After the twelfth edition from 1938, the next book in the records of the Queen’s College is The New Revised Edition of the Glasgow Cookery Book, published in 1951. As you can see from the pictures below, compared to earlier editions there are changes in the layout and appearance of the cookbook, with a different contents page structure and a different font throughout. These formal differences were likely because this is the first edition in the GCB collection that was printed by John Smith, rather than N Adshead & Son, and so with a new publisher came a new look.
It wasn’t just the appearance that had changed between these editions, however. There are quite substantial changes to the Invalid Recipes included in the text.
The recipes in this edition were ordered as such:
- Beef Tea (Slow Way)
- Beef Tea (Quick Way)
- Beef Tea (Quicker Method)
- Raw Beef Tea
- Invalid Mutton Broth
- Gruel
- Linseed Tea
- Cup of Arrowroot
- Egg Flip
- Junket
- Liver Cocktail
- Orange Juice and Liver Cocktail
- Apple Water
- Barley Water
- Barley Water, Clear (Quick Method)
- Black Currant Drink (For Colds)
- Lemonade
- Wine Whey
- Beef Tea Custard
- Breadberry
- Chicken Jelly
- Chicken Padana
- Chop (Steamed)
- Baked Fish
- Grilled Fish
- Steamed Filleted Fish
- Invalid Fruit Tart
- Invalid Jelly
- Irish Moss Jelly
- Milk Jelly
- Raw Beef Sandwiches
There are 31 invalid recipes in the new revised edition, compared to the 24 which had been printed from the fifth edition onwards. The recipes that were retained stayed the same as they had been in previous editions, with the same ingredients and instructions, and so even though this text shows substantial changes there was still a stability in the core approach to invalid cookery. The seven new recipes are for ‘Junket’, ‘Liver Cocktail’, ‘Orange Juice and Liver Cocktail’, ‘Barley Water’, ‘Barley Water, Clear (Quick Method)’, ‘Black Currant Drink (For Colds)’, and ‘Chicken Jelly’. These recipes follow the general rules of invalid cookery established in previous editions of the cookbook, as they are all for soft foods or beverages. The expansion of the number of invalid recipes demonstrates that invalid cookery was still a key concern for the authors and editors of the GCB, even more so than it had been when the cookbook was first published. Indeed, there is also an increase of information that framed the recipes, instructing readers how they were meant to be used.
At the very beginning of the ‘Invalid Cookery’ chapter is a note that reads: ‘These dishes have been arranged in the order required by an invalid: first of all on a liquid diet, and then on a light diet, and lastly, on a convalescent diet’ (GCB 1951: 306).
This note is interesting for a number of reasons. Firstly, it explains the structuring of the recipes in the chapter, according to their use and place in an invalid’s diet. The order of these recipes has changed slightly since the fifth edition, so that the larger food items like the Chop, and Baked and Steamed fish come in the last third of the chapter rather than close to the beginning. Aside from this, however, the ordering is similar to previous editions, and now readers are provided with an explanation as to why the recipes are grouped as such. This makes it easier for readers to know when to employ a specific recipe depending on what they need – a liquid diet, a light diet, or a convalescent one.
The increased instructions make the cookbook easier for readers to use, and this corresponds with the new publisher and the increasing use of the GCB as a commercial venture: the GCB became one of John Smith’s biggest sellers. In earlier years, when the cookbook was intended as a learning aid for students who were using it in tandem with the cookery course, there would have been no need to explain the ordering of the recipes. They would have been accompanied with in-person instruction, meaning that teachers would have been explaining the logic behind the recipes and where they would fit into the invalid’s diet, able to answer any questions the school’s students may have had. For lay-readers who bought the book without the added instruction of the teaching, the absence of in-person instruction meant they needed more written guidance so they were able to use the recipes in the intended manner and had the knowledge to do so. These additional paratextual instructions (instructions that come outside of the recipes themselves) thus reflect changes in how the GCB was meant to be used – from the publisher’s perspective, in any case. It was moving away from a learning resource that was tied to educational courses, and now positioned as a text that anyone could buy and use, and the structure of the text reflects that.
Aside from the increase of textual framing and the addition to new recipes, the New Revised Edition also contains a note at the end of the Invalid Cookery chapter. It reads:
‘The following dishes are also suitable for invalids or convalescents: –
- Chicken Cream Soup………………………………………………28
- Cocoa………………………………………………………………339
- Coffee………………………………………………………………339
- Tea………………………………………………………………….339
- Custard Puddings…………………………………………………153
- Eggs – Poached……………………………………………………..323
- “ – Scrambled……………………………………………………….324
- “ – Soft Boiled………………………………………………………324
- Cold Sweets (excluding Pastry)……………………………………..182
- Fish, Baked in Milk…………………………………………………37
- “ in Custard………………………………………………………….51
- “ Mould………………………………………………………………53
- “ Pudding.…………………………………………………………….41
- “ Soufflé…………………………………………………………….51
- “ Sole à la Crème……………………………………………………47
- Calf’s Foot Jelly…………………………………………………….193
- Jellies………………………………………………………………..191
- Milk Puddings………………………………………………………150
- Soufflés………………………………………………………………167
- Sweetbreads à la Crème………………………………………………78
- Tripe……………………………………………………………..…316’ (GCB 1951: 316).
This note extends the discourse of invalid cookery into the rest of the GCB. Rather than just confining invalid recipes to the specific chapter, this note directs the reader to other recipes throughout the cookbook that they can also prepare for people who are ill. In keeping with the focus on liquid, light, or convalescent diets, all of these recipes were for beverages like cocoa or coffee, soups and soft foods like scrambled eggs, jellies, puddings, or light dishes like Fish Pudding.
By giving the reader more options when it came to invalid cookery, it meant they could increase their repertoire and also cook dishes from other chapters of the cookbook for themselves and the invalids they were preparing food for. This made invalid cookery more accessible, far-reaching, and also made the GCB a more flexible text that could be used by readers in multiple ways. You can see how the widened approach to invalid cookery was developed in later copies of the GCB by clicking through the links for the later editions here.
Dishes for the Sick Room 