How are you feeling? Not so great? Yeah, I thought so.
When someone sneezes at my house, I reach for a chicken — to make soup. It’s what my mom always did. And I’ve always used her recipe.
And if the husband or the son or whoever happened to sneeze isn’t actually under the weather, so much the better: The chicken soup idea has been planted, and I can’t shake it.
A simmering pot of soup fills the house with wonderful smells. Chicken soup was the fragrance of my childhood (along with Chanel No. 5, though never at the same time). And I always find diving into a big bowl of chicken-y broth with carrots, celery and noodles to be supremely restorative. No one needs to be ailing for chicken soup to be a splendid idea.
Lots of cultures celebrate chicken soup. There’s Chinese wonton soup, Thai thom ka gai (with coconut and lemongrass), Mexican tortilla soup and many more. I love them all.