# Avgolemono



## sierra11b (Jan 13, 2006)

My wife and I can't get enough of this soup at this great local Greek restaurant called the Greek Village Inn in Sacramento. Anyone have a good recipe? I can pick-up a lot of the flavors but i'm sure i'm missing something. I also want to be sure there aren't any hidden techniques involved. Would like to try this as a daily soup sometime as well.


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

I just made an avgolemono sauce for meatballs last night (that would normally be wrapped in grape vine leaves as dolmathes).

Avgolemono soup relies on whisking a mixture of eggs and lemon into the soup by tempering it first in a small quantity of the broth. If made traditionally, that is. But I know I've been served this soup that was stabilized with starch (it was very thick- almost gloppy). I've eaten it with rice in it, but it would release starch into the broth if you cook the rice in the broth. Better to add warmed cooked rice to the soup if you like it with rice.

Here's a recipe I admit I haven't used but looks like the avgolemono soup I've made in the past. It's from Cooking in Modern Greece by Theresa Karas Yianilos. I hope you like it!

1-2 quarts chicken soup
3 eggs
Juice of two lemons (don't use anything but fresh lemon juice)- strained
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Bring soup to a boil. Remove the pot from heat. Pour the soup into a large bowl or tureen to reduce the temperature.

In a bowl beat the eggs until thick and light. Add lemon juice slowly to the eggs, beating all the while. Pour 1 cup hot soup into the egg-lemon mixture slowly, stirring quickly and constantly. Continue adding one cup of broth at a time, stirring constantly, until all the broth is incorporated.

Serve immediately. Do not cover and DO NOT BOIL AGAIN. If necessary to reheat, use the lowest heat possible. Serve with wedges of lemon and buttered toast.

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My note: you could make avgolemono sauce and hold it in a thermal container (as if it were hollandaise, which it resembles) and whisk that into individual bowls of hot chicken broth for an a la minute method.


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## mikelm (Dec 23, 2000)

Looked at my _Flavors of Greece_ by Rosemary Barron (Morrow, 1991) and the recipe the same as Mezz'. Barron suggests whisking the egg whites to stiff peaks, then adding yolks and the lemon juice with lots of whisking. Also, pour the hot broth into the egg/lemon mix from a height of 12 inches -more whisking - to cool the broth a little more for further insurance against scrambling the eggs. And...DO NOT REHEAT.

Pre-whisking the whites is as insurance, since they cook a little quicker than yolks, that they don't congeal into strings when the hot broth is added.

Great soup.

Mike :chef:


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## greenawalt87 (Jul 26, 2004)

One trick is seperate your eggs then first add the yolks to thicken your chicken rice soup with lemon then fold in your beated egg whites to get the froth that is needed for soup


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## caligurl (May 6, 2014)

@sierra11b, I too love The Greek Village Inn avgolemono. It's the only soup I order when I'm there. I was craving for the soup a few days ago so decided to go out of my way to visit the restaurant and discovered that the restaurant closed (due to the expansion of Safeway *DAMN YOU SAFEWAY!!!*) and I was heartbroken. I am determined to figure out how to make the soup..


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

I've had good success with this one. http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/2013/10/greek-egg-lemon-soup-avgolemono.html

Two things i do differently, I like to use orzo instead of rice, and I like to add some carrot early on. I picked up the carrot practice from Dean Themy and the avgolemono he served at his greek restaurant. He used orzo as well. I like it with rice too, but the way you first had a great version of the soup kind of sets your expectations.


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## caligurl (May 6, 2014)

Thanks Phatch!  I will definitely give this a try.  I bought arborio rice instead of orzo so will utilize the rice before I switch over to orzo.


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

phatch said:


> I've had good success with this one. http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/2013/10/greek-egg-lemon-soup-avgolemono.html
> 
> Two things i do differently, I like to use orzo instead of rice, and I like to add some carrot early on. I picked up the carrot practice from Dean Themy and the avgolemono he served at his greek restaurant. He used orzo as well. I like it with rice too, but the way you first had a great version of the soup kind of sets your expectations.


A long time ago my boss worked in a Greek restaurant in Detroit. These guys were "right off the boat" Greeks.

They added beef offal bits to their Aveglolemono. Apparently this is something traditional

After a visit from the health department they were told they could not do that anymore, then they switched to chopped chicken bits.

They used Orzo as well.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

Chefross said:


> A long time ago my boss worked in a Greek restaurant in Detroit. These guys were "right off the boat" Greeks.
> 
> T*hey added beef offal bits to their Aveglolemono. Apparently this is something traditional*
> 
> ...


I can't imagine where this is tradition, probably in some far off village somewhere, Greece's cuisine is regional just like Italy. Truthfully, there is a special avgolemono soup that is made during Easter and eaten directly after midnight mass the night before Easter Sunday that is called Magiritsa. It is an avgolemono broth based soup with innards, mostly lamb intestines, hearts, and lungs. Maybe this is what these guys were serving? But it's not every day food.

The addition of orzo or any kind of pasta is a smart one, especially for beginners. The starch in pasta keeps the soup from splitting. I grew up eating it with rice as it is traditional but never liked the texture or consistency. The pasta makes a really smooth and slightly thickened soup which is velvety and silky and doesn't split.


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

I can't see the health department having a problem with offal bits in a soup, as long as it came form a USDA meat packing plant it would be allowed.


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

Perhaps in the 1960's things were not as regulated as they are now.


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## anynamesam (May 31, 2014)

Go to "thechew.com"  and look for Michael Symons recipe.  The only thing different about his than the one I had in Cyprus was his had carrots, the Greek Cypriot one did not. This is the way I make mine all the time.


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