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Rice Caudle, Savoury
Soak two table-spoonfuls of rice in a cupful of cold water for an hour. Drain it, and put it in a saucepan with three-quarters of a pint of milk and three-quarters of a pint of good stock. It turnips have been boiled in the stock so much the better. Add half a tea-spoonful of chopped onion and a little pepper and salt, and boil the rice till it is tender. Pulp it through a sieve, boil it up again, and serve. Be particularly careful that the milk does not boil over, and in order to prevent this stir it if necessary. A little of the fat left on the top of the broth, or a small slice of butter, will help to keep the rice from burning. Time, one hour to one hour and a half.
A sick-room drink rather than a soup course: thin, mild, and meant to be sipped from a cup. A few Victorian conventions need translating before it behaves on a modern hob.
- Imperial pintsThree-quarters of an imperial pint is 15 fl oz, about 425 ml. So roughly 13/4 US cups each of milk and stock, giving around 850 ml of liquid to two tablespoons of rice.
- "It turnips" is a typoThe line should read "If turnips have been boiled in the stock." The point is that turnip water sweetens and thins the broth, which suits an invalid's palate.
- TimingAn hour to an hour and a half probably reflects the rice available and the very low heat kept under a milk pan. Modern long-grain or pudding rice will usually soften into the liquid in 25 to 35 minutes at a bare simmer; judge by the grain, not the clock.
- Scorching is the real hazardMilk and stock together catch on the base before the rice is done. Use a heavy pan, keep the heat low enough that the surface only shivers, and stir the bottom every few minutes. The butter or broth fat the recipe suggests genuinely helps.
- Sieving"Pulp it through a sieve" means pushing the grain through with the back of a spoon so the drink is smooth. A stick blender does the same in seconds, though a brief pass through a sieve afterwards catches any bran.
- Stock"Good stock" here means home-made broth, where you control the seasoning. A shop carton or cube may leave the finished caudle too salty as it cooks down; taste before adding any salt.
- YieldEnough for about two large cupfuls. It thickens as it cools and may want thinning with a little more hot milk on reheating.
A caudle was a warm, thickened drink given to the sick and to women lying in after childbirth, and for most of its long English life it was sweet: gruel or breadcrumbs with ale or wine, sugar, and spice. By the late nineteenth century the ale had largely gone and medical fashion is often said to have turned towards nourishing, unstimulating liquids, which is how a savoury version made with stock and milk comes to sit alongside beef teas, barley waters and arrowroot. The suggestion that turnip water improves it belongs to the same thinking ead mmildness and digestibility above flavour, and rice pulped through a sieve was considered about as gentle as solid food could get.