The canary: the digestive for Christmas holidays!

by Simona Vitagliano

It is said that the grandmother’s remedies continue to prove to be miraculous, even in the era in which medicine and pharmacology have made great strides; almost always, in fact, it is an absolute truth.

In view of the upcoming Christmas holidays, then, with that succession of lunches and dinners based on delicacies of all kinds and traditional dishes, knowing in advance how to deal with an important feeling of heaviness can be fundamental: but let’s not talk about drugs or content of a few sachets to be dissolved in water but, on the contrary, of a rather common and easy to find combination. The one based on water and lemon!

An ancient natural remedy

Who knows how many times our grandparents have made us find on the table, next to the plate of pasta, a large glass of warm water with a few slices of lemon inside.

The digestive canary is probably one of the oldest natural remedies ever exploited by man to better digest: hot water and lemon peel are the only ingredients of this wellness recipe, although there are some variations and revisitations that exploit the power beneficial to other elements, such as bay leaves or mint.

Feelings of heaviness, nausea, acidity and stomach ache are surely muted by this very simple and health-filled elixir.

In fact, it is not only the lemon pulp that is a concentrate of nutrients, mineral salts and important vitamins, but also the comprehensive rind of the albedo (ie the whitish part that stands between the internal and the outer one): for example, the peel is an agglomerate of essential oils with antibiotic, fungicidal and carminative properties (for the expulsion of gases and a pleasant decongestant effect)!

What is there to know

The digestive canary, as mentioned, is based on lemon peel and, therefore, it is essential that the citrus fruits used to prepare it have not been treated with chemical additives, preferring those with organic farming.

The variant based on bay leaves (also famous for being part of an intense digestive and analgesic action) gives a more intense, delicate but very aromatic flavor which, at discretion, can also be sweetened. Sipping it when the infusion is still hot and steaming is a pleasure for the senses and for health, contributing to a practically immediate peptic action!

How to prepare it?

Just wash the lemons with particular care and then peel them with a potato peeler, including the innermost white and spongy part that leads to the pulp; eye, however, because it has a particularly bitter taste, so that the quantity meets your tastes!

In the meantime, bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan: the lemon peels and the bay leaves are inserted directly into the cups onto which the boiling water is then poured, reproducing the same methods of preparation of the tea and any other infusion. Finally, after about 10 minutes, peels and leaves can be removed to go and taste the most natural digestive canary there is! If you love sweeter flavors, you can add sugar or honey.

Of course, other variants can also be prepared based, for example, on sage or mint!

The final color of the drink will not change: thanks to the presence of lemon, in fact, it will always be of that intense yellow from which it takes its name and can continue to brighten your lucullian meals with taste and health!

The Gran Caffè Gambrinus has also studied its particular recipe for the digestive canary: if you are curious to try it and test its lightness effect, we are waiting for you during the Christmas holidays!