I got schooled

Yesterday I got a lesson in medicina verde Nicaraguense from Doña Goya, a lady from Nueva Vida. We made the general health syrup known as Miel de Jicaro (jicaro is a calabas) which included the pulp of 4 jicaros, oregano, dulce negro (sugar cane/molasses type sweetner), lemon grass, cinnamon and rum. It smelled delicious. And it tastes delicious.

Doña Goya cracks the jicaro and gets all the pulpy goodness out.

Everything goes into the pot and we stir a lot.

While the Miel de Jicaro was cooking, we also made Miel de Carao. This is good for anemia, the lungs, general upper respiratory health as well. Carao is the bean pod of the Cassia grandis tree. In this remedio we put the pulp of the bean pod in a glass jar along with sugar and rum. Today I have to go and add some cinnamon because we ran out. At this point Doña Goya made fun of me because I didn't buy enough cinnamon, but more than plenty rum. Well... oh well.

Doña Goya serves up the rum.
This concoction will set for 6 days, and then it is ready to serve. To use this stuff just warm a bit of milk up, pour in a little of the happy juice and eat a bit of the pulp. Sounds great.
Once the other remedio was complete, Doña Goya poured it into our giant glass vessel and it is ready to go! Tasty.

Recipe time!

So not much has been happening around here. A lot of the same old stuff. So here is a little recipe for those battling from a cough and cold. This little syrup will put some hair on your chest and get rid of any phlegm in your throat. It is a cough killer. Just beware that it also a breath killer, so follow it up with some mouth wash or hierba buena.

Ultimate Cough Syrup
3 ounces minced garlic
1/2 pint vinegar [I used apple cider vinegar]
Sugar

*Bruise and mince the garlic to get it as juicy as possible.
*Put the minced garlic in a jar with a lid. Pour the vinegar on top, and put the lid on. Let this macerate (soak) for 4 days if you can. Shake it twice daily.
*After four days, drain and strain the maceration. I do this buy putting unbleached organic cotton (or cheesecloth, muslin) on the mouth of another jar. Slowly pour into the cloth to let it strain out the garlic. When the liquid is captured, squeeze the garlic in the cotton to get out every little bit.
* Now make it into a syrup by adding sugar. The recipe I have calls for a pound of sugar to be added to the mixture. I tried and failed to get the garlic infused vinegar to digest all that sugar. So mix in enough sugar that it is completely absorbed without crystallizing. The guideline is usually 1 part solvent to 2 parts sugar. So keep that in mind.

With the correct amount of sugar, this syrup does not need refridgeration but since you probably have a refridgerator, it doesn't hurt to store it there. Shake before use and the normal dosage is 1 teaspoon three times a day.

Yum.