{{short description|Egg-lemon sauce or soup}} {{Infobox food | name = Avgolemono | image = Avgolemono_soup.jpg | caption = | alternate_name = | country = <!-- place of origin unknown --> | region = | creator = | course = | type = Sauce and soup | served = | main_ingredient = Eggs, lemon juice, broth | variations = | calories = | other = }}

'''Avgolemono''' ({{langx|el|αυγολέμονο}} or {{lang|el|αβγολέμονο}}<ref>Babiniotis, Λεξικό της Νέας Ελληνικής Γλώσσας,</ref> literally '''egg–lemon''') is a family of sauces and soups made with egg yolk and lemon juice mixed with broth, 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Meatball soup (giouvarlakia) |website=SBS |date=21 September 2012 |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/meatball-soup-giouvarlakia}}</ref> Magiritsa soup is a Greek avgolemono soup of lamb offal served to break the fast of Great Lent.

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<ref>Claudia Roden, ''A Book of Middle Eastern Food'', 1968, {{ISBN|978-0-394-71948-1}}, p. 111</ref> are cooked in the broth before the mixture of eggs and lemon is added. Its consistency varies from near-stew to near-broth.{{cn|date=September 2020}} 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davidson |first=Alan |title=The Oxford Companion to Food |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press, Incorporated |others=Tom Jaine |isbn=978-0-19-967733-7 |edition=3rd |series=Oxford Companions Ser |location=Oxford |chapter=avgolémono}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chatziapostolou |first=Efstratios |last2=Papadimitriou |first2=Eleni |last3=Lousinian |first3=Sylvie |last4=Zinoviadou |first4=Kyriaki |last5=Makris |first5=Georgios |last6=Ritzoulis |first6=Christos |date=2024-12-01 |title=Physical Chemistry of the Egg-and-Lemon Sauce |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11483-024-09886-y |journal=Food Biophysics |language=en |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=1177–1191 |doi=10.1007/s11483-024-09886-y |issn=1557-1866|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The starch of the pasta or rice contributes to stabilizing the emulsion.

== Similar foods == Similar foods are found in Greek, Cypriot, Arab, Sephardic Jewish, Turkish, Balkan and Jewish-Italian cuisine.

In Sephardic Jewish cuisine, it is called ''agristada'' (:he:אגריסטדה) or ''salsa blanco'', and in Jewish-Italian, ''bagna brusca'', ''brodettato'', or ''brodo brusco''.<ref name="marks">Gil Marks, ''The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food'', 2010, {{ISBN|0-470-39130-8}}, p. 5</ref> 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.<ref>Maria Kaneva-Johnson, ''Balkan Food and Cookery'', 1995, {{ISBN|0-907325-57-2}}, p. 349</ref>

Although often considered a Greek dish, ''avgolemono'' is originally Sephardic Jewish: ''agristada'' has been described by Claudia Roden as the "cornerstone of Sephardic cooking."<ref name=origin>{{cite web |author=Emily Paster|date=October 2, 2019|title=This Greek Chicken Soup Has a Surprising Sephardic History |website=The Nosher (blog)|url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/this-greek-chicken-soup-has-a-surprising-sephardic-history/}}</ref>

''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.<ref name='marks'/>

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

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.<ref>{{Cite Q|Q114657881|mode=cs1 <!-- The New Mediterranean Jewish Table: Old World Recipes for the Modern Home --> |author-last=Goldstein |author-first=Joyce |author-link=Joyce Goldstein |others=Illustrated by Hugh D'Andrade. |edition=1st, hardcover |url={{GBurl|oY8kDQAAQBAJ|p=PA334|dq="terbiyeli kofte"}} }}</ref>

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.<ref>Joyce Esersky Goldstein, ''Cucina Ebraica: Flavors of the Italian Jewish Kitchen'', 1998, {{ISBN|0-8118-1969-8}}, p. 166</ref>

==See also== {{Portal|Food}} * List of egg dishes * List of lemon dishes and beverages * List of sauces * List of soups

==References== <references />

==Bibliography== * Alan Davidson, ''The Oxford Companion to Food'', Oxford, 1999. {{ISBN|0-19-211579-0}}.

{{Greek soups}} {{Lemon dishes}} {{Soups}}

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