Avgolemono Soup Recipe
Most people say that their recipes are handed down to them by their mothers, or maybe their grandmothers. But half of the recipes I use were passed on to me by my Cypriot father. He was a chef and a pretty good one at that…working in restaurants in the West End and even at the American Embassy at one time.
He taught my Welsh mother how to cook Cypriot meals, and she “tweaked” them a little [probably replacing some items with whatever she could find at the time in post-war London]. She then passed them on to her sisters in South Wales and they “tweaked” them again – so there are many recipes being cooked in South Wales today which may not have much resemblance to the original!
But the recipe I most love is for Avgolemono soup. Both parents cooked it well and I have cooked it all my life too. Avgolemono means “egg-lemon” and the recipe contains both these items. It is traditionally served in the early hours of Easter Sunday when folk come home from Church and break their Lenten fast with this soup and other Easter delicacies.
Avgolemono is traditionally served to those who are ill and those who have been travelling – it is thought the nourishment it contains is all a person needs. Its creamy, silky consistency is comforting and the lemony tang makes it unique.
Whenever it is served, it is considered to be delicious. I hope you think so too….
Ingredients
2 - 3 pints well flavoured chicken stock [for this, you could cook some pieces of chicken]
2 ozs rice
Salt and pepper
4 medium eggs
Juice of 1-2 lemons
Method
In a large saucepan, bring the chicken stock to the boil.
If using chicken pieces, once cooked, reserve until later.
Add the rice and simmer until cooked
Take the pan from the heat and allow to cool a little.
Beat the eggs well until light and frothy.
Add the lemon juice to the beaten eggs, a little at a time, to prevent curdling.
Add a ladle-full of the warm broth to the mixture.
Blend this mixture back into the soup, stirring quickly all the time.
If needed, reheat the soup very carefully, taking care not to let it boil or else the eggs will “scramble”
Add more seasoning if needed.
Cut up the boiled chicken and add to the finished soup.
ENJOY!
Written by Helen Barrett
Helen Barrett is an English/Cypriot/Welsh writer, back living in UK – after seven years in Larnaka. She has had her poetry, flash fiction, and non-fiction articles published in UK and Cyprus and is currently writing her memoir. She was recently featured on “Culturescope” [Cyprus News interview] about her article on the author Daphne du Maurier, who visited Cyprus in the thirties. She wrote for “Daxi” community magazine in Cyprus for five years and met some interesting people for interviews, too. She is now living in Bury, Lancashire with her husband and 3 crazy Cypriot rescue cats! Their [middle-aged] “children” live in Lancashire and London – missing them was one of the main reasons to return to UK!
Recipes
