Some individuals with the sniffles flip to an Jap European treatment to alleviate signs : NPR

ASMA KHALID, HOST:

So long as the sniffles have existed, so have dwelling cures for them. For individuals with roots in Jap Europe, a kind of cures is called gogl-mogl. As Deena Prichep reviews, it is the stuff of childhood reminiscences, each good and dangerous.

DEENA PRICHEP, BYLINE: It is arduous to pinpoint the primary look of gogl-mogl.

EVE JOCHNOWITZ: It appears to be a kind of issues like rooster soup. It is at all times been there.

PRICHEP: Eve Jochnowitz is a Yiddish trainer who researches the historical past of Jewish meals.

JOCHNOWITZ: They start with grinding up the sugar or some honey, mixing it with the egg yolks after which beating in scorching milk.

PRICHEP: There are barely completely different variations of this recipe. Typically a shot of brandy or slivovitz was thrown in, sometimes some chocolate. And Jochnowitz says it was discovered throughout Europe.

JOCHNOWITZ: From Czechoslovakia within the west, so far as the borders of the Russian Empire within the east, I’d say.

PRICHEP: And with immigration, gogl-mogl made its means into America. The late New York Metropolis mayor Ed Koch gave out his model at a press convention in 1987.

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ED KOCH: My suggestion is a minimal – if you happen to actually need to get cracking on the chilly – a minimal of three gogl-mogls a day.

(LAUGHTER)

PRICHEP: In a current interview on WHYY’s Recent Air, singer Barbra Streisand recalled her mom recommending it after her first actual gig.

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BARBRA STREISAND: The very first thing she stated, I bear in mind, was, your voice wants eggs. You must use a gogl-mogl ‘trigger your voice must be stronger.

PRICHEP: Now, some individuals have candy reminiscences of fogeys and grandparents bringing a gogl-mogl to their sickbed, however lots of people dreaded it, particularly when the egg was uncooked, like within the gogl-mogl Barbra Streisand’s mom made.

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STREISAND: Which I may by no means swallow – ugh.

PRICHEP: This concoction has change into extra of a reminiscence, seemingly because of the rise of over-the-counter medicines and decreasing tolerance for giving uncooked eggs and alcohol to youngsters. In response to Michal Korkosz, a meals author in Poland, you possibly can nonetheless discover gogl-mogl in Jap Europe however as a dessert. And even then it is seen as a relic of the previous.

MICHAL KORKOSZ: Through the Communist occasions, the place there was no candy treats within the shops, my mom – she would make the gogl-mogl at dwelling.

PRICHEP: The Polish model is extra like an egg foam, a cloud of simply whipped eggs and sugar, like the start of a sponge cake.

KORKOSZ: It is so fluffy. It is so creamy. It has its richness.

PRICHEP: However Korkosz says generally when somebody was sick, his grandmother would pour in a bit scorching milk, turning this dessert right into a treatment.

KORKOSZ: Candy deal with however in some way, milk makes it a drugs, proper (laughter)?

PRICHEP: Which raises the query, does gogl-mogl really do something medicinally? Dr. Diane Pappas is a pediatrician on the College of Virginia who researches cough administration in youngsters. She says, meh.

DIANE PAPPAS: We have no actually good proof that honey does an entire lot for a cough. There’s a couple of research that say it would assist a bit bit. They are not nice high quality, but it surely’s actually all now we have.

PRICHEP: Pappas says if you would like a gogl-mogl, go for it. Energy and heat fluids at all times assist. And so long as the egg is absolutely cooked and you are not giving honey to infants, it is fantastic.

PAPPAS: I do not know that there are downsides until you place the alcohol in it. I do not know that there is a big upside both.

PRICHEP: Pappas says whereas she will’t ethically prescribe placebos, that have an effect on can play a task in all types of issues individuals take, hoping to really feel higher. And Polish meals author Michal Korkosz says there’s additionally the consolation of custom.

KORKOSZ: I at all times examine dishes from our childhood as like a heat blanket. They’re, like, so cozy, and they’re so scrumptious. They reminds you if you had been the happiest in your life.

PRICHEP: Which will be the excellent factor if you’re feeling crummy.

For NPR Information, I am Deena Prichep.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “HOME REMEDY”)

ADRIENNE YOUNG: (Singing) It is a dwelling treatment if you put your arms round me. I do know the working day is thru. inform me to not stay. Simply sit and putter.

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