Cooking by Troops, for Camp and Hospital

by Florence Nightingale

Directions for Cooking in Camp

No. 1.

COFFEE FOR ONE HUNDRED MEN, ONE PINT EACH.

Put 12 gallons water into a suitable vessel (or divide if necessary), on the fire; when boiling, add 3 lbs. ground coffee, mix well with a spoon; leave on the fire a few minutes longer; take it off, and pour in ½ a gallon cold water; let it stand till the dregs subside, say from 5 to 10 minutes; then pour off and add 6 lbs. sugar. If milk is used, put in 12 pints, and diminish the water by that amount.

No. 2.

FRESH BEEF SOUP FOR ONE HUNDRED MEN.

Take 75 lbs. beef; cut into pieces of about ¼ lb. each; 15 gallons water; 8 lbs. mixed vegetables; 10 small tablespoonfuls salt; 2 small tablespoonfuls ground pepper; some cold bread, crackers, or 3 lbs. rice, to thicken; place on the fire; let it come to a boil; then simmer for 3 hours. Skim off the fat and serve.

No. 3

SOYER'S STEW FOR ONE HUNDRED MEN.

Cut 50 lbs. fresh beef in pieces of about ¼ lb. each, and with 18 quarts of water put into the boiler; add 10 tablespoonfuls of salt, two of pepper, 7 lbs. onions, cut in slices, and 20 lbs. potatoes peeled and sliced; stir well, and let it boil for 20 or 30 minutes; then add 1½ lbs. flour previously mixed with water; mix well together, and with a moderate heat simmer for about two hours. Mutton, veal or pork can be stewed in a similar manner, but will take half an hour less cooking. A pound of rice or plain dumplings may be added with great advantage.

No. 4.

SUET DUMPLINGS.

Take 10 lbs. flour, 15 teaspoonfuls of salt, 7 of ground pepper, 7 lbs. chopped fat pork or suet, 5 pints water; mix well together; divide into about 150 pieces; which roll in flour, and boil with meat for 20 or 30 minutes.—If no fat or suet can be obtained, take the same ingredients, adding a little more water, and boil about 10 minutes. Serve with the meat.

No. 5.

TO FRY MEAT.

Place your pan on the fire for a minute or so; wipe it clean; when the pan is hot, put in either fat or butter (fat from salt meat is preferable); then add the meat you are going to cook; turn it several times, to have it equally done; season to each pound a small teaspoonful of salt and a quarter of pepper. A few onions in the remaining fat, with the addition of a little flour, a quarter pint of water, two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, or a few chopped pickles, will be very relishing.

No. 6.

TO COOK SALT BEEF OR PORK.

Put the meat, cut in pieces of from 3 to 4 lbs., to soak the night before; in the morning wash in fresh water, and squeeze well with the hands to extract the salt; after which, put in your kettle with a pint of water to each pound, and boil from 2 to 3 hours.

No. 7.

SALT BEEF OR PORK, WITH MASHED BEANS, FOR ONE HUNDRED MEN.

Put in two vessels 37½ lbs. meat each; divide 24 lbs. beans in four pudding cloths, loosely tied; putting to boil at the same time as your meat, in sufficient water; let all boil gently for two hours; take out the meat and beans; put all the meat into one boiler, and remove the liquor from the other; into which turn out the beans; add to them two teaspoonfuls of pepper, a pound of fat, and with the wooden spatular mash the beans, and serve with the meat. Six sliced onions fried and added improves the dish. [Note.—In cooking all kinds of meat, be careful to preserve the grease, which can be easily done by putting the liquor in which it is boiled, by till it cools; then skim off and place in a clean covered vessel. It is an excellent substitute for butter; is useful for cooking purposes, and will burn in a common lamp or tin plate with a piece of old cotton twisted up for a wick.]