Tourin Blanchi a l'Ail

Ingredients

• 2 whole heads of garlic, about 20 cloves
• 1 tbsp duck or goose fat
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1.2 litres light chicken stock or water
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 8 thin slices of stale country bread
• 40 g grated hard cheese
• Salt and black pepper

Before you cook

• Peel the garlic cloves, halve each one and flick out any green germ from the centre
• Separate the eggs into two bowls
• Slice the bread thinly and lay it in the bottom of four soup bowls

Steps

1. Chop the halved garlic cloves finely.
2. Melt the duck fat in a saucepan over low heat and add the garlic with a pinch of salt.
3. Cook the garlic gently for six minutes, stirring often, until it turns soft and translucent but never brown.
4. Sprinkle over the flour and stir it in for one minute.
5. Pour in the stock a ladle at a time, whisking so no lumps form.
6. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, until the garlic has all but dissolved.
7. Whisk the egg whites lightly with a fork, then trickle them into the simmering soup while stirring, so they set into fine white threads.
8. Beat the egg yolks with the vinegar in a bowl.
9. Whisk two ladles of the hot soup into the yolks a little at a time so they warm without curdling.
10. Take the pan off the heat and stir the yolk mixture back into the soup.
11. Season with salt and a good grind of pepper, tasting for sharpness.
12. Ladle the soup over the bread in the bowls, scatter with cheese and serve it steaming hot.