Golden Milk

Hello Fellow Nom Seekers!

I came across the health benefits of tumeric whilst researching ways I can help kiddo recuperate from a cold.  Authority Nutrition does a great summary of all the evidence based health benefits of tumeric which then lead me to a wealth of recipes on the internet for Golden Milk - a milky drink made with tumeric.  There were just loads of recipes for this, each with a slight variation.  I ultimately merged a few of suggestions to form my own Golden Milk.

From what I gather, making a tumeric paste from ground tumeric as a precursor to the Golden Milk is the preferred method of Golden Milk production in the absence of fresh tumeric root.  That way, you can be sure that the tumeric in the tumeric paste is thoroughly cooked before you add it to the remainder of the ingredients to make Golden Milk.  I made a batch of tumeric paste and stored it in a jar in the fridge for quick Golden Milk assemblage.  I followed the Herbal Academy of New England's recipe for tumeric paste which is essentially mix 1/4 C tumeric powder to 1/2 C water and cook until paste like.

To make the actual Golden Milk itself, I cobbled together bits and pieces from a variety of recipes:

For 1 cup/serve:

• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of tumeric paste
• 2 cup of milk of choice
• 1 teaspoon of coconut oil
• 1 grind of black pepper - apparently this assist with the absorption of the curcumin (the good for you bits in the tumeric)
• a few drops of vanilla extract
• good shake of ground cinnamon 
• 1 thin sliver of root ginger

Heat in a saucepan over low heat, stirring until heated through.  Fish the ginger out before serving

What does it taste like? Golden Milk has more of a feel rather than a taste to me.   It feels like being enveloped in a soft comforting duvet.  It feels warming and grounding.  It tastes gingery but not overpoweringly so and the vanilla and cinnamon adds sweetness without actual sugar.

Did it help with kiddo's cold?  In this uncontrolled single subject study, the results are a bit inconclusive - the duration of the cold was not really shortened (about 5 - 6 days) however I believe the severity of the symptoms eg running nose, hacking cough seem to be less than the usual.  Kiddo did not seem to be particularly bothered by her mild symptoms and she did not miss any days of school.  So I like to attribute part of this to Golden Milk.  Or maybe she just had a particularly mild version of the common cold.  Either or, Golden Milk is a comforting hot toddy to have now that the cold weather is settling in.  The colour itself is so uplifting on a dreary winter's night.

By the bye, the tumeric paste apparently can be kept in the fridge for about a fortnight.  I also used the left over tumeric paste to throw in casseroles and even mixed it with butter to spread on a crumpet.

Unti next time...