Written By Miranda Regalado
As we cope with the seasonal flu, the same old medicine and a little rest seems to get us good enough to go back at it. In some cases, like mine this time, we have to deal with the left-over cough issue. Just by the time we feel like we are doing better we are force to notice this new companion, this loud and awkward companion. We have all been there.
This week my grandma shared with me this incredible recipe to finally get rid of the cough. We can admit that at first sight it sounds intimidating, but the taste is much better than one would think. It is made of onion, garlic, ginger and topped with honey.
This recipe will help us to finally shake off the cough. The honey will kill bacteria and microbes, while soothing our sore throat. As we talked before, ginger has anti-inflammatory properties, and will help us relieve the chest congestion. Studies suggest that garlic may help fight colds and the flu, it may reduce your risk of developing an illness, and help you recover faster. The antioxidant quercetin, present in the onions, helps us fight inflammation in the body, we can also benefit from its expectorant properties that clear mucus, which is common with a cough. It also provides electrolytes, which is essential for keeping hydration during an illness.
Once everything is peeled and ready, we start by thickly chopping one mid-size onion. The garlic we can cut it half or simply giving it a good smash. Finally, we slice about an inch of ginger. Grandma’s advice is to use a glass jar. We start by putting in the bottom about 1/3 of the chopped onion, some slices of ginger and the garlic, next pouring enough honey to slightly cover it, we can press it using a spoon for a few moments before we do it again, adding the onion and ginger, more honey and so on until you use it all. It is important that all the ingredients are fully covered leaving at least half an inch of honey on top.
Before we are ready to use it, we let it sit ovehrnight unsealed. Next morning, we can put the lid on and put it aside for 24 or 48 hours in a dark place, like cabinets. The beauty of it is that honey acts as a natural preservative, even the ancient Egyptians used honey as an embalming fluid and the Romans preserved fruits and meats by immersing them in honey. Apparently it is due to the sugars’ ability to remove water from microorganisms, thereby dehydrating and killing the microbe. As per the shelf life of this homemade syrup, we can’t stablish a specific amount of time, it could be safe to consume it within four weeks, even still, always use your best judgement before ingesting it. Let us know if you decide to give it a try.
