Florence Nightingale's Holiday Menu

Cheery invalid recipes that will hearten body and soul!

When several people in the household—including yourself—are stumbling about with 102-degree fevers and boxes of Paxlovid and bottles of Mueslix instead of cookies and eggnog crowd the kitchen counter, then you may find yourself bewailing that the holiday table is lost again for another year. Do not despair! Haul out several of your 18th and 19th century cookbooks and turn to the chapter entitled Invalid Cooking.

You mustn’t think that recipes conceived specifically for sick people cannot be delicious, certainly not festive. The whole principal behind Invalid Cooking is to offer nothing but the best and with the most joy—the freshest ingredients carefully cooked and served on your prettiest china upon your (uncharastically ironed) linen tablecloth and napkin, perhaps with fresh flowers, always with encouraging humor. The art of feeding the sick is all about seducing whatever senses are working and tempt them into enjoy eating again. Further incentives for weaving Invalid Cooking into your holiday menus is that quite a few contain our ancestral cooks’ favorite ingredients—wine and brandy.

A Short History of Invalid Cooking

Up until the early years of the 20th century, cookery and household guidance books contained a section called Invalid Cooking containing recipes expressly to feed the sick. At a time when there wasn’t always a trained doctor nearby and hospitals were thought of as places to die rather than heal, caring for the sick took place at home, usually under the administration of women. Coupled with knowing medical procedures, they were taught from generation to generation how to nourish family members through the different stages of illness, especially when the very thought of food was repulsive to their charges. The close observation by a caregiver who personally knew the afflicted and their history was an essential element in the recipes’ power to relieve suffering.

The design of this hospital’s open ward—large windows to let in amble sunlight and cross-ventilation; easily cleaned floors and spaced-out beds to ensure sanitation; the decorative touches of a folding Japanese screen in the background and what looks like a stenciled flower border above the beds, coupled with a central table lined with fresh flowers and foliage to uplift spirits—were uncommon until their introduction by Florence Nightingale.

The recipes and techniques that make up invalid cooking began to recede from practice about the time doctors started to organize into societies, among them the American Medical Association, founded in 1847. A central question engaging the societies’ members was how to ensure their economic fortunes if many people continued to avoid them in favor of being treated by someone at home. The natural solution was to discourage popular reliance on lay caregivers. About this time, Florence Nightingale’s experience of nursing soldiers during the Crimean War led her to begin professionalizing nursing and instituting hygienic changes to the design and maintenance of hospitals that greatly reduced mortality. In 1872, the first nursing school in America opened at the New England Hospital for Women and Children. By the end of the 19th century, rapid advances in medical research and practices began to make old family recipes appear quaint, if not downright foolish.

No matter the circumstances, the holidays are always overwhelming by this point. And now there are only five days left. But consider this: that’s five days to feel better and your temperature is already down to 99-degrees! All is not lost and the following menu will help ease you and your household once more into the season’s spirit.

A note about the recipes: Unless stated, the recipes are as originally written and meant for one serving. Adjust the ingredients according to the number of your under-the-weather guests.

A suggested arrangement for an invalid’s table.

Appertifis
(If preferred, they are fine to make without the wine. Each recipe makes 1 serving.)

Mulled Wine

1 whole clove
1 teaspoon of finely broken stick cinnamon
1/2 pint of water
1 egg
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 half cup of wine

Add the clove and the cinnamon to the water, bring slowly to a boil, and steep for ten minutes. In a bowl, beat the egg until it becomes a light yellow then add the sugar. Add the wine to the steeped water, stir to blend then strain the mixture slowly into the egg and sugar, beating all the while.

Serve immediately.

Alternative to comfort guests with a sore throat:

Cocoa Cordial

1 teaspoon Dutch cocoa
1 teaspoon sugar
½ cup boiling water
1 ½ tablespoons best quality port wine

In a medium-size saucepan, mix together the cocoa and sugar, then add just enough hot water to form a paste.  Stir in the remaining water and bring to a boil for 1 minute.  

Remove from heat and pour into a mug.  Stir in port wine and serve immediately.

Dinner

Lait de Poule

1 egg yolk
½ cup milk (almond or oat milk are very good substitutes for sensitive stomachs) 
½ quart of any good strong broth (store bought stock is fine)

In a medium-size bowl, add the yolk to the milk and beat well until slightly frothy. Heat the broth over a medium flame, then add the yolk mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon. Cook until the egg is set—not runny, but softly scrambled. Serve at once.

Makes 1 serving.

Or, if you’re feeling up to it and have some chicken broth on hand. . . .

Queen Victoria’s Favorite Soup

½ cup crackers or fresh bread crumbs
1 pint sweet cream
1 pint very strong, fresh chicken broth
1 cup chopped chicken breast
3 hard-boiled egg yolks
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Soak the crackers or bread crumbs in half the cream until soft. Meanwhile, bring the broth to a boil in a quart pot and add the chopped chicken. Turn the broth down to a simmer and cook the meat until it is very soft. When the meat is cooked through, mix the cream and bread crumbs into the broth. Press the yolks through a fine sieve directly into the broth. Strain the broth through a colander, pressing the meat and crackers or bread crumbs with the back of a wooden spoon. Add salt and pepper to taste. Return the strained broth to the pot. Add the rest of the cream a little at a time, stirring gently, and bring to a boil. Simmer for five minutes more to heat through.

Makes about 2 generous servings.

Main Course

Supreme of Chicken
If you have one on hand, use a decorative mold. 

1 ground chicken
3 eggs
1 3/4 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until well incorporated. Turn into a  buttered mold. Set it in a pan of hot water and baked in the oven for about 35 to 40 minutes. Test to see if the dish is done by piercing the middle with a long skewer or slender knife. If it comes out clean, remove the mold from the oven. 

To unmold: carefully run a knife around the edges of the mold. Place a dish on top then invert the mold onto the plate. Hopefully it will come out in one piece.

Depending on appetites, this will serve 4 people.

Sauce to accompany the chicken supreme:

Mushrooms in cream

½ pound button mushrooms
½ tablespoon butter
1 ½ tablespoons cream
salt and pepper to taste

Remove the mushrooms' caps from the stems, wash briefly then chop the caps into rough pieces. (Save the stems for making stock.) Melt the butter in a saucepan and sauté the pieces for about three minutes. Add the cream and cook slowly just until the mushrooms are tender. Season with salt and pepper.  

You may pour the sauce over the chicken before serving or present it alongside in a gravy boat. 

Asparagus Salad
½ pound asparagus

Dressing
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of lemon-juice or vinegar
1/4 level teaspoon of salt
A dash of pepper

Lettuce leaves, cleaned, for serving

Boil the asparagus until tender. Drain and let cool while you make the dressing.

Select a small cruet or bottle with a glass stopper. Put in all the ingredients, then shake vigorously for a minute or two until all the ingredients are blended together, The oil and bottle must both be cold. A few drops of mint or onion-juice may be added.

To serve:
Place one lettuce leaf on each guests' plate then layer over it a few stalks of asparagus. It is best when dealing with sensitive stomach to allow guests to pour their own dressing in accordance to how they feel.

Makes 4 servings.

Dessert

Snow Pudding
Perfect for soothing sore throats and calming unsettled stomachs. It is also a fine sleep aid. 

1 packet unflavored gelatin
½ cup cold water
Grated rind from 1/4 of a lemon
1/4 cup sherry or two tablespoons of rum
One or two teaspoons fine sugar
1 egg white
Whipped sweetened heavy cream for serving.

Fill a bowl with ice and set aside.

Soak the gelatin in 2 tablespoons cold water and let it soak for about 5 minutes. 

In a small saucepan, add the grated rind to the cold water and bring to a boil. Pour in the soften gelatin and stir until it is thoroughly dissolved. Add the sugar and then the wine. Cook over a low flame and occasionally stir to make sure the sugar is melting and becoming well incorporated. 

Immediately set the saucepan into the bowl of ice. Stir occasionally until the gelatine is thoroughly cold.  Add the egg white and beat with a hand mixer until the gelatin is perfectly white. Turn into a decorative mold or serving bowl and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. 

If you have used a mold, fill a large pan with warm water and set the mold in the water for about ten seconds. Gently run a damp butter knife around the edges. Dampen a serving dish, place it upside down over the mold and then, while firmly pressing it to the bottom of the mold quickly invert the mold. Shake the ]mold a little and gently lift up.

Serve with the whipped cream on the side in preference to your convalescing guests.

Serves 4.

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Sources
Common Sense in the Household, by Marion Harland (1871)
Food and Cookery for the Sick and Convalescent, by Fannie Farmer (1904)
A Handbook of Invalid Cooking, by Mary Boland Pequignot (1893)
How to Cook for the Sick and Convalescent, by Helena V. Sachse, 1901
Maria Schuyler Sanders Van Rensselaer's Receipt Book, 1768
The Modern Housewife, by Alexis Soyer (1849)
Notes on Fever Nursing, by Dr. James W. Allan (1880)
Notes on Nursing, by Florence Nightingale (1859)
The Nurse’s Guide, and Family Assistant, by Robert Wallace Johnson (1719–20)
Rumford Complete Cook Book, by Lily Haxworth Wallace (1908)