Like many people in Charlotte, I had a nasty cold and cough last week. To counteract the effects, I made the chicken noodle soup which my kids – and some friends – believe to have magical properties. However chicken noodle soup (not the canned version) has been thought to be curative by such diverse cultures as Chinese and Jewish. Even with a head cold and hacking cough, anyone can make this soup:

Into a large stockpot pot filled with cold water add one organic chicken; several parsnips, peeled and cut into three inch sections; a handful of peeled organic carrots; an onion studded with at least ten cloves; a handful of parsley – stems and all; a generous dose of sea salt; and freshly ground pepper. Boil this for several hours; then strain, saving the broth in one large bowl.

I cut up any chicken and vegetables that are somewhat whole and add this to the broth. In a separate pot, boil the egg noodles (any shape, wide or regular), and drain. To serve, place some noodles into the bottom of a bowl and then ladle the soup. In many languages, like Arabic, the toast before eating is saha, which means to your continued good health.

I had been enchanted by Aussie styled Shiraz long before I spent a month there tasting wines a few years ago.

On that trip tasting 60 coat-the-glass wines by noon had become the norm (and, yes, spitting was de rigueur): My tongue had become tinted plum. The taste of shiraz, especially a big fruit bomb shiraz like The Boxer, an every-day drinking wine, brings back those crisp pristine nights.

Mollydooker (which is Aussie slang for left handed) The Boxer 2007 is a mouthful of spice and blackberries, a wine seductive and exotic enough to stand alone on cold Charlotte nights, and equal to the task of being paired with a braised lamb shank or a New York strip steak grilled on the barbie.

Harris Teeter at Morrocroft had two varieties salmon in their seafood case this week. But the Irish farm-raised salmon paled – literally - in comparison to the stunning vividly deep coral wild Alaskan Coho Salmon ($9.99 per pound) filets. I had to have this salmon. The paramount preparation of this fine seafood is to leave it alone. Forget sauces or imprisoning with a crust. No dusting, just fish. I planked the salmon on an Alder board I acquired in Seattle, then rubbed the filet with Spanish extra virgin olive oil, organic unsalted butter, Murray River salt (a rustic speckled pink salt from Australia), freshly ground black pepper, spritzed the salmon with a lemon, and then cooked it medium rare. Alder, the wood the First Peoples of the northwest used to cook salmon, imbues a mild smokiness into this delicate sweet fish with sensational results.

• The traditional Vietnamese sandwich is a fusion of French-inspired crusty roll and Vietnamese fillings.

Be mine, bánh mì: salty, crunchy, and hot. In my family, this classic street-vendor Vietnamese-French sandwich is experiencing something close to an addiction. Although bánh mìs are available at several places around town, I like the taste, inexpensive price ($3.50), and close proximity (to me) of the ones at Zen International Market & Tea, 10225 Park Road. My favorite is the Vietnamese barbecue pork with pickled daikon radishes, fretfully hot julienned strips of jalapeño, and a sprig of cilantro. But there are six choices on the menu including a very good densely-packed French cold cut, and a lemongrass pork sandwich.

Even though Cyros Sushi and Sake Bar, 6601 Morrison Boulevard, has only been open a short time, proprietor Cyro has been around the sushi block a few times. Cryos is small. This is not the kind of place with oshibori (hot towels), kimonos, and shakuhachi music. But Cryos isn’t a raucous kind of place either. The only kind of vibrancy here will play out on your plate. The best I had this week was Cy’s signature roll: the Avante Garde ($11), with ahi, crab, avocado, and sprinkled with crispy microplaned bits of shallots and garlic. This is not a traditional roll, in fact, Cy will tell you (if you sit at the sushi bar) the roll has enough sauce that it shouldn’t be dunked in soy, and enough heat that wasabi isn’t needed either.

Harvest Moon Grille — the orange gourmet food truck owned by Grateful Growers Farm — has been parked near Johnson & Wales University every Monday and Wednesday since the beginning of December. On their opening day, I released my Intro to Food Writing class (I also teach at J&W) so students could buy one of their marvelous pork sandwiches. Their menu changes weekly, but the best I had this week was their Three Little Piggies Pasta with pancetta, country ham, and smoked ham (from animals raised on their farm and products cured there as well) bathed in a garlic cream sauce with slivers of green peppers and mushrooms over an organic penne. All this for $6.

Just got back from Sharon United Methodist Church, 4411 Sharon Road (across from SouthPark Mall), where Boy Scout Troop 355 is hosting its annual barbecue fundraiser. The group is a past recipient of CL’s "Best Barbecue."

BSA Troop 355’s barbecue has a rich, sweet taste delicately imbued with hickory and their barbecue sandwich is the best food I’ve had all week.

Grill master (and attorney) Dennis Guthrie and the scouts make this mean barbecue over hickory — not oak — wood: “Only place in the city you can find hickory-smoked barbecue,” Guthrie says. (Take that Mallard Creek Presbyterian and BSA Troop 33.) This year they’ve made 11,000 pounds. Barbecue can be bought by the pound or plate/sandwich for takeout (freezes great), or plates and sandwiches for eat-in. They are also selling bottles of their sensational sauce (I recommend the mild Eastern style sauce. They also have Western and Eastern Hot ). Today and tomorrow only.

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