Avgolemono

Avgolemono ( el, αυγολέμονο or literally egg–lemon) is a family of sauces and soups made with egg yolk and lemon juice mixed with broth, heated until they thicken. They are found in Greek, Arab, Sephardic Jewish, Turkish, Balkan and Jewish-Italian cuisine.

In Sephardic Jewish cuisine, it is called agristada or salsa blanco, and in Jewish-Italian, bagna brusca, brodettato, or brodo brusco.Gil Marks, ''The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food'', 2010, , p. 5 In Arabic, it is called tarbiya or ''beida bi-lemoune'' 'egg with lemon'; and in Turkish terbiye. It is also widely used in Balkan cuisine.

History

Although often considered a Greek dish, ''avgolemono'' is originally Sephardic Jewish: ''agristada'' has been described by Claudia Roden as the "cornerstone of Sephardic cooking."

''Agristada'' was made by Jews in Iberia before the expulsion from Spain with verjuice, pomegranate juice, or bitter orange juice, but not vinegar. In later periods, lemon became the standard acidic ingredient.

Sauce

As a sauce, it is used for warm dolma, for vegetables like artichokes, and roast meats. According to Joyce Goldstein, the dish ''terbiyeli köfte'' is made by frying meatballs until they are cooked through, then preparing a pan sauce by deglazing the pan and using the cooking juices to temper the avgolemono, which is served over the meatballs.

In some Middle Eastern cuisines, it is used as a sauce for chicken or fish. Among Italian Jews, it is served as a sauce for pasta or meat.

Soup

Avgolemono can also 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. Magiritsa soup is a Greek avgolemono soup of lamb offal served to break the fast of Great Lent.

For some Sephardic Jews, this soup (also called ''sopa de huevo y limón'') is a traditional way to break the Yom Kippur fast.

As a soup, avgolemono usually starts with chicken broth, though meat (usually lamb), fish, or vegetable broths are also used. Typically, rice, orzo, pastina, or tapioca Claudia Roden, ''A Book of Middle Eastern Food'', 1968, , p. 111 are cooked in the broth before the mixture of eggs and lemon is added. Its consistency varies from near-stew to near- broth. 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. The whites may be beaten into a foam separately before mixing with the yolks and lemon juice, or whole eggs may be beaten with the lemon juice. The starch of the pasta or rice contributes to stabilizing the emulsion.

See also

* List of egg dishes
* List of lemon dishes and beverages
* List of sauces
* List of soups

References

Bibliography

* Alan Davidson, ''The Oxford Companion to Food'', Oxford, 1999. .

{{Soups

Middle Eastern cuisine
Balkan cuisine
Cypriot cuisine
Mizrahi Jewish cuisine
Sephardi Jewish cuisine
Soups
Lemon dishes
Greek sauces
Greek soups
Egg-based sauces
Turkish cuisine
Yom Kippur
Citrus dishes