Souppa Patchia (Lamb's Head Soup) is a traditional Cypriot recipe for a classic soup made from lamb's head with vegetables served with an egg and lemon sauce. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Cypriot version of: Lamb's Head Soup (Souppa Patchia).
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Originally this soup was made with a calf's head, but this produces a very large volume of soup and is quite time-consuming to make. As a result the soup is more commonly made with a lamb's head today. Interestingly this is a common soup on the island of Cyprus and restaurants serve it often after midnight to feed the hungry people emerging from the cinema, theatre or clubs.
Ingredients
For the Lamb's Head:
1 lamb's head (without skin)
3l water
1 bayleaf
1 whole medium onion
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 carrot, scraped and washed
1 celery stick, cut into 3 pieces
2 small, ripe, tomatoes (leave whole but pierce them with a fork on opposite sides)
8 slices of toasted bread, halved
250ml wine vinegar
salt, to taste
For the Sauce:
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp butter
3 eggs
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
Method:
Wash the heat then place in a large pan of water. Heat gently and when it begins to boil skim off any scum from the surface. Do this several times, or until the surface of the stock is clear. Add the onion, celery, carrots, bayleaf, salt and tomatoes. Bring back to a simmer and cook the mixture until the head is tender enough for the meat to be easily stripped from the bones.
Pass the stock through a fine-meshed sieve and pour into a small pan. Set over low heat to keep warm.
Crack open the lamb's head, remove the brain and slice. Remove the tongue, peel off the coarse outer skin and slice the meat. Take the eyes and slice. Strip off all the meat from the head and slice this too.
Mash the garlic to a paste then beat with the wine vinegar until smooth then set aside.
For the sauce, melt the butter in a pan, scatter over the flour and stir together to form a smooth roux. Add a ladleful of the hot stock, beating well with a spoon until smooth. Cook until the mixture has thickened then take off the heat.
In a bowl, beat together the eggs and lemon juice then work into the sauce. Place back on the heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes then turn into a clean pan and set aside to keep warm.
To serve, add two slices of toast in the base of warmed serving bowls. Top with a few slices of each of the different meats (except the brain) then ladle in the meat stock. Add a spoonful of the vinegar and garlic mixture and about 3 tbsp of the egg and lemon sauce. Add 2 slices of brain in the centre of each plate and serve.
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