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| Type | Sauce andsoup |
|---|---|
| Main ingredients | Eggs,lemon juice,broth |
Avgolemono (Greek:αυγολέμονο orαβγολέμονο[1] literallyegg–lemon) is a family ofsauces andsoups made witheggyolk andlemon juice mixed withbroth, heated until they thicken.
Avgolemono can be used to thicken soups and stews.Yuvarlakia is a Greek meatball soup made with rice and meat meatballs that are cooked in liquid. Avgolemono is added to the soup to thicken it.[2]Magiritsa soup is a Greek avgolemono soup of lamb offal served to break the fast ofGreat Lent.
As a soup, avgolemono usually starts withchicken broth, though meat (usually lamb), fish, or vegetable broths are also used. Typically,rice,orzo,pastina, ortapioca[3] are cooked in the broth before the mixture of eggs and lemon is added. Its consistency varies from near-stew to near-broth.[citation needed] It is often served with pieces of the meat and vegetables reserved from the broth.
The soup is usually made with whole eggs, but sometimes with just yolks.[4] The whites may bebeaten into a foam separately before mixing with the yolks and lemon juice, or whole eggs may be beaten with the lemon juice.[5]
The starch of the pasta or rice contributes to stabilizing the emulsion.
Similar foods are found inGreek,Cypriot,Arab,Sephardic Jewish,Turkish,Balkan andJewish-Italian cuisine.
InSephardic Jewish cuisine, it is calledagristada (he:אגריסטדה) orsalsa blanco, and inJewish-Italian,bagna brusca,brodettato, orbrodo brusco.[6] InArabic, it is calledtarbiya orbeida bi-lemoune 'egg with lemon'; and inTurkishterbiye. It is also widely used inBalkan cuisine.[7]
Although often considered aGreek dish,avgolemono is originallySephardic Jewish:agristada has been described byClaudia Roden as the "cornerstone of Sephardic cooking."[8]
Agristada was made by Jews in Iberia before theexpulsion from Spain withverjuice,pomegranate juice, orbitter orange juice, but notvinegar. In later periods, lemon became the standard acidic ingredient.[6]
For some Sephardic Jews, this soup (also calledsopa de huevo y limón) is a traditional way to break theYom Kippur fast.[8]
As a sauce, it is used for warmdolma, for vegetables likeartichokes, and roast meats. According toJoyce Goldstein, the dishterbiyeli köfte is made by frying meatballs until they are cooked through, then preparing a pan sauce bydeglazing the pan and using the cooking juices to temper the avgolemono, which is served over the meatballs.[9]
In some Middle Eastern cuisines, it is used as a sauce for chicken or fish. Among Italian Jews, it is served as a sauce forpasta or meat.[10]
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