The Russian word for garlic is чеснок. Garlic is not only delicious in certain dishes, but also a very good remedy средство for colds because of its antibacterial properties. My aunt found garlic to be very useful in treating her own flu symptoms. She took a few cloves of garlic and diced them finely with a knife. Afterwards, she placed the diced garlic between two thin pieces of cloth and tied it around her nose and mouth. She walked around with this mask for fifteen minute intervals three times a day and by the following day her flu symptoms were completely gone. Usually when I had a cold, my aunt tried to persuade me to try her garlic remedy but I always refused and told her that she was crazy for tying a handkerchief full of garlic around her nose. «Оля! Пожалуйста попробуй мое чесночное средство и твой грипп сразу пройдет» “Olga! Please try my garlic remedy and your flu will immediately go away”. Even though I could see that her remedy always worked, I refused to try it and preferred suffering until my immune system took care of the flu.

It is important to note that the word гриб refers to the word mushroom while the word грипп refers to flu. These two words sound very similar, but they obviously have different meanings.