Organic Onion Syrup to Cure a Cough
by Jodi J
(Parsons, KS, USA)
During the winter many of us come down with a dry, persistent cough that just hangs on and on. You feel well otherwise, but get tired of coughing all the time. Taking over the counter stuff just masks the issue for a few hours and tastes horrible.
I was in just such a state for over two months when I happened to be visiting my grandmother. She noticed the cough and asked me what I was doing for it. I told her cough drops and store bought syrups. Without hesitation she said “they aren’t working are they?” It was a statement more than a question.
I said no and she told me I needed to brew up a batch of onion syrup from locally grown onions. She said the onions pick up the minerals in the local soil that help block the stuff that irritates your throat in the winter. I have to be the first to admit that when my grandmother told me about this I just laughed and ignored it.
After two more weeks of coughing, I gave in and asked her for some onions from her garden stock that she had stored and the recipe for the syrup. She never batted an eye or said I told you so; she got me three medium yellow onions and wrote out the recipe:
Dice 3-4 medium locally grown medium sized onions and put in 1 quart of water.
Simmer onions in water until they are totally limp, at least 20 minutes.
Strain out onions and reserve the liquid.
Stir in ½ cup of white sugar into the reserved liquid and boil down until it reaches a syrupy consistency, usually yielding about ¾ of a cup of syrup.
Directions for use: Take two teaspoons full every 4-6 hours.
I followed the recipe and took the syrup as directed for three days. The first thing I noticed was that this did not taste horrible at all. The other thing I noticed was that right away my coughing was accuring less often and by the end of three days was gone.
Four other people at my office also used this with the same success two years ago when my grandmother taught it to me. Now I grow a small patch of onions myself every year just for making the syrup.
