Tuesday, February 22, 2011

My big fat Greek soup




I know that Jewish mothers have a patent on culinary penicillin so I won’t step on any toes here.  Their chicken soup is safe with me.  I do want to mention, however, that Greek mothers have their own miracle-cure-all in chicken soup form and it’s name is Avgolemeno. 

The name Avgolemeno roughly translates as Egg-lemon.  Egg lemon!  Where is the chicken? It’s in there, now you know the answer to the age-old question of what came first the chicken or the egg!   Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

I learned how to make it from my mother like most Greek-American cooks.  My mother was a wonderful cook, but she didn’t own a cookbook.  Specifically marked spoons or cups were not necessary in her eyes.  She drank coffee out of a cup, and stirred it with something called a teaspoon, right?  I can see you cringing so stop it.  Everything that came out of that Greek inspired kitchen tasted, well, heavenly.  If it wasn’t exactly what she was looking for, then it was something new altogether, Opa! 

Now you may think that I am going to give you the recipe for this wonderful soup that makes a cold disappear overnight, but you are wrong.  My daughter tells me that my mother would probably haunt me for that infraction.  And besides I don’t have a recipe…I just toss in this, and stir in that, and heat up this.  Somehow by miraculous intervention, it comes out, well, heavenly!

If you happen to be intrigued and want a recipe there are hundreds of Greek cookbooks out there that contain recipes for Avgolemeno.  Just be aware that there are probably as many variations as there are Greek Islands.  Don’t let it scare you.  Just toss in this, stir in that, and heat up this….

14 comments:

Heather said...

can i order a few dozen bowls of that????? he he he...

Magic Love Crow said...

Very interesting! I'm going to have to look this up ;o)

Leovi said...

In Spain we use honey and lemon. One or two tablespoons of honey with half a lemon three or four times a day. Going great. Greetings.

Kelly Berkey said...

that is one of my favorite soups! hubby makes batches of it every winter!

and i thought when i first saw your post it said "my big fat greek butt" for some reason;-)

hugs and love to you!

Crystal said...

Glad that it isn't my butt! LOL

Erika said...

I have been attempting to collect favorite family recipes and my Mom is the same! She measures nothing and can never remember when I ask about oven temps and time to cook. Of course her food is wonderful--sharing skills not so great:)

Anonymous said...

I could use some right now. I've been sick with a cold for about 5 days...UGH. I have never heard of it and off to Google it : )

Lee Pierce said...

I've had it and it is delish! I love greek cuisine :^)

angelandspot said...

Yes! It's going to let me comment on your blog today :) I've been trying for the past couple days and my computer and your blog were hating each other :( I could comment on other blogs but not yours for some crazy weird reason as it kept telling me I had the cookies disabled when really I did not. Anyways... Now that we are finally getting more than an egg a day from the hens I'll have to look that recipe up. Sounds like it might be good :) Thanks for the visits and the comments on my blog the past couple days :) ~Cassie

Wanda said...

That is very interesting...thanks for learning something new in the "recipe" world. I'll check it out.

Margaret said...

Oh, I loved this post. Makes me want to go watch "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" all over again! Do you like that movie?

Luzia said...

It seems to be delicious;-)) Hugs from Luzia.

Maggie said...

I love, love, LOVE Avegolemono. Didn't know it was a miracle cure, tho.
Maggie

Unknown said...

a soup without avgolemono is not worth for me! and some black pepper when served and lots of bread in the plate soaking in the soup! such a delight! have you tried mageiritsa or patsa? tzigierosarmades? time for dinner! i got hungry!

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