Sopa de Farigola
Also: Thyme soup, Andorran thyme soup, Sopa de tomillo
A rustic Andorran mountain soup of wild thyme infused into broth, thickened with bread and egg and finished with olive oil.
Identity criteria
- 1Built around wild mountain thyme (farigola), which gives the soup its name and aroma
- 2A frugal peasant soup relying on bread for body, not meat
- 3Egg is stirred or poached into the hot broth
- 4Finished with olive oil and often a little garlic
- 5A warming Pyrenean dish for cold mountain weather
Components
Stale breadessentialSoaked into the broth to thicken it
Wild thyme (farigola)essentialThe defining herb that flavours the broth
GarlicoptionalOften added for depth
Olive oilessentialFinishing fat that enriches the broth
Water or light brothessentialThe cooking liquid the thyme infuses
EggessentialStirred or poached into the soup
Technique
- Herb infusion
- Steeping wild thyme into the broth delivers the defining aroma
- Bread thickening
- Soaked stale bread gives the frugal soup its body in place of meat
- Egg enrichment
- Stirring egg into the hot broth adds richness and protein
Form & serving
- Served
- Ladled hot into bowls, bread soaked through and egg distributed
- Temperature
- hot
- Portion
- a main-course bowl
- Pairs with
- country bread · a drizzle of olive oil · grated cheese in some versions
Character
Flavour
Texture
brothy with soft soaked bread and threads of egg
Eaten
A warming, frugal mountain main from Andorra, eaten in cold weather and built from pantry staples and foraged wild thyme.
When
winter · spring (when wild thyme is gathered)
Variations & related
Regional variations
- With garlic · Andorra
Garlic added to the broth for a sopa d'all kinship
- Cheese-finished · Pyrenees
Topped with grated mountain cheese
Related dishes
- sibling Sopa de ajo (garlic soup)
Shares the bread-and-egg Spanish/Catalan peasant-soup structure
- pairs-with Country bread
Bread is both ingredient and accompaniment
Substitutions
Wild thyme → Cultivated thymeadmissible
Acceptable substitute when wild thyme is unavailable
Thyme → Another herb (rosemary, oregano)inadmissible
The thyme is the dish's namesake and identity; swapping it makes a different soup
Bread → No thickenerinadmissible
Without bread the soup loses its body and rustic character
Common mistakes
- Skimping on the thyme, the herb that names and defines the soup
- Omitting the bread, leaving the soup thin and bodiless
- Overcooking the egg into rubbery curds instead of soft threads
Provenance
A traditional Pyrenean peasant soup of Andorra using the wild thyme that grows on the mountain slopes.
References
- 1.Andorran and Pyrenean culinary tradition
Confidence: medium