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My mother always made chicken soup when I was sick with a cold/flu. I always felt worse afterwards and she would be upset when I told her because “that’s so unkind to say”, like it was a criticism of her cooking. It took me so many years to figure out that I am slightly allergic to celery which I was only fed when I was already sick …

If you want to add tea (sometimes I add black tea), just let it steep for the normal duration after cooking the rest and before adding the orange juice and honey. For the best result/taste you should grind the spices right before cooking. (Pre-)ground spices work to; you might use a little bit more of them. A word of warning on the pepper: use very little at first. Cooked it the water it is a lot hotter/more stinging than you might expect.

I like to cook a spice tea with cinnamon, star anise, cloves, and black pepper (cook it all for 10 minutes), and then add some fresh orange juice and honey. Goes well with deliriously binge-watching a series from my “to do” list.