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29. SOBRE A HIGIENE E A COZINHA

 DO QUARTO DE DOENTES – V

 

            DEAR LADY POMEROY, – Now that you have a general idea of the various kinds of regimen appropriate to special states of ill health, it will be well to add a few suggestions in regard to the method and times of administering food to invalids. Patients suffering from acute diseases involving fever should, in the earlier and severer stages of the malady, be strictly dieted on a few albuminous broths, and acid or milky beverages. Chicken broth is prepared in the same manner as the fish broth for which I gave a recipe in a former letter. It should be served hot, with small slices of crisp, freshly-made toast. Any of the acidulated or demulcent drinks described in my last epistle would suit as beverages. Very little food should be taken at a time, and a pause should be allowed between each spoonful. The best time for administering food in such cases is in the morning, between eight and twelve o’clock, for the pulse is then more normal and the temperature lower than in the later part of the day, consequently the digestive organs are better able to receive nourishment. At night the only aliments permitted should consist of some such light drink as barley-water, lemonade, or tamarind milk, and even these must be given with caution. When convalescence sets in after acute disease, some patients develop an abnormal

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appetite, and ask for solid viands, which, in health, may have been favourite dishes, as, for instance, beef steak, sausages, mutton chops, or beans and bacon. These cravings must on no account be satisfied, for their indulgence will almost inevitably induce relapse, and febris carnis – or meat fever, as physicians term it – will result, to the great detriment, and even danger, of the enfeebled organism of the patient. Until perfectly restored, and until exercise in the open air can be freely taken, no convalescent should be permitted more than one meal of animal food daily, and this food should not consist of any coarser meat than that of white fish or poultry, with a single glass of good claret.

 

            In the earlier stages of convalescence the poultry or fish would be better dispensed with, and instead the patient should have an egg lightly poached on toast, asparagus or sea-kale prepared by steaming in the manner already recommended, and served on toast with a little simple sauce; custard pudding, ground rice boiled with milk, racahat, or an omelette. Very few English cooks know how to make a good omelette – a fact which is greatly to be deplored, for no more delicious dainty has ever been invented than is an omelette secundum artem. Here is the continental recipe; but the continental skill can be acquired only by practice: –

 

            First, you must have a china fire-proof omelette pan, with a wooden handle, and a steady, smokeless fire giving a good heat. Next, break three or more fresh eggs, according to the size of the omelette required, but never less than three eggs, beat up yolks and whites separately and thoroughly in a basin; have ready your omelette pan, quite hot, put into it about an ounce of good butter, then turn in the beaten eggs, add immediately a sprinkling of fine sweet herbs chopped very small, – marjoram, basil,

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lemon thyme, parsley, and chives or eschalot, with a little pepper and salt; when the omelette has begun to settle, turn one half over on to the other with a broad silver knife, and serve at once, in the omelette pan. Omelettes should be eaten directly they leave the fire, and must never be covered, or turned about from one dish to another. A richer and more tasty omelette is made by adding a spoonful of cream and a little piece of butter to the eggs, and whipping up the whole together before pouring into the pan. Foreigners generally add a clove of chopped garlic to the herbs, but this would not be suitable for an invalid cuisine. The art of omelette making consists in the lightness and rapidity with which the operation is performed, and in the quantity and quality of the heat employed. Only experience can supply the necessary skill.

 

            Racahat is an Arabian preparation of fine lentil flour, rice, and cocoa. It is a perfect food for invalids, at once nutritious, digestible, and exquisite to taste and smell. All first-rate chemists supply it, with directions for its preparation, which must be carefully followed, for its excellence depends in no small degree on the method of cooking it. Milk jelly, an Italian dish, is another nourishing and toothsome dainty, made as follows: – Whip several eggs (from four to six), white and yolk together, in a basin, adding two dessert-spoonfuls of powdered sugar, or less, according to taste; then pour in gradually a pint of fresh milk, beating up the mixture all the time, flavour with vanilla, cinnamon, almond, or other flavouring. Pour the mixture into a mould, and put it on the fire in a bain-marie till it thickens to a jelly. When cold, pour it out, and serve it. Ordinary jelly, orange or lemon, is pleasant as a refreshment, but it must not be viewed as a fitting substitute for more

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substantial food, for it contains but little nourishment. It should be stiffened with isinglass, not gelatine.

 

            Macaroni au blanc de poule is a Swiss dish, quite suitable for invalids entering upon convalescence. To make it a sufficient quantity of medium-sized macaroni should be boiled for an hour over a gentle fire. Meanwhile, melt in a saucepan a piece of butter, about an ounce, if the dish be for one person, and add to it a dessertspoonful of flour, mixing well. Pour on this gently a breakfast-cup full of milk; add a little salt and pepper, and when these are well mingled, cook the whole in a saucepan for about ten minutes. Now, if the macaroni be well done, take it out of the water, put it in a saucepan, and cover it with the dressing you have prepared, then cook it, without boiling, another ten minutes. When ready for serving, beat up one or two eggs in a cup with a very little hot milk, and pour them over the macaroni in the dish. And here permit me a word on the subject of macaroni. Properly dressed, it is an invaluable and most delicious food (to be aware how delicious, one must have eaten it, as I have done, in Italy), but unskilfully and ignorantly prepared, it is insipid, and even worse. “Never,” says the sapient author of “Dinners and Dishes,” “never ask me to back a bill for a man who has given me a macaroni pudding.” Macaroni is not meant for puddings; it is alien to sugar and jam, but it is bosom friends with pepper, salt, butter, and Parmesan, and as a savoury dish dressed with grated cheese and cream, or tomatoes, it is ambrosia. Very few invalids can digest cheese, so in cooking macaroni for them you must get as near only to the right thing as circumstances will permit. In case, however, the physician in attendance should think cheese may safely be given, I append a recipe for macaroni à l’Italienne,

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which, if followed with skill and care, will produce most satisfactory results.

 

            Put some macaroni into eight times it weight of boiling water. A pound and a pint being equivalent quantities there should be four pints of boiling water for half a pound of the paste. Let it simmer with a little pepper and salt for twenty minutes – more or less, according to the quality of the macaroni, particularly its freshness. Test a piece between the fingers to know when it is done enough. Then drain it from the water in a colander, and put it back in the stewpan with as much hot milk as it can absorb in a further simmering of a minute or two. Half a pound of macaroni will take about half a pint of milk. In the meantime have ready (for half a pound of macaroni) four or five ounces of grated cheese, half Parmesan, half Gruyère, and an ounce of butter. Shake half the cheese into the macaroni, and toss it well, then mix in the ounce of butter; finally shake in the remainder of the cheese, and when all is well mixed by tossing, and it begins to get stringy, serve it. Some people like the cook to be liberal with the pepper-pot in this dish.

 

            Macaroni au Gratin is prepared in the same way. It is then heaped up on a dish which will stand the fire. It is sprinkled with grated cheese and with fine bread raspings; it is bedewed with melted butter; it is put into the oven till it becomes of a golden hue; and if the oven is not hot enough, it may be finished with the salamander.

 

            You can vary this dish by sprinkling over it tomato-sauce or stewed tomatoes. Remember that in cooking for invalids, you must be especially on your guard against adulterated and stale foods. Be sure that the butter, milk and cream used are all thoroughly pure and

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unmixed with manufactured fats, oils or thickening matter, besides being irreproachably sweet and fresh both to taste and smell.

 

            When macaroni, vermicelli, or other pastes are added to broth or consommè, they should be first boiled in water for five minutes, otherwise they will be apt to dim the transparency of the soup. An extremely dainty and appetizing broth for invalids is Consommé aux oeufs Pochés. To make it, put into a saucepan equal quantities of sliced carrots and onions, a sprinkling of chopped shalots and garlic, with a little very finely cut parsley, celery and bay-leaf, some powdered basil, thyme, nutmeg, sugar, and a good-sized piece of butter. Put the whole upon a brisk fire, and turn it about with a wooden spoon continually, that the vegetables may not stick to the bottom of the saucepan. When they are well browned, add to them two or three pints of water and about one of good dry white wine. If you wish to have consommé de poisson, add some fish-stock and boil; if not, proceed, without the stock, to boil, and simmer afterwards, for a couple of hours. Pass the consommé through a tammy, and clarify it with the albumen of two or three eggs. When this consommé is well made, it ought to be of a deep russet colour. Julienne maigre is made with carrots, turnips, leeks, onions, and the white stalk of celery, chopped up and put into a saucepan with butter and ft little sugar. These ingredients are then placed over a moderate fire until well browned, turning meantime, as before, in preparing the consommé. They are then moistened with vegetable broth, added gradually, to the amount of about two or three pints. Then let the whole boil, and immediately it bubbles, remove it to the side of the fire and let it simmer for two hours, adding more broth, if necessary, little by little. Skim, strain, and serve.

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It is of the utmost importance, if a clear julienne is required, that the saucepan should be moved away to the side of the stove directly the first boiling occurs. Of course, the proportions in these recipes may be varied at will, as taste or requirement may indicate. Poached eggs may be served with either of these soups. The eggs should be lightly poached in water; then, just as the soup is served, one should be deftly slipped into the bowl or soup-plate placed before the invalid, care being taken not to break the egg in so doing. Toast should be eaten as before with this preparation.

 

            I must not prolong this epistle, and cannot therefore continue to descant on the enticing subject of recipes. Modern literature is rich in culinary manuals, from which you may cull many a pleasant suggestion for varying the monotony of sick-room dietaries. In passing, I commend particularly to your notice two cheap little books, one, in French, entitled Le Livre des Soupes et des Potages, by Jules Gouffé, a well-known Parisian “chef;” the other, a little English manual called “Maigre Cookery,” which contains many excellent formulas suitable for invalids, and costs only eighteenpence. Before concluding this subject, I have two general admonitions to give. First, remember the value of savoury herbs. Always have at hand bunches of dried thyme, marjoram, basil, mint, sage, et hoc genus omne. In the good old days every lady had her herb-garden, and in every kitchen were to be seen, suspended from the cross-beam of the ceiling, rows of sweet-scented bundles drying for winter use. Some of these simples were used for culinary purposes, others had medicinal uses, and right wholesome and good they were. Now, all the flavouring is done by means of extracts and essences bought at the grocer’s, and all the physic comes in phials from the chemist’s. Alas for

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the wise old times! There is hardly any dish that you may not make palatable and attractive by the skilful employment of herbs and the addition of a few vegetable stimulants. Savoury broth, far nicer and more wholesome than ordinary bouillon, can be made, for instance, by some such formula as this: – Take a quart of good clear lentil stock, prepared in the usual way by gentle boiling for several hours; slice three or four onions, one small carrot, and six or eight button mushrooms. To these add a small bunch of herbs, a little celery seed, a few peppercorns and cloves, an ounce of butter, and a bay-leaf; let all simmer till the ingredients are quite soft, then season with salt and sugar, strain through a tammy, and serve. You may vary this recipe at pleasure, according to taste or necessity.

 

            Next, bear in mind that invalids like surprises in the way of food. Do not give every day the same thing. Change the menu as often as possible, and let all your dishes look and smell invitingly, and be served in small quantities, so that the patient may not be repelled by the sight of more than he can eat. Be sure that everything required is placed on the tray before it is taken into his presence; otherwise servants will have to run for pepper, salt, bread, or what not necessary as adjuncts to the meal, and meantime the broth will get cold, and your patient, not unnaturally, will lose both his temper and his appetite. And now, good-bye. Set your ingenuity to work, and, on the strength of these hints, multiply tasty and nutritious dishes for your sick clients.

 

 

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