Clean the chicken and put it in the pot, throw in two spoonfuls of oil and onion juice, one spoonful of cilantro juice, ten peeled and pounded almonds, a clove of garlic and sufficient salt and water. When it boils gently, throw in strong vinegar, murri and basil [or aromatic] nabidh [a low-alcohol wine considered licit for Muslims], a spoonful of each. Put in citron leaf, clove basil (habaq qaranfuli), bee balm and green rue, a bundle. Place it in the pot and when it is done, take a dirham each of Chinese cinnamon, pepper, and cinnamon, and another dirham of cloves and lavender, pulverize these and beat with eggs and cover the contents of the pot with them and dot with eggyolks. Ladle it out and serve it, God willing.
Description
This Andalusian egg-drop soup is a wild mix of flavor. The broth is herby, fragrant, and just a little bit nutty and sweet. The eggs, which cook quickly and give the soup a false porridge-like texture, are a blast of strong, rich spices. Once you break the yolk and stir, the whole dish gets tied together with a decadent creaminess.
Redaction
- 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (The recipe calls for a whole chicken, but I think skinless, boneless chunks are more manageable.)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp onion juice
- 1 tbsp cilantro juice
- 10 almonds, peeled and ground
- 1 clove garlic peeled and smashed
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp shoyu soy sauce (a substitute for “murri”, a salty fermented wheat condiment)
- 1 tbsp chopped basil
- 1 to 4 tbsp nabidh (This is basically raisins steeped in hot water. Adjust quantity for how strong/sweet your brew comes out.)’
- 1 bundle of aromatic herbs (I didn’t have the ones in the recipe, so I substituted Italian parsley, a bay leaf, and a little ground fennel seed.)
- ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp ground cassia (Chinese cinnamon, or substitute another ¾ tsp of regular cinnamon) \
- ¾ tsp ground black pepper
- ¾ tsp ground cloves
- ¾ tsp ground lavender (or ¼ tsp of extract)
- 4 eggs
Directions
Cut the chicken into bite-sized chunks and put in the pot. Add the oil, onion juice, cilantro juice, ground almonds, and mashed garlic clove. Bring to a boil. Add the vinegar, soy sauce, basil, raisin wine, and aromatic bundle. Simmer until the chicken is cooked, about 30-60 minutes. Separate the yolks out of 2 or 3 of the eggs. Beat the whites and remaining yolks with the cinnamon, cassia, pepper, cloves, and lavender (yes, this is a LOT of spices). Remove the aromatic bundle, then gently ladle the eggs into the pot. You can garnish with the separated eggs yolks into the main pot or into individual bowls.
Source
An Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook of the 13th Century
Translated by Charles Perry
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Cookbooks/Andalusian/andalusian2.htm#Heading84