It’s been a while since a food has really, truly amazed me. Sure, I eat enough food that’s good. I make enough food I really like. But amazement is something entirely different. The last time I experienced it, was at Tarantella. I just couldn’t stop tasting. I kept eating at a steady pace, to make sure the taste would keep coming, all the while making sure the bites weren’t too big, so the amazing tastes would last longer. Food like that is a rare treat. Ask Laurens, it’s a rare occurrence where I get that sparkle in my eyes and giant smile while murmuring “this is really good”. These rare occurrences are a huge complement to the chef. And so obviously – I think – I don’t usually say that about the food I made myself.

Tonight was different. Tonight I got that creepily happy smile, the sparkle and the murmuring. I kept repeating how much I loved this soup. All the flavors, the strong subtleties, though there’s nothing subtle about the soup. The textures, the taste explosion. It was amazing. I loved this soup.

The recipe for this soup was jotted down in my recipe folder. I recognize my own handwriting, but I have no idea where I found it. I had actually completely forgotten about its existence, until I recently decided to write down some recipes that were on envelopes in a more permanent place. It was high time, because some of the ingredient lists in my pile of envelopes and random scrap papers, didn’t have any title. Some of those were obvious; egg yolks, flour and baking powder make noodles. Great noodles, I might add. But a whole long list of all kinds of things can actually make tons of dishes.

After writing down the recipes I could decipher, I just browsed around in the little book. I saw the garlic soup recipe and remember it intriguing me. I remember thinking it sounded interesting and a must try. I think it might’ve been what triggered me trying to poach eggs, all that time ago, as that was a skill needed for this soup.

As we went to the store last week I grabbed a chorizo. I figured I could make that soup. Unfortunately I hadn’t magically remembered the rest of the ingredients and kind of forgot about it again until just before we ran out to buy groceries. I shoved my recipe book into my purse, to make sure I didn’t forget anything.

The recipe for this soup is extremely simple. The only tricky part is poaching the egg. I have found tonight, that poaching the eggs in the soup isn’t even that big of a deal. Due to the chunky style of the soup – it surely doesn’t look refined – it doesn’t matter if there are a few pieces of loose egg white, or if the yolk isn’t really in the middle. Also, if the poaching would go wrong and the egg would fall apart, I’m still certain the soup would taste great. While missing a creamy yolk in the soup would be a bummer, it’s definitely not worth not trying it.

Garlic and chorizo soup
Recipe Type: soup
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Total time: 15 mins
Serves: 2-4
Ingredients
  • 1-2 tsp olive oil
  • 6 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
  • 100 grams chorizo medium-dry, cubed
  • 100 grams serrano ham, sliced thin and cut into pieces
  • 1tsp paprika (or to taste)
  • 1 liter chicken broth
  • 50 grams crusty white bread, in chunks (or 1 small kaiser roll or similar)
  • 2 eggs
Instructions
  1. Put olive oil in a pan, add the garlic, chorizo and serrano ham, cook until the garlic has softened and all has a nice color. The ham and chorizo shouldn’t get crispy.
  2. Add the paprika, stir, then add the broth and bring it all to a simmer.
  3. Add the chunks of bread, stir.
  4. Crack eggs, place in a small bowl, then pour eggs into simmering soup (1 at a time) to gently poach them.
  5. Serve soup immediately once the eggs are poached (just a couple of minutes).
Notes

Poach as many eggs as the number of people you want to serve. 2 eggs in this recipe renders a main-course soup for 2, just add a small side salad so you get to eat some veggies. If you double the bread and eggs (and nothing else) you’re back at the original recipe, which serves 4 as a heavy starter.

As I said, I loved this soup. And so did Laurens. It has already inspired me to try to make a bunch of adaptations, and once I make those, and they pass the taste-test, I’ll be sure to share them with you. Also, if anyone knows the original source of this recipe, please let me know, so I can properly credit them!

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