Drive away the chill and stay strong
WHEN someone asks me what I find so fascinating about the fresh local foods of Fiji, it is their power to fuel, heal and repair. Our fresh foods are uniquely medicinal, if it is raised or grown without chemicals, and are packed with natural medicine because of our nutrient-rich soil and clean water. This basic knowledge of food as medicine is one of the fundamental missing links in our people’s understanding of nutrition, especially amongst young children and pregnant mothers. Learning how to make healing dishes, like soup, at home when someone is sick should be ingrained in everyone especially after the past few years of this pandemic. Food is medicine. It always has been since ancient times. And will continue to be if we pass on the knowledge of basic nutrition and why our body needs every vitamin and mineral that the planet provides.
Fortify your body
The recent heavy rains and mix of hot and cold weather have added to the challenges of staying healthy, even as COVID-19 continues to spread in the community. However, this year, there also seems the dreaded flu is circulating with similar symptoms to COVID-19 of cough, sore throat, and headaches. Being sick right now means a possible loss of income, so keeping your immunity high is critical if you are to fight off this cold season. Fortifying yourself from within may not prevent sickness but it can help you to recover faster by boosting your immune system with the maximum flow of vitamins for added protection. This is where a bowl of piping hot soup can come in handy. Easy to make and drink, soup keeps the body hydrated and can also be a good source of protein. The flavourful toppings of garlic, onions, and ginger impart a warm feel and keep you snug as the weather becomes a bit chilly. Soups also help to de-clog your nasal passages and promote increased secretions which help in flushing out bacteria and viruses. When you have a wound that’s healing or you are laying in bed waiting for your sickness to pass, think of food as medicine. This is why your grandmother or mum may have always made chicken soup when you were sick. Soups have been an age-old remedy for sickness since humankind learned to boil water.
Importance of protein
Our immune system tends to take a dip during the wet and cold season, and we are more prone to infections because the damp weather and humidity are perfect breeding grounds for bacteria. Soups filled with vitamins and minerals are like a tasty slurp of liquid medicine, but when they are enhanced with animal or plant proteins, they are superfoods. So why is protein so important for our body during sickness? Humans need protein to help build and repair muscle, skin, and other body tissues. Protein also helps fight infection, balance body fluids, and carry oxygen through your body. It plays a vital role in boosting white blood cells that are responsible for fighting infections. You can get your dose of protein from animals, seafood and many plants including soy and seaweed. Animal bone broths have reported healing power with many people attesting to how it aids in faster recovery when sick. Vegans can get protein from many plant foods including soybeans, tofu and loads of dark leafy green vegetables.
Make soup from leftovers
Soups are easy to make at home, and you don’t always need expensive ingredients. Bones, leftover meats, fish heads, animal offal and offcuts should never be thrown away. Put unwanted scraps into a plastic bag and keep them in the deep for later use. Whether it’s chicken, lamb, duck, fish and seafood, all of them are rich in protein. Meat and bones supply Vitamin B, zinc and iron. Omega-3 fatty acids from fish and seafood is also an essential component in keeping up the body’s defence mechanism. Even if you don’t understand what each vitamin or mineral does, just know that when you are sick, you need them all. And drinking them through soup is the easiest way to pass them through your body, even if you are not feeling hungry. If the sick person is weak, use a spoon or straw to help them get the liquid and food medicine into the body
Dhal is a vegan soup
Lentil soups like dhal are the perfect vegan recipe that is packed with just as much protein and nutrition as a meat broth. High protein ingredients like tofu, legumes, nuts and seeds can all be added to vegan soup for nuttiness and crunch. If you have leftover dhal, you can create a hearty soup of whatever you have lying around at home. Leftover vegetable peelings like cabbage, carrot, garlic or ginger skins, herb roots and fruit peelings can also be added to a pot of dhal soup for added sweetness and nutrition. Leafy greens like local cabbage, spinach, moca and ota are high in vitamins A, C and E, as well as folate, antioxidants and fibre. Some purists may say that’s not how dhal is supposed to be eaten, but a hot pot of dhal, vegetables and protein is no different to an Italian minestrone or a Chinese sweet corn soup. As long as it’s tasty and someone sick will eat it, then dhal vegetable soup is on my menu for any sick vegetarian.
Magic of mushrooms
If you can find them in Fiji, buy the local mushrooms and add them to your next healing soup. They have become harder to find during COVID-19 but there is a reason why some people go searching for them – they are packed with medicine, unlike any other vegetable. Grown in a substrate of grass in a cool room, the local oyster or king mushrooms are full of B Vitamins, Vitamin D and antioxidants. B vitamins have been linked with healthy immune functions. They are also rich in selenium, a mineral touted to alleviate the risk of severe infections. Mushrooms are also a great source of proteins as they contain all 17 essential amino acids required by the body. They are magic.
Ancient medicine spices
There are more than 15 food ingredients that all aid in boosting your immune system. Look them up. They range from the aromatics of garlic and ginger to greens, citrus fruits, legumes and more. But one of the oldest remedies to overcome sickness may just be in your kitchen cupboard. Many people may associate spices with cooking but they have been used since before biblical times as both a food and medicine. Load up on immunity-boosting and anti-inflammatory spices like turmeric, mustard, asafoetida (hing), coriander, turmeric, fenugreek (methi), cloves, pepper, cinnamon, garlic, ginger and curry leaves. They not only add a fresh flavour to your soups but also boost your immunity and aid digestion.
- Chef Lance Seeto is the chef owner of KANU island fusion gastropubs located in Suva and Nadi.
