“If you feel a bit under the weather,
If you feel a little bit peeved,
Take granny’s stand-by potion
For any old cough or wheeze.
It’s a cure for hepatitis
it’s a cure for chronic insomnia,
It’s a cure for tonsilitis
and for water on the knee.”

- ‘Have a cuppa tea’ by the Kinks

I feel the same way about umeboshi plums – actually mini-apricots, pickled until they reach eye-watering levels of saltiness.

In Japan, these “seeringly tart” treats are eaten regularly as an accompaniment to rice (even for breakfast.)

For the rest of us, they’re a great pick-me-up when you’re suffering from a hangover or mild stomach upsets.

Warning: they are intensely salty. And pricey (£7ish for 40 or so). But still worth it, I reckon – After all, you’ll only need one once in a blue moon. (Here’s hoping, at least.)

You can also get umeboshi paste, which is great on corn on the cob, and is the secret ingredient in my tahina recipe.

Since umbeboshi are said to have an ‘alkalising’ effect, I’m wondering if they might be a good indigestion remedy too (caused by acidity?) … Anyone know?

And more to the point, have they been used to treat water on the knee…?

Image by kattebelletje

Launching at the start of April, it’s already amassed about 300 followers (not bad going, Jamie, John and co.) which would suggest the recipes aren’t bad at all… Here’s one of them -

Hearty barley chicken pot

Sainsbury’s 500g pack skinless chicken thigh fillets, 1 loose red onion, 4 loose carrots, 150ml pot single cream, 500g pack pearl barley, 410g tin cannellini beans in water. (Ingredients from your store cupboard: olive oil, chicken stock cube, dried herbs)

Recipe: Serves 4

Cook Time: 10 minutes
Prep Time: 35 minutes

1. Cut 1 x 500g pack of skinless chicken thighs into small chunks. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large flameproof pot and fry the chicken until it begins to colour.

2. Add 1 red onion and 4 carrots, all peeled and cut into chunks, to the pot. Stir in 200g pearl barley and 1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs, and fry for a few minutes.

3. Add 750ml chicken stock, made with 1 stock cube, and simmer for 30 minutes until the pearl barley is tender.

4. Stir in a 410g tin of cannellini beans, drained, and 75ml single cream and heat through. Serve immediately.

Pukka.

Ingredients

There’s something really satisfying about eating shakshuka by dipping bread into the mixture. I’ll call it ‘mopping’ for now (until I think of a slightly less gross term…)

You can add mushrooms, olives or peppers, hey – let your imagination run wild!

If you thought “I’ve never heard of shakshuka, sounds a little odd to me”, just check out what they’re serving down at the Phantom’s MuchenTuchen:

‘America is Satan’ is a great strapline for a fast food joint, beats ‘I’m lovin’ it‘ hands down, eh?

This is a clip from ‘You don’t mess with the Zohan‘, almost definitely not as racist as it looks. Honest…

It’s annoying: even if I go to bed at 3am, I still wake up latest 7/8am. While no doubt this is nowhere near as bad as not being able to get to sleep in the first place (no probs there), if not insomnia, I’d definitely call this a kind of sleep intolerance.

I think I’ve discovered a kind of cure, though: twice I’ve woken up at the eye-watering time of 2 or 3am. So here’s what I do:

Boil water, add a spoon of honey, and squeeze in half a lemon.

Originally taking this for a sore throat, I think I’ve stumbledupon a partial cure for my sleepintolerance:

Apparently, the lemon’s strong pH has an alkaline effect on the body – could that be the reason this works?

Sleepless in London? – tell me if this works for you, or if you have an even better cure…