Madrid’s “El Botín” is thought to be the world’s oldest continuously operating restaurant, having opened in 1725. Even I wasn’t alive for that. It’s maybe best known for its meats, but as befits a restaurant that opened in 1725 its offerings might be a little much for a modern-day diner (pig’s head, anyone?)

This is their recipe for a garlic soup, Sopa de Ajo. It is easy and quite tasty. This serves four. It has been adapted/translated by me, and is the oldest recipe I’ve ever attempted with great success.

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Spanish olive oil, ideally

6 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped but not too small

4 oz. or more of jamón ibérico, or Serrano ham, or any kind of smoky ham that you can find. Prosciutto is good for this in a pinch. Cut the ham into slivers.

3 cups of day-old crusty white bread, cut into small cubes. If you don’t have day-old crusty white bread lying around, you can toast some but just enough to get it crunchy.

1 tbsp. paprika

Salt

1 liter of water, or about 4 cups. For some reason our tap water is not as tasty as it used to be, could be our deteriorating pipes, although complaints have been been coming in from all over the city…Anyway, we often have bottled water on hand. Botín boils the water so it’s hot when you need it.

4 eggs

4 oven-proof soup bowls

Preheat an oven to approx. 375 degrees. In a skillet, heat a little olive oil over high heat and when it’s hot but not smoking add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the ham and cook for 30 seconds more. Now add the bread and mix this with a spatula so the bread gets coated and turns a golden brown but does not burn. Add some salt and the paprika and mix some more. Add the hot water and bring this up to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it cook for another five minutes.

Now here’s the fun part. Divide this among the oven-proof soup bowls and crack an egg over each one. Put the bowls in the pre-heated oven and bake for about five minutes, so the eggs cook and firm up.

This makes for a good wintry lunch. Madrileños complain that they get 8 months of winter, 3 months of unbearably hot weather, and a mere 4 weeks of decent temps, so you can imagine how popular this is during those 8 winter months.