Staying Healthy with Chicken Soup and Uncle Pete

Childhood memories

This is the tray that my mom used to serve me chicken soup when I was a child home sick from school. My brother, Geoff, was often sick at the same time, and I remember playing the Coast to Coast game on the back of the tray. I believe that my travel longing stems from those happy hours zipping back and forth across the country on both the northern and southern routes. We spent hours dreaming about St. Louis and Chicago, Boise and Portland. Of course the prize was always landing in San Francisco—and isn’t that everyone’s dream still today?

Chicken soup has curative powers with versions in every culture. In Colombia, Bogata is famous for Ajiaco, which is a chicken soup with corn, potatoes, avocado, capers and a dollop of cream. The French typically serve the stock as a bouillon or consommé seasoned with bay leaves, fresh thyme, dry white wine and garlic. In Germany, chicken stock is fortified with spices and spaetzli while in Greece, the egg-lemon soup is known as Avgolemono and the eggs and lemon thicken the broth considerably resulting in a tangy, creamy soup. Indonesia slurps Sayur Sop; in India, Sweet Corn Chicken Soup is popular. Cappelletti in brodo revives Italians; Samgyetang, Koreans. European Jews drop matzoh balls in their dill enhanced broth and Peruvians enjoy a heartier Caldo de Gallina, with whole pieces of chicken. In Portugal and Brazil, chicken soup is known as Canja and is served with rice or pasta.

Naysayers that objected to the Ten Commandments of Soup in the kids’ cooking manual would no doubt object to my reference in my first book, Seasons of Central Pennsylvania, to my sister-in-law Barbra Quinn’s recipe for Chicken Soup as Jewish Penicillin. Here’s a link to an article about the curative properties of chicken soup—especially when you are the one sick and someone that loves you makes it for you.