Spanish Garlic Soup: Yesterday's Bread, Six Garlic Cloves and Two Eggs - a Pot for Four Costs Around 3 Euros

When the cold sets in, Spaniards reach for garlic soup. It's also called Castilian soup or bread soup, and it's one of those recipes born out of poverty that go on to become classics. The ingredients are almost laughably simple: bread, garlic, sweet paprika, stock or water, egg, olive oil and salt.

The soup comes from village cooking and the rule that nothing gets thrown away, least of all yesterday's bread. Simmered in the liquid with garlic and paprika fried in oil, the bread softens, thickens the soup and makes it filling - enough for the cold, and enough for hard work in the fields. If your grandmother ever made "popara" from stale bread, the logic will feel familiar.

Over time the soup became a winter staple, especially in Castile and León, and it still appears on the daily set menus of many Spanish restaurants. Part of the reason is the price: a pot of soup for four costs around 3 euros, or 75 to 80 cents a portion. If you have bread at home and use water instead of shop-bought stock, it comes out even cheaper.

The little things that make the difference

Cut the bread into thin slices or small cubes so it cooks evenly. A dense, crusty country-style loaf is best. The paprika and garlic must not burn, or the soup will turn bitter. Spanish chef Martín Berasategui advises letting the garlic "dance" in the oil over a low flame without letting it colour; he also adds a little hot paprika, dried red pepper pulp and tomato sauce. Chef Dani García, for his part, first simmers a ham bone in the stock for about an hour and a half to two hours.

The egg goes in when the soup is very hot, so it sets in thin strands. Some people add diced cured ham, either to the fried garlic or at the end, plus two or three spoonfuls of tomato sauce. And one more thing: this soup is best fresh, so don't let it go cold.

Ingredients for four servings

• 1 day-old baguette or loaf of bread
• 6 garlic cloves
• 3 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 1.5 litres vegetable stock (or water)
• 60 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 2 eggs
• salt

Method

1. Put the stock on to heat.
2. Cut the bread into thin slices and fry them with a little oil in a non-stick pan. Set aside somewhere warm.
3. In a deep pot, fry the peeled garlic, cut into thin slivers, in the olive oil.
4. Add the paprika, taking care it doesn't burn, and immediately pour in the hot stock.
5. Let it boil for about 5 minutes, then add the bread.
6. Simmer over a low heat until the bread softens.
7. Take the pot off the heat and pour in the beaten eggs in a thin stream, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.
8. Taste, salt as needed and serve very hot, in soup plates or deep bowls.

Can you freeze it?

You can, with a little care. Let the soup cool completely, then put it into airtight containers, ideally one portion each, and label them with the date. Use within two to three months. It's best thawed overnight in the fridge and then gently reheated over a medium flame; if it's too thick, add a little stock or water. If you want the eggs, freeze it without them and add them once it's reheated.