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Poultry, for the Sick
Boil or roast a fowl in the usual way. As it is not likely that a sick person will eat the whole at one time, cut off as much as is required for present use, and put the rest aside. As much as it is thought will be used may be cut off as it is wanted, and warmed up in two or three ways, as follows. Wrap the joint in oiled paper, lay it on a hot gridiron, and warm it gently over a clear fire. Serve it with a little light gravy for sauce. Or broil it without the paper. Or put it in a stewpan, barely cover with a little cold broth, and heat it very gently over a moderate fire. Or put an ounce of Carolina rice into a stewpan with half a pint of stock, and let it simmer gently until the rice is quite tender and the liquid absorbed. If it is very dry, put two more spoonfuls of stock with it, lay the piece of bird upon the rice, and let it remain a few minutes until it is quite warm. Serve the rice, fowl, and gravy together. When an invalid finds it difficult to masticate food, the fowl may be prepared as follows. Pick the meat from a cold roast or boiled chicken, and carefully remove every little piece of skin, gristle, or sinew. Mince finely, and, if liked, season with pepper, salt, and pounded mace. Generally speaking, however, it is best to defer seasoning the food which is intended for the sick, as their fancies vary so much, and they very often exceedingly dislike flavoured dishes. Put the bones and trimmings of the bird into a stewpan, with a bunch of parsley and a little pepper and salt, and let them simmer gently until the gravy is considerably reduced. When the mince is wanted, put a little of it into a clean stewpan, strain a small quantity of gravy over it, thicken it or not, according to taste, with a little flour and butter, let it get quite hot, and serve immediately.
This is less a single dish than a set of instructions for getting several meals out of one bird for someone with a poor appetite. The techniques still work; only the storage assumptions need rethinking.
- Refrigerate between servingsThe original assumes a cool larder and a bird eaten over a day or so. Cooked chicken should be chilled within two hours of cooking and used within three or four days, and each portion reheated once only, to steaming hot throughout.
- Oiled paperGreaseproof or parchment paper brushed with a neutral oil. It shields the meat from direct radiant heat so the outside does not dry and scorch before the centre warms. Foil will do the same job, though it browns less.
- Gridiron over a clear fireA clear fire is one burnt down to glowing coals with no smoke or flame. The nearest modern equivalent is a ridged grill pan over low-to-moderate heat, or a grill set well away from the element.
- Carolina riceA long-grain white rice, historically from the South Carolina lowcountry and prized for cooking to separate, tender grains. Any long-grain white rice stands in. An ounce is about two tablespoons, and half a pint of stock is 10 fl oz in British measure, roughly 1 1/4 US cups — generous for the rice, which is the point, since the grains should absorb it all.
- A moderate fireFor the stewpan methods, read this as low heat. The gentle warming matters: cooked chicken breast reheated at a rolling simmer turns fibrous and squeaks against the teeth.
- The bone gravySimmering the carcass and trimmings with parsley carries most of the flavour, since the recipe advises deferring seasoning in most cases. Reduce it to a small quantity of concentrated liquid; a couple of hours is generally enough for chicken bones.
Sections on invalid cookery were a common feature of large Victorian household manuals, and Cassell's is no exception: before hospitals took over the care of the seriously ill, feeding a convalescent was a domestic skill, and the family cook was expected to produce small, bland, easily chewed dishes at unpredictable hours.