Guest Author - Deborah Barocas
As a Caribbean woman living in the United States, I have not defected from the real treasures of my homeland. I implement healthful remedies from Guyana in my cooking and in just about everything I do when it comes to maintaining good health.
So it wasn’t hard for me to adapt to other types of home remedies found here in the States. One of the many things I am lucky to be exposed to, is the melting pot society of New York City. Whether it was a remedy or cure from my Italian friends, my German friends, or my friends from Korea, I have always found some kind of new remedy to add to my already existing list. Therefore, whenever my family is experiencing some kind of ailment, I am happy to test these remedies on them without worry. One such remedy with foolproof results, has been my chicken soup remedy. I especially use this one for my husband and children when they have a cold or the flu. This recipe was sliced and diced many times over, and finalized to perfection. Over the years, I have since shared this soup with many of my friends whenever they have been sick. Thus, it has lived up to its other name, “Jewish penicillin.”
And if you’ve ever had bronchitis, then you would definitely know just how sensitive your throat feels. This is the perfect soup for such an ailment, a soup without spices, one consisting of a thin and tasty broth, filled and perfumed with herbal goodness. A cure for sure!
Just the other day, my friend Malcolm endured a terrible cold, and I introduced him to a spicy soup from a nearby Thai Restaurant, known as “TomYum Soup.” The spicy taste of this soup is derived from a combination of ginger, lemon grass, and hot chillies. He swears that after he finished a bowl, it knocked his sinus infection clear into left field. I was not surprised, since it helped me kick a cold on many occasions. A few days later, my Korean manicurist was enjoying a bowl of homemade seaweed soup as I sat under the nail dryer post manicure. She offered some to me. I sampled it, and it was quite delicious. She told me that in Korean culture, it is believed that seaweed is imperative for maintaining a healthy thyroid.
In the Caribbean, remedies are a dime a dozen. During my childhood in Guyana, I was given a spicy root vegetable soup whenever I was sick. I make this even when I am not sick because it is so very tasty and hearty. This “sticks to your ribs soup,” works wonders on rainy day meals, and for bitter cold winter night dinners, kind of like the Mac and Cheese of the Caribbean.
In the end, all this soup business made me give thought to the wonders of soups, soups from around the world, a cure it all for ailments. My next book!
To make my Caribbean Root Vegetable soup, known as “ Creole Soup ”, paired with some good Caribbean music to complete your Island experience, kindly click on the attached links below.
