How Chicken Soup Became The 'Jewish Penicillin'

Now that it seems like winter has finally arrived, couldn't you go for a nice steamy bowl of your favorite chicken soup? I love soup in the winter -- it's hearty, nutritious, and delicious. Chicken soup is my favorite.
 
I found at least 20 different countries with there own spin on chicken soup, some sweet, some sour, some creamy, some spicy, etc. etc.. The oldest recipe I came across dates back to the 12th century. It was said to have been created by a physician and Rabbi named Maimonide. He created it for it's health benefits and as a means to feed the poor and poverty stricken Israelites. No culture can do to a chicken what the Jewish folk do. Chickens are relatively easy to raise, don't require lots of land or feed and at Shabbat just about everyone could get their hands on one.  Some traditional Hebrew uses for chicken? How 'bout this --  helzel (chopped liver) gribene (crackling much like pork rinds) pupik (roasted gizzards) schmaltz (rendered fat used for cooking) and then the carcass becomes what we commonly call "Jewish Penicillin" or soup.
 
When Mahatma Gandhi's son contracted typhoid and pneumonia the doctors recommended chicken soup. The strict vegetarian Gandhi was at first opposed but as his son worsened he conceded. Low and behold his son recovered. Some components of chicken soup do block neotrophil migration which reduced inflammation but modern doctors believe it's penetrating vapors loaded with nutrition is the main reason soup makes us feel good.
 
Back here in the good ol' US of A soup has long been known as a comfort food and a folk remedy. Some folks add rice or noodles or barley or dumplings. I like adding beans to mine. The one thing all chicken soups have in common is they start with simmering chicken parts. Feet, bones , gizzards , necks it doesn't matter. The longer you simmer them the richer the stock. Stock differs from broth as it is more gelatinous and thicker. This is caused by the marrow and internal structure of the carcass being rendered. Stock can be transformed to broth by adding liquid.
 
Old hens that were tough and stringy and couldn't produce eggs were generally used for soup. Nowadays farmers don't keep hens around that long. In 1930 things got even easier. Campbell's canned their first batch of chicken noodle concentrated soup.
 
Now I could give you a dozen recipes for chicken soup but the real fun is creating your own. Generally I boil down the carcass and scraps from a nice roasted chicken dinner. Then I run everything through a strainer, put my stock back into the same pan, season it and clean out my fridge. You might recall that column. One note, however, whatever you choose for a starch, noodles, rice, whatever, be sure to add that last as it tends to get soft the longer it sits. So ladle out a bowl and drink to you health!