Jagnjeća čorba

The story

In Serbian cooking a čorba is a thicker soup, set apart from a clear broth by a roux or by eggs, and lamb, veal and fish čorbas are counted as delicacies, according to the Wikipedia survey of Serbian cuisine. Jagnjeća čorba is cooked all year, but it suits the spring holidays. A family in Užice interviewed by Radio Free Europe's Serbian service in 2017 said lamb is usually on the Easter table, and when the daily Kurir priced the Easter meal in April 2022, a 1.5 kg lamb roast cost about 2,500 dinars. Serbian home recipes on Recepti.com and in the magazine Lepa i srećna build the soup the same way. Onion is cooked in fat, cubes of neck, shoulder or rib meat go in with carrot, parsley root and celery root, sweet paprika colors the broth and flour thickens it. Recepti.com adds sliced peppers and tomato. At the end the cook stirs in a legir, a liaison of egg yolk with sour cream or cream, sharpened with lemon juice, and finishes the pot with parsley or dill. Once the yolk is in, the soup must not boil or it curdles. Serve it as the first course before a lamb roast, with plenty of bread.