The guggle-muggle pops up every few years in the Jewish blogosphere as a cure for the common cold, a candidate, along with chicken soup, for the title of "Jewish Penicillin" and as a performance enhancing substance for cantors and choir boys.
Although there are endless variations on the ingredients used in this concoction, there seems to be a consensus that a guggle-muggle must contain a raw egg, honey, and a shot of whiskey.
This week it surfaced in an article by Zachary Solomon in Jewniverse, a blog published by My Jewish Learning.com. In 2010 Elizabeth Alpern reported on the golden wonder in even more detail in the Forward's Jew and the Carrot blog.
In September, Al Rosen, a World War II Veteran, added his guggle-muggle memories to the Wexler Oral History Project of the Yiddish Book Center. In a short interview segment, Rosen recalls how his father, a cantor, used the elixir to get his throat in shape to deliver a proper version of Kol Nidre.
Enjoy!
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(A tip of the kippah to Esther Kustanowitz for bringing this story to our attention.)
I learned that the cure for the cold was 6 lemons, pound (1/2 kilo) of sugar, and bottle of 80 (to 100) proof.
ReplyDeleteGo to bedroom. Open window. Get under covers. Toss lemons and sugar out the window; drink the whiskey.
Won't cure you, but you won't care . Arak is good; ditto sour mash and Irish. L'haim and la'briute!
My Bubbe had two more magic cures.
ReplyDeleteA mustard plaster on the chest
or Bincas(-Cups.)..usually done at home by the local pharmicist (druggisman)
And the big ONE for preventing Polio...we wore a campher on a shoelace around our neck...Don't laugh
We never got Polio, did we.?