Aigo Boulido aka...French Garlic Soup

The History Behind Aigo Boulido
The Aigo Boulido, which is translated means "boiling water", it is a basic soup prepared in France based from garlic and herbs. 

In many regions of France Aigo Boulido was served for Christmas Eve dinner. The water, in which the herbs had boiled, was poured over slices of stale bread that had been rubbed with fresh garlic and drizzled with olive oil. In other regions they served the soup with a stale bread and a cooked egg on top.

In older regions of France it was known as a minimal meal that could be offered to a traveler on the "desert" trails and sparsely populated areas of Provence. The traveler could use the herbs gathered during his walk along with spring water to create their soup. Boiling water eliminated all pathogens, hence the well-known proverb: Aigo boulido sauvo la vido ( "Boiled water saves life"), which helps with the belief in the beneficial antibacterial effects of this soup as well as its economic value it provided. The most commonly encountered plants are thyme, rosemary, savory, oregano and basil and lavender found growing in Provence. Because of the simplicity of the soup they added what herbs or vegetables they could find. 

In our blend of Herbes de Provence used in our Aigo Boulido Soup were many of the traditional herbs found in France and many times would be assimilated into the soup of a traveler. These include; Savory, Thyme, Basil, Rosemary and our farm fresh culinary lavender. If you are interested in purchasing this fabulous combination of herbs you can find it here.

You can see other uses for our Herbes de Provence in our January 2018 post on Roasted Tomato Soup.