Travel Your Taste Buds to Spain with Sopa de Ajo

Last month I wrote about how Italians make clever use of stale bread by turning it into a salad. This month we go to the Castilla y León region of Spain where clever peasants of yore turned stale bread, garlic, and scraps of ham into a delicious soup. The beauty of this dish is that it makes for a light summer meal when you dont want to have the stove on for too long, and a hearty appetizer during winter.  Im all for dishes that dont take a lot of time or ingredients and this soup delivers a lot of bang for your buck. The bread soaks up the soup, giving it a pudding-like texture, while the poached egg lends a creamy richness that belies its humble origins. While most traditional recipes use Spanish ham to make the stock, I tend to use chicken stock just because its what I keep in my pantry. I usually use about 2 cloves of garlic per serving, but you can certainly increase or decrease this based on your preferences.

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Marc Matsumoto is a culinary consultant and recipe repairman who shares his passion for good food through his website norecipes.com. For Marc, food is a life long journey of exploration, discovery and experimentation and he shares his escapades through his blog in the hopes that he inspires others to find their own culinary adventures. Marcs been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, and has made multiple appearances on NPR and the Food Network.