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Avgolemono is a family of eastern Mediterranean sauces and soups made with egg yolks and lemon juice mixed with broth, heated until they thicken but before they boil, so the egg doesn't curdle.it is called tarbiya or beida bi-lemoune 'egg with lemon', and in Turkish terbiye.
It is the typical sauce used on warm Dolma and many vegetables,
especially artichokes. It is part of some specific stew-like dishes
such as the Greek pork with celery and the Turkish yuvarlak, added just
before serving to thicken and assimilate the cooking juices. In Middle
Eastern cuisines, it is used as a sauce for chicken or fish.
As a soup, it usually starts with chicken broth, though meat, fish, or
vegetable broths are also used. Typically, rice or soup pasta, such as
orzo, are cooked in the broth with thin strips of meat (chicken, for
example) before a mixture of eggs and lemon is added. Its consistency
varies from near-stew to near-broth. It is important to remove the
mixture from the heat before adding the egg-lemon mix, in order to
avoid curdling. The safest way to prevent curdling is to remove a cup
of broth from the pot and let cool a little, then gradually add the egg
and lemon juice while beating the mixture vigorously with a fork or
whisk; once the broth is frothy, it is gently added back to the pot and
the soup is served immediately. Leftover soup will invariably curdle,
even if refrigerated or rewarmed. Its taste will not change but the
texture and mouthfeel cannot be recovered.
The soup may be made with whole eggs, in which case the whites are
often beaten first until stiff, the yolks and then the lemon juice
afterwards beaten-in gradually. The chicken stock with rice is then
gradually mixed in, as well. Starch is sometimes added as an additional
thickener.
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