Avgolemono soup

Put one whole chicken in a stock pot with onions, carrots, celery, a couple of bay leaves and a little pinch of dry oregano, and fill it with three quarts of cold water.

Bring it to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a steady gentle simmer between low and medium-low, skimming off the scummy foam.

Simmer anywhere between one and four hours: about an hour and 15 minutes, until just cooked through, if you want chicken meat in the soup, or four hours until it falls apart into the broth if you do not.

Finely chop a couple of onions, at least two cups, and cook them on medium heat with a nice drizzle of olive oil and a big pinch of salt until soft, sweet and golden; that sweetness offsets the lemon.

Lift the meat and all the other solids out with a spider, leaving just the broth, and let the meat cool, then cube it.

Set the heat to medium-low and add the sauteed onions and the Arborio rice.

Add a couple of teaspoons of salt and simmer 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rice is very soft and the grains start to fall apart and thicken the broth.

Squeeze half a cup of fresh lemon juice.

For a starchier soup, blitz it briefly with an immersion blender, or smash some of the grains against the bottom with a ladle.

Beat two large eggs with a little black pepper and cayenne, then whisk the lemon juice into them.

Temper the mixture by slowly whisking a couple of cups of the hot soup into the bowl a cup at a time, until the side of the bowl is very hot, then whisk it into the soup with no danger of the eggs scrambling.

Stir in the reserved cubed chicken and cook on the lowest heat about five minutes, until it is heated through.

Taste it: more salt, more lemon, or neither.

Ladle into hot bowls and garnish with a pinch of parsley and freshly grated lemon zest.