Avgolemono

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌɑv.ɡoʊˈlɛm.ə.noʊ/

Definitions

1. a Greek soup or sauce made with eggs and lemon juice, often combined with broth or stock
2. a tangy Mediterranean preparation featuring beaten eggs and citrus that creates a creamy emulsion when heated with warm liquid
3. a traditional Eastern cuisine dish consisting of egg and lemon combined with broth to produce a rich, acidic sauce or soup

Etymology: Avgolemono is a Greek compound built from two everyday words: "avgó" (egg) and "lemóni" (lemon). The result is a silky, tangy soup or sauce, thickened by whisking beaten eggs with lemon juice and then slowly tempering in hot broth so the eggs do not scramble. The name is simply a description of its ingredients, which is what makes it so transparent to Greek speakers. The word's shape follows the regular pattern of Greek compounds, where the two nouns join into a single word, with the final vowel of the first element adjusted to fit the compound. Greek cooking has long relied on this kind of descriptive naming, so the dish's name tells you what to expect before you taste it.