Sopa de ajo: Castilian garlic soup
Castilla y León, Spain
The garlic soup of Castilla — bread, garlic, pimentón, olive oil, and water or stock, with an egg poached in the broth at service. One of the oldest preparations in the Iberian repertoire and a direct continuation of the Roman-Moorish tradition of bread-thickened broths. The 'soup' is as much about the bread as the broth — the fried bread and garlic in olive oil create the flavour base; the water or stock becomes the vehicle.
Sopa de ajo is the hangover cure and the pilgrim's food of the Camino — cheap, warming, instantly restorative, and requiring almost no ingredients beyond a dry loaf of bread and a head of garlic.