(picture courtesy of store.lilyriver.com/grandmascase410.aspx)
Since I've gotten a decent set of responses from people all over the world in regards to my request for "recipes your grandma or someone gave you such as chicken soup for a cold", I am going to start posting them on here for you to peruse. It's fun to see the endless takes - and all useful - that you can access for when you're sick. Some I've never heard of and some are quite common, especially all the variations on chicken soup, but nonetheless there's always a little twist... so without further ado:
Enisha, Indian/Thai (living in NYC) : “A spoon of honey with fresh black pepper crackled on it for a sore throat.”
Pat, Thai (living in NYC): “Khao Tom, Thai rice soup, when you’re sick”
Louise, Swedish/French (living in Stockholm, Sweden): “Juniper berries boiled (then only drink the water, throw away the berries) for urinary tract infections.”
Margarita, Dominican/Spanish (living in Mexico): “What comes to mind quickly is a Dominican sancocho made with lots of root crops and various meats for when you’re sick.”
Mei, Malaysian (living in Beijing, China) : “A popular remedy for a cold in Hong Kong and parts of China is warmed up Coca-Cola (original,not Diet) with ginger. ["Ke le bao jiang" in Mandarin] You'll be able to find it on the menu of any Hong Kong-style diner in many Chinatowns across the world. I think the fizz and ginger helps soothe throats. I guess that ties into the original marketing for Coke as medicinal.”
Cecilia, Filipina (living in Bangkok, Thailand): “One I can remember is the use of guava leaves in cleaning wounds. Also, in Thailand, they said the "kang liang" helps increase breast milk production.Here's a recipe - http://www.thailandtogo.com/view-kangliangkoongsod.html.”
Chris, American (living in MA): "A Nubian man once gave me Hibiscus tea for a knotted stomach. "
Monica, Filipina (living in Manila, Philippines): "1. Instead of Chicken Soup, I like using Miso soup. 2. For gas or indigestion, drink Peppermint Tea 3. For acid stomach or acid reflux, eat a bit of Japanese Umeboshi Plum, it seems to neutralize the acid pretty quickly."
