How to Make Delicious Nail Soup
by D.A. Miller, Ph.D.

My father was raised during the Great Depression, becoming an orphan in his pre teens. His oldest sibling took over the family to keep them all together. Scarcity of food affected his personality so strongly that he later insisted that my family live on a farm and learn how to supply our own table. For years he had a problem of over eating, until he finally convinced himself he was not going to starve.

One of the stories he brought with him combined hunger with cleverness, the tale of "Nail Soup". I later learned that the story dates back centuries in Scandinavia, Poland, and other Northern European countries. We do know that the story originated after the invention of iron tools... unless it was previously known as "stone soup" as has been suggested.

Today, some folklorists say the story teaches cooperation across skill sets. I think the simplest explanation fits best, namely, how to harness greed to the benefit of both sides.

We can tweak the tale a bit to make a guide for dietary self interest. But the story was born long before anyone knew about vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, or other nutritional concepts. Most likely our ancestors thought in terms of filling the belly, and what we now call calories. It went something like this.

One day our hero (vagabond, itinerant peddler, beggar, tramp, disbanded soldier, pilgrim, et cetera), who was footsore and very hungry, came upon a (small village, cabin in the woods, camp-ground, monastery, et cetera). The person[s] he saw there told him he/she/they were sorry but there was not a bit of food to share, times being desperate as they were. Hero said "not to worry, I'd just like to borrow a pot and some water, a spoon, a place on your fire, and I'll make nail soup." Well this did arouse a bit of curiosity, so the pot of water was provided. Hero then pulled an iron nail out of his pocket, held it close to his face, then mumbled some barely heard words. That done, he put the nail in the pot, and proceeded to wait for it to boil.

To short cut about thirty minutes of story telling, Hero satisfied questions by saying that, indeed, the soup would be a bit better if provided a pinch of salt, some wilted vegetables, an onion, a marrow bone, some left over barley, some old bread, and so forth, carefully stirring the pot and tasting the broth after each addition. Eventually Hero declared that, to show his thanks for the use of the pot, he would gladly share the soup if person[s] had bowl[s] handy. He then served out the soup, being careful to palm the nail and make it vanish back into his pocket.

Now that we do know something about nutrition, we could round out the recipe by including some potatoes, carrots, green vegetables, some lean ground beef or chunks of soy bean curd, perhaps some spices. Depending on the needs of those eating, we could allow some oil or other fats to raise the caloric content, but no sugar.

My "Easy Health Diet" gives more detail on how to build healthful recipes and to upgrade existing ones.

One final note: when you have eaten enough, stop.

RESOURCES: by Donald A. Miller, Ph.D.
Book/Ebook "Easy Health Diet" at http://easyhealthdiet.com/diet.htm
Book/Ebook "Easy Exercise All Ages" at http://easyhealthdiet.com/eeaa.htm