Tea of Toma Ciorba
Tea of Toma Ciorba
“If you want to be healthy – do not eat ciorba* with Ciorba, but drink tea…”
Opposite the Alexandrovskaya Public Garden (current name – Stefan The Great And Holy Public Garden) once there was the cafe of the confectioner Koval. This quiet and dignified place enticed the crowd with heady aromas of tea, coffee, and cakes. The confectioner has earned his reputation, attracting an intelligent and refined audience. Here, boyars, judges, state officials and famous artists came to be served and sat for a chat, staying for the night in the next door hotel Suisse . And here as well, when sleepless nights tired him, for many years Toma Ciorba, the famous Chisinau doctor, came. He had a personal table, which could never be occupied by anyone. Koval knew his tastes well, and as soon as the doctor sat down, boiled tea from secret ingridientes, buns and French cakes appeared on the table. There was a rumor that anyone who drinks tea with Thomas Ciorba will never get sick. And every cake that remained on the plate was torn to pieces and divided among the people around…
Note:
Toma Ciorba (1864-1936). Illustrious humanist doctor from Bessarabia. Graduate of the Medical Faculty of the University “St. Vladimir” in Kiev. Medical doctor of Chisinau. The initiator of the construction and designer of the Infectious Diseases Hospital, which he led for more than 30 years. It was imposed by a sensitive and compassionate attitude towards patients. He perceived the sick as a suffering person, and not as a source of income, that is why he was called a “doctor without money.” He is a pioneer of the introduction of a locally produced chicken pox vaccine, mandatory antiviral vaccination of the country’s population, and the use of serotherapy in the treatment of diphtheria patients. He did an excellent job with the training of paramedics, midwives and charity assistants. Chisinau residents noted his qualities, characterizing him with a conquering accuracy: “Knight of humanity”. Their gratitude, always alive and enlivening, was materialized by the memory of the eminent doctor: his name bears the hospital of Infectious Diseases and a street adjacent to the hospital.
*Ciorba – special moldavian soup, prepared with vegetables, sometimes meat or fish, and sour supplement.