I mentioned that I’d had a touch of the lurgy, a non-definable feeling of bleagh, tired, muddled-headed, annoying cough, floppy… luckily I can just take to my bed, doze, drink tea, lounge about, as at the moment we’ve not got much happening. I did rouse myself for the pub quiz last night, and that, the company, and a couple of glasses of wine certainly improved things.
I’ve not really fancied much to eat, fruit, toast, tea and coffee, and I certainly don’t think any “invalid dishes” from various nineteenth century cookery books would have appealed. In fact the idea of special foods for poorly people continued into the twentieth century and probably up to the 1950’s. I must do some research on that!
I am looking at a recipe book I have, which was published for or by Brown and Polson a well-known corn-flour manufacturer, and you can read about the origins of their business here:
https://www.paisley.org.uk/2016/08/brown-polson-paisley-boom-bust/
The little old book I have is ‘Light Fare Recipes for Corn Flour and Raisley Cookery’ (Raisley was a raising agent added to flour) The invalid recipes I can choose from are:
- Creamed toast
- Milk soup
- Jelly for Invalids
- Simple Baked Pudding
- Corn Flour Custard Pudding
- Corn Flour Soufflé
- Corn Flour Blancmange
- Corn Flour Blancmange with Egg
- Corn Flour Blancmange with Sponge
- Custard Shape
- Simple Trifle
I don’t really fancy any of these, even if I was feeling bright and perky instead of dull and peaky, but I can imagine in the past something like this would have been comforting and would keep the patient’s strength up. I think I will just have a cup of tea and a piece of toast!! Obviously my toast will be just toast and not creamed toast (whatever that is!!)
Lois Elsden 
Oooh I haven’t had blancmange for years, or milk jelly. I used to love them!
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I was never very keen on blancmange after a dinner lady made me stay in all dinnertime because I wouldn’t finish it. I remember my tears dripping onto my plate – I usually went home for dinner but Mum was ill with scarlet fever.
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aw, those dinner ladies were mean! I especially loved the thick slab of skin on top of the blancmange and used to peel it off and scoff it!
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They were! I like the skin off custard, so when I had school dinners later on my bowl was almost full from others who hated it! Did I ever mention a friend and I had a prune eating competition one dinner time because everyone but us hated them – obviously I won!!! And no, there were no unpleasant consequences, I obviously have an iron stomach!
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Get better soon! Indeed, those recipes sound pretty disgusting… I prefer home-made chicken broth, or hot lemon with fresh root ginger (peeled and boiled in the water that you add to the lemon juice) and honey; also, pears, peeled, halved and boiled for 5 minutes with enough water to cover them, grated root ginger and a tiny pinch of salt.
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Thank you – that is a brilliant idea and a delicious and soothing sounding recipe! We are lucky that we have a little shop in our village so I can send my husband or son out for some lemons tomorrow. I’m not sure they have pears though, I might have to send them further afield! Thank you x
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