Part 1 — COOKERY FOR THE SICK.

419.

Mutton Broth and Beef Tea.

Take a pound of meat, free from fat; chop it up fine, and let it stand for one hour in a pint of cold water. Then add half a dozen Okra (1) cut transversely, and boil at a gentle heat to half a pint; strain and flavour with salt and pepper to taste. It should be freshly prepared daily.

420.

Chicken Broth.

This is prepared in the same manner as the preceding, a full-grown fowl being substituted for the pound of meat. The two essential points to be attended to being that the flesh is cut small or well bruised, and that it stands for an hour in cold water previous to being put on the fire. Half-grown fowls will answer for children. Like the preceding, it should be prepared fresh daily.

421.

Raw Meat Juice.

The juice of raw meat is an invaluable remedy in sickness, more especially in the many diseases of the intestinal canal from which Europeans suffer in Indian, whether during infancy or in adult life. For obtaining this juice any meat will do, but beef is to be preferred. From a piece, say, a pound in weight, remove all the fat; then mince the meat; after which cover the mince with as much water as it will absorb in four or five minutes; then reduce the soft mass into a pulp in a mortar by means of a pestle. Pass this pulp through a cloth forcibly: the fluid which passes through the cloth is meat juice. Children will take this readily without any addition being made to it. Adults, however, frequently cannot do so, owing to its peculiar raw odour. In such cases it can be made palatable by the addition of a little salt, sometimes sherry, Worcester sauce, or even a little acid jelly; but whatever is done to this juice to make it palatable, on no account add mineral acids, or cook it, as in both cases the albumen of the juice becomes coagulated, making it less digestible. Where ice is procurable, meat in this form can be conveniently kept fresh for more than forty-eight hours. Where ice cannot be obtained, and the climate is at summer heat, the juice should be extracted from the meat fresh each time it is to be given. (Dr. Aitchison.)

422.

Rice Milk.

Boil one table-spoonful of ground Rice with a pint and a half of Milk, or equal parts of milk and water; stir it smooth, and boil for two minutes; flavour with sugar and nutmeg. A very nourishing food for children.

423.

Arrowroot.

Take a table-spoonful of the best Arrowroot, and make it into a thin paste with a little water; then add gradually half a pint of boiling water, stirring it the whole time. Put it on the fire for two or three minutes, still continuing to stir it till the whole is uniformly mixed; then remove it from the fire and add grated nutmeg, sugar, &c., to taste. If made with milk instead of water, it is more nourishing, but when the stomach is weak it sometimes disagrees, and then water is preferable. It should be prepared fresh when required.

424.

Sago.

Add a table-spoonful of the best Sago to a pint of Water, and let it stand for two hours, then boil for a quarter of an hour, stirring the whole time, till it forms a clear uniform jelly. Remove from the fire, and flavour with sugar, nutmeg, &c.

425.

Pish-Pash.

(Puss-Pass).

This is a regular Indian dish for invalids, and consists of fresh meat cooked amongst rice. Usually a chicken is cut up into small pieces, put into the bottom of a small pan, to which are added three table-spoonfuls of rice, well cleaned, and over the whole is poured two breakfast-cupfuls of cold water. This is now allowed to cook over a slow fire for three or four hours. Spices and salt, of course, can be added during the cooking process. If the patient is extremely ill the rice part alone is used, which has absorbed nearly the whole of the strength of the meat. Besides being given to invalids, this is a common diet amongst European children in India (Dr. Aitchison).

426.

Brandy Mixture.

Take of Brandy and of Water each four table-spoonfuls, the yolks of two eggs, and half an ounce of powdered white sugar. Beat the yolks and sugar well together, then add the spirit and water, and flavour with grated cinnamon or nutmeg.

This is a valuable stimulant and restorative in the low forms and advanced stages of Fever, Smallpox, Measles, Exhausting Hæmorrhages, Cholera, and other cases where the vital powers are greatly depressed. The dose for adults is from one to three table-spoonfuls repeated according to circumstances; for children from a teaspoonful to a table-spoonful according to age or the urgency of the symptoms.

427. In Delirium Tremens this is one of the best forms of stimulant, combining as it does nutritive with stimulant properties; indeed, when other food is rejected, the proportion of eggs may be doubled or trebled. In the young and vigorous, and in first attacks, all alcoholic drinks may be safely and strictly withheld, but should there be a great craving for drink, Omum water (320) may be tried, as it is said to relieve this condition. In the old debilitated confirmed drinker, however, stimulants become a necessity, and Brandy Mixture in doses of one to two ounces may be given at stated intervals as required, but the patient should not be allowed to sip it, or take it occasionally as he thinks fit.

428.

White Wine Whey.

Take one pint of fresh Milk, add Mace, Nutmeg and Cinnamon, with Sugar to taste. Put it on a clear slow fire, stirring until the milk is on the point of boiling over. Then take it off, and throw in one or two wineglassfuls of Sherry or Madeira. Put it on the fire again, stirring it gently one way until it curdles; then remove, and strain through cloth or muslin. This taken at bedtime, the patient being well covered with clothes, so as to produce copious perspiration, has often an excellent effect in arresting incipient attacks of Catarrh, Influenza, &c.

429.

Egg Wine.

Beat up one Egg (both yolk and white) with a table-spoonful of cold Water. On this pour a mixture of a glass of Sherry and half a glass of water previously heated together (not boiling), stirring all the time. Then sweeten with white sugar, and add a little grated nutmeg, to taste. Taken in this form it is more digestible, but its flavour is improved by heating the ingredients in a clean saucepan over a gentle fire (not to boiling), stirring them one way till they thicken. This, with a small piece of toast or biscuit, may be advantageously taken by invalids twice daily, or as occasion requires.

430.

Strengthening Jelly.

Steep two ounces of Isinglass or Prepared Gelatine, one ounce of Gum Arabic, five ounces of Sugar Candy, and a grated Nutmeg in a bottle of Port wine all night. In the morning, simmer over a slow fire till quite dissolved; then strain and set aside in a cool place till it forms a firm jelly. A piece the size of a nutmeg may be taken five or six times a day. This jelly is admirably suited for cases of debility when the stomach is unable to bear animal food.