Nourishing Broth

Title: Nourishing Broth
Author: Sally Fallon Morell
Major Themes: Health, Cookbooks, Food, Nutrition, Soup
Synopsis: By reading this book, you will learn everything you ever wondered, or didn’t wonder, about broth!

It’s been a while since I read through a cookbook. I used to read various cookbooks frequently when I was learning to cook, but not so much in recent years. I’ve had Sally Fallon Morell’s book Nourishing Traditions for many years, and have learned a lot from it. I’ve been making bone broth for many years, so when I came across Nourishing Broth, I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the topic. 

There are three sections in this book. The first part is titled “Basic Broth Science”. This consists of chapters about collagen, cartilage, and bone marrow, explaining the purpose of each of these in the body and their structure. Then, there is a chapter about what protein does in the body and another one about the four key amino acids that humans cannot manufacture on their own. The last chapter in the section talks about proteoglycans which are another building block of healthy collagen, cartilage, and bones. I found this section quite fascinating, although I would need to read it another time or two to really understand it.

Part two is titled “The Healing Power of Broth”. The first chapter talks about doctors who have done research into broth, collagen, and cartilage and their uses in healing. Then, there are chapters about various disorders. These include osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, psoriasis, wounds, infectious diseases, digestive disorders, cancer, mental health, sports and fitness, and aging. The claims made here are pretty broad. However, if there’s any truth to them, it’s quite interesting to think about. Here, the author talks about how some doctors have used cartilage, especially, to heal many different disorders. Her encouragement is to include collagen—and cartilage-rich broth—in the daily diet, and add extra if there is a serious problem.

Part three contains recipes. She starts with teaching the basic techniques for making broth, then moves on to recipes for stock and broth. After that, there are recipes for many kinds of soups, aspics, stews, and sauces. The last few chapters discuss ways to use broth to make grains more digestible and one chapter gives suggestions for incorporating broth into breakfast.

I was quite fascinated by the information presented in Nourishing Broth. My main takeaway, I believe, is to continue making bone broth, as I always have, with any bones I can get my hands on, and use that broth in meals wherever I can. We have also started warming up broth and drinking it when we are sick. Whether it helps to get better faster or not, I don’t know. But it certainly is soothing on an upset stomach or sore throat. It’s also delicious! One thing that intrigues me is her breakfast recipes using broth. Breakfast is my hardest meal to come up with ideas for, so I may try some of them. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in health and feeding a family with the most nourishment possible on a tight budget.

WARNING: A couple of times, reference is made to humans having evolved over millions of years.

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