Canora - Brodo

Id known of Marco Canora well before we actually met in person because Ive long been a fan of his wonderful restaurant Hearth, and I had eaten there many times before he came to see me as a patient. Since then Ive gotten to know the man behind the stove: smart, stubborn, and really interested in the way food can contribute toor, conversely, adversely affectour overall health. At our first meeting we argued for more than an hour about gluten. Not surprisingly, it was hard for an Italian chef to hear that foods so central to his diet, like bread and pasta, might be contributing to some of the symptoms and poor health that had brought him to my office. Despite that argument, we hit it off, and have continued to talk about food and health as our friendship has grown.

As we worked together to address some of the health issues Marco wrote about in his previous cookbook, A Good Food Day, I gradually saw him make significant changes to his diet, changes Im excited to see on the menu at Hearth. One element of his diet that hasnt changed, though, is his devotion to daily servings of broth, a practice he observed even before he started cooking professionally and now considers a cornerstone of his diet. I heartily approve of this practice.

In fact, Ive been recommending bone broth to my patients for years because its so good for the gut. Like Marco, many of my patients initially come to me for problems with their guts. In addition to lifestyle changes, including reducing stress and restoring healthy sleep patterns, my treatment plans always include dietary modifications too. Along with more fermented foods and probiotics, I urge patients to incorporate one or more servings of collagen-rich bone broth into their daily regimen, year-round. This simple change can have significant benefits in conjunction with better lifestyle choices.

Of course, the fact that Marcos broths are absolutely delicious makes this particular recommendation pretty easy to swallow. Its one thing to point patients toward something that doesnt taste good, but a morning and afternoon mug of broth is a treatment most of them warm to quickly. The broths served at Brodo, which any home cook can re-create with the help of the recipes in this book, are so fantastic that drinking them is really a pleasure, as flavorful as it is functional.

Im not the only one to appreciate the benefits of these nourishing drinks. Thanks to Marco and others touting its restorative and healing properties, bone broth is being widely hailed as the new green juice, to which I can only lift my mug in support. A properly made green juice can certainly be part of a healthy diet, but too many commercial blends contain excessive sugar, which can lead to inflammation and blood sugar spikes. Bone broth, in contrast, has more protein and fewer carbohydrates than green juice, and is less likely to cause blood sugar levels to surgeor plummet. If I had to choose between a serving of juice or a mug of bone broth, in most instances Id opt for the broth.

Ill continue recommending broth regardless of whether it remains the quaff du jour. After all, its been used for centuries in most cultures, and is clearly much more than a passing trend. In the hands and kitchen of a great chef like Marco Canoraand now anyone with access to this book, a good-sized stockpot, some meaty bones, and a little patienceits a healing elixir that can form the cornerstone not only of delicious soups and dishes, but of a healthy relationship with food.

If this is your first foray into making broth, you couldnt ask for a better guide than Marco; if not, youre sure to find tips to help you get the most from your time at the stove and recipes to expand your broth repertoire in delicious new directions. Either way, I know youll find the effort and attention required to prepare exceptional broths like those youll find here, a most worthwhile investment in your health and well-being.