Savoury

Celery leaf pesto, the herd, and a close encounter with clingfilm

Celery leaf pesto

About 15 years ago when I was first studying naturopathic medicine, I remember mentioning the dangers of vitamin D deficiency on a forum for young mothers I used at the time. The reaction was patronising and along the lines: ‘poor sleep-deprived lamb! Should we alert the men in white coats now, or shall we watch her unravel a bit more first?’

New theories always go through the same tedious, but inevitable cycle: ridicule, violent opposition, and finally acceptance as self-evident.

Many medical circles, and certainly the WHO, view orthomolecular therapy with the same scathing derision as they did vitamin D 15 years ago, despite increasingly compelling evidence from more and more studies and trials worldwide. Facebook, the great financial interest-free adjudicator, even zaps all reference to therapeutic benefits claiming ‘fake news!’ And yet they give air(head) time to The Orange Toddler who, in a recent attempt to denigrate Sweden’s lack of confinement in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, said: ‘Sweden is suffering very greatly, you know that right, because they’re doing the herd, they call it the herd’. He really needs to learn to keep his mouth shut, preferably for ever.

In France a legal request has been submitted to the government by six doctors to petition the use of orthomolecular treatments, in particular the IV vitamin C protocol used by Professor Marik of EVMS, on the premise that it is unethical to withhold treatment that could help or cure patients. (Protocol here.) At low doses, vitamin C is a nutrient; at high doses, a therapeutic drug. Unfortunately I doubt anything will come of it because, as usual, financial interest will prevail.

My cooking is a bit eccentric at the moment as I’m using anything and everything to hand to avoid going shopping. My last visit to the supermarket was traumatic: They had created makeshift queue separations with clingfilm (I kid you not) and I propelled myself into one of these extremely aggressive bouncy plastic ‘walls’ trying to distance from someone practicing close social proximity. I must have received an electric charge, because my hair stood on end and the clingfilm and I became one. Any vague semblance of dignity I might have managed to conjure in my fetching builder’s dust face mask vanished in a heartbeat. Clingfilm 1, hair 0.

I didn’t have basil so substituted celery leaves and celery. The result was surprisingly creamy and delicious. Garlic is a great antiviral so I used even more than usual. The added bonus is that it makes social distancing easier!

Recipe for celery leaf pesto (serves 4)

  • Handful of celery leaves
  • 1 celery stick, peeled and sliced
  • 75g pinenuts
  • 4 cherry tomatoes
  • 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Chilli powder to taste
  • 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Blend the ingredients in a food processor to form a thick paste and stir into freshly-cooked pasta.

10 Comments

  • KJ

    Your pesto looks interesting and I would never have thought to use celery leaves. I’ll give it a go, although M can’t have any of it, due to the migraine issue.

      • KJ

        If it’s Italian, he puts parsley on it, so I guess his system can tolerate that element. Garlic and onions seem to be the worst, but he can tolerate green onions, what I call “chive” onions, if I cut off the white, which I do for myself, anyway.

          • KJ

            It is likely I will be making this as one of my dishes and I miss having garlic, so I will be preparing it with lots and lots of garlic. I do enjoy pestos and it has been some time since I had a fresh, homemade pesto. Did I mention I’ll use lots of garlic?

  • kristenannmoore

    Smart thinking with the celery leaves! I agree that the medical establishment is extremely slow to recognize any treatment that doesn’t serve their financial goals. I worked in a health food store over 20 years ago and even then high doses of vitamin C were talked about then as helpful to fighting cancer, so vitamin C has been bubbling just under the radar for a long time now. As for the “orange toddler”~ he is so delusional and dishonest he cannot even string a coherent sentence together so yes, silence from him would be oh so welcome.

    • The Healthy Epicurean

      It seems that China is one of the few places to be less enslaved to the pharmaceutical industry and is having good results because of it. I wouldn’t mind as much if there were viable options, but at the moment there aren’t many solutions for treating Covid-19, especially ones devoid of dangerous side effects… How are things in your area? Are you still confined and are your teens still eating everthing in sight? (Mine is!!🤣)

      • kristenannmoore

        Yes, still confined, and yes they are still eating shocking amounts of food. Are you guys still confined? My youngest doesn’t mind much but my oldest is an extroverted social being who will have his 16th bday in this confinement and he’s quite bummed about it.

Leave a Reply