Four Thieves' Vinegar and an Onion Poultice

Four C18th French thieves robbed the houses of many plague victims and never caught the disease. They were pardoned in return for the recipe which they said kept them immune and the French still use it today:

Four Thieve’s Vinegar
To red wine or cider vinegar, add crushed garlic and up to 5 of the following: rosemary, sage, oregano, mint, lavender, cinnamon, cloves. Some like to throw in a chopped onion, horseradish or hot chillies. Seal in jar and leave for a fortnight in a warm place. Then take a teaspoonful several times a day. Or add to salad dressings, put a tablespoon in the bath, as an antiseptic on the skin or spray on worksurfaces to disinfect them!

Onion Poultice
The healing powers of the humble onion – a simple onion poultice can help chest and breathing difficulties if you have a cold or suffering the effects of a virus. The video is by Marie 'Singing Heart' who had suspected coronavirus and her distressing chest and breathing difficulties were greatly helped by this simple recipe:

You can find these and many more home-cure remedies in Kitchen Medicine (£16.99) by Julie Bruton-Seal and Matthew Seal.