I can’t think of a more comforting dish than soup. It can be as simple or complex as you wish, and as cheap or expensive as you can afford. Just open your fridge or pantry, and you’re sure to find something to turn into a liquid meal – vegetables, herbs, spices, meat, poultry, seafood, grains, legumes… the list goes on.
If you’re looking for a restoring bowl of soup in Greece, one of your best bets is a late-night restaurant (many operate round-the-clock) or diner. These spots, some of which are located near or inside central food markets, are perhaps best known for serving patsa (πατσά), tripe soup, a hangover helper as well as fuel for people performing hard labor early in the day – like market workers do.
But these types of restaurants in Greece also serve a variety of other soups, usually lined up in a steam table behind a glass display. Magiritsa (liver soup), beef soup, fish soup, bean soup and – my personal favorite – chicken avgolemono soup (kotosoupa avgolemono, κοτόσουπα αυγολÎμονο) are among the most common choices you’ll find.
I have no words to describe how much I love this soup – it warms my body and heart equally. Avgolemono is one of the most classic Greek sauces, and its name describes what it’s all about: avgo (egg) and lemoni (lemon). What the name fails to capture is avgolemono’s versatility: It can be prepared into a thick sauce to top dolmades (stuffed grape leaves); served with vegetable stews or casseroles, like those made with artichokes or leeks, to amp up the flavor; added to meat stews and casseroles like lamb fricassée (lamb cooked with mixed seasonal greens and herbs) or pork with celery root; and, of course, included in soups.
Avgolemono makes soups creamy (thanks to the egg) and tangy (thanks to the lemon). Many cooks in Greece like to keep the soup as a broth and then, after adding rice or sometimes orzo, mixing in the avgolemono sauce at the end to thicken it up and add a bit of zing.
