, and it changed French cooking permanently. Where medieval French cuisine had been defined by heavy spices and sweet-savory combinations imported from the Arab world, La Varenne's kitchen was defined by a single principle: the patient extraction of flavor from humble French ingredients. Chief among these was the onion. La Varenne's soubise — a sauce and later a rice preparation built entirely on the slow caramelization of onions in butter — became the foundation of an entire branch of French cooking. The onion, when given sufficient time and heat, transforms entirely: its sharp, volatile compounds cook off, its sugars caramelize, its cell walls collapse, and it becomes something sweet, dark, and complex that bears almost no resemblance to its raw state. The French onion rice in this archive marries La Varenne's soubise tradition with the beef broth-enriched rice of the Burgundian farmhouse kitchen. The Instant Pot — which the French have adopted with characteristic pragmatism — handles the pressure cooking of the rice while the onions, caramelized separately in a pan with proper patience, are stirred in to finish. La Varenne would recognize it immediately as a descendant of his work.