Alan Davidson

Avgolémono

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

avgolémono literally ‘egg-lemon’, the Greek name of a characteristic E. Mediterranean sauce. The name in Arabic (tarbiya) and Turkish (terbiye) literally means ‘treatment; improvement’. Avgolémono may be used either as a sauce for fish, lamb, or vegetables (particularly artichoke) or as a flavouring in various casserole dishes and soups (which it also thickens).

The recipe is simple. Lemon juice is whisked into beaten egg and then hot cooking liquid (e.g. fish broth) is whisked into the mixture. The temperature of the added liquid must be well below boiling point, so that the egg will not coagulate. In some versions of the sauce cornflour is added. Sometimes the sauce is made with only yolks of eggs.