As the author of this diet advises all his patients to
live upon the plainest food, and to eschew, as far as pos-
sible, all condiments, it may be thought that in many of
the recipes which follow, the authors have paid too much
attention to making the dishes resemble those containing
meat, fish, &c. This has been done, however, to help
those who, having lived up to middle age upon highly
seasoned and stimulating foods, find it difficult, if not
impossible, at first, to give up condiments ; and it has
been thought better to wean them from the old diet in
this way, rather than to allow them to suffer from loss
of appetite, and its consequences. Although other
condiments have been given in the recipes, salt has been
omitted ; because the author is of opinion that it causes
retention of uric acid. If, however, patients, at first,
find that they cannot do without it, their cooks can
easily add what they require.
There are many dishes amongst the various recipes
given which will not be suitable to all digestions ; but,
as patients are the best judges themselves of what they
b
X
THE APSLEY COOKERY BOOK
are able to digest, there is a large variety given them
to select from. Most patients will do well to leave out
any dish containing tomato during the very cold
weather, or to choose those only which contain a large
proportion of potato, to counteract the acid of the
tomato. It is well also to remember in arranging a
dinner, that if there is any acid in the savoury the
Bweet would be better without fruit. A few Menus have
been arranged to give patients an idea what to choose
for dinner, &c.; and a little intelligent attention to
these, and to the table of food values, ought to make it
easy for any patients to cater for themselves, without
running any great risk of either over or under feeding.
The number of grains of albumen contained in some of
the dishes is given with the recipes for the same, and
these will no doubt help the patients in any calculations
they may wish to make of the food value of other dishes.
Intelligence, however, must be brought to bear upon
the subject; the patients who “have minds above such
vulgar details1’ will come badly oft* upon this diet,
unless they are fortunate enough either to have some one
about them whose minds wrill bend to “ vulgarities,” or
appetites and digestions so good, that they can live
upon the simpler forms of food, upon which it would be
impossible for any normal being to over feed.
To those whose attention has been directed to the
nourishing values of foods, apart from the “ Uric-acid-
free ” diet, the amount of ignorance displayed, by those
whose d'lty it should be to guide others, is astonishing.
For instance, how often one hears of medical men telling
their patients to take “ as much milk as they can
drink ! ” without inquiring whether they happen to be
INTRODUCTION
xi
Page 1
Presented as published in 1905. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
As the author of this diet advises all his patients to live upon the plainest food, and to eschew, as far as possible, all condiments, it may be thought that in many of the recipes which follow, the authors have paid too much attention to making the dishes resemble those containing meat, fish, &c. This has been done, however, to help those who, having lived up to middle age upon highly seasoned and stimulating foods, find it difficult, if not impossible, at first, to give up condiments ; and it has been thought better to wean them from the old diet in this way, rather than to allow them to suffer from loss of appetite, and its consequences. Although other condiments have been given in the recipes, salt has been omitted ; because the author is of opinion that it causes retention of uric acid. If, however, patients, at first, find that they cannot do without it, their cooks can easily add what they require.
There are many dishes amongst the various recipes given which will not be suitable to all digestions ; but, as patients are the best judges themselves of what they
b
are able to digest, there is a large variety given them to select from. Most patients will do well to leave out any dish containing tomato during the very cold weather, or to choose those only which contain a large proportion of potato, to counteract the acid of the tomato. It is well also to remember in arranging a dinner, that if there is any acid in the savoury the Bweet would be better without fruit. A few Menus have been arranged to give patients an idea what to choose for dinner, &c.; and a little intelligent attention to these, and to the table of food values, ought to make it easy for any patients to cater for themselves, without running any great risk of either over or under feeding. The number of grains of albumen contained in some of the dishes is given with the recipes for the same, and these will no doubt help the patients in any calculations they may wish to make of the food value of other dishes. Intelligence, however, must be brought to bear upon the subject; the patients who “have minds above such vulgar details' will come badly off upon this diet, unless they are fortunate enough either to have some one about them whose minds wrill bend to “ vulgarities,” or appetites and digestions so good, that they can live upon the simpler forms of food, upon which it would be impossible for any normal being to over feed.
To those whose attention has been directed to the nourishing values of foods, apart from the “ Uric-acidfree ” diet, the amount of ignorance displayed, by those whose d'lty it should be to guide others, is astonishing. For instance, how often one hears of medical men telling their patients to take “ as much milk as they can drink ! ” without inquiring whether they happen to be