Eggs are another of the valuable tissue-building foods in constant demand in hospitals. For fully eight months of the year they can be bought at moderate prices, and considering their great nutritive value are not an expensive form of food. Because of the ease with which they are digested by most invalids, and the great variety of ways in which they may be served, they fill a very important place in the hospital menu. It is said that there are more than five hundred different ways of preparing eggs. The purchase of them is, however, attended with some uncertainty. Many tests for detecting the quality are in use by experts. The “candling” test consists in holding the egg against a light between the eye and the sun. The perfectly fresh, good egg will appear clear and unclouded and the yolk can be perceived. If decomposition has begun, it will appear dark colored. Changes in the appearance of the shell as shown by comparison of fresh and stale eggs are sometimes helps in detecting the quality.
Where a hospital has an adequate cooling space, undoubtedly the more economical method of buying is by the crate and in sufficient quantity to last several months. Some institutions lay in a year’s stock, buying always in April, which, it is stated, is the only month in which it is wise to buy eggs for storage. In a cooling room in which the atmosphere is sweet and pure, a temperature of 34 F. will preserve eggs for a year with very little appreciable change in quality.
Even when the price of eggs is from twenty-five to thirty cents a dozen, they are not more expensive than many other forms of animal food—notably beefsteak—and when served in the form of omelettes, scrambled or creamed eggs where other substances are added to compose the dish their cost in a meal is less than steak.
Economy and Care
In arranging a hospital dietary the comparative cost of food should always be borne in mind, and where food of cheaper material supplies the place of the more costly, the cheaper should have the preference. If, when eggs are high-priced, the housekeeper could arrange to economize in their use in desserts and cake rather than in their use as meat substances, it will be in the long run the more sensible plan. However, desserts in a hospital and desserts in a home are two different things. The so-called dessert in a hospital often forms the meal for the patient with weakened digestive powers, and in such cases eggs must be used, be the price high or low. For the healthier members of the hospital family, fruits and desserts made without eggs can be depended on to take the place of desserts requiring eggs when the latter are expensive. In storing eggs, the housekeeper should remember that the shell of an egg is not impervious, and if placed long in contact with apples, onions or other substances of decided flavor the odor can be detected in the egg when cooked. Another point to be remembered is that an egg kept in a refrigerator will take longer to boil than if kept in a room at the ordinary temperature. When dealing with impaired appetites and weakened digestive powers these so-called minor points have special importance.
Meat
Meat is the most expensive article of food in a hospital, and for this reason the art of buying requires real study. The flesh of animals seems to be especially adapted to contribute to the building up and maintenance of the organic structure of the human system, but owing to the absence of starch is not to be depended on to produce force or energy. Meats are generally believed to be easier of digestion than vegetable foods. The chemical ingredients are much like the various substances of the human system, and are therefore more quickly acted upon and made ready for absorption. A certain woody fibre often surrounds the nutritive ingredient of the vegetable and renders it more resistive to the action of digestive fluids.
Beef
Beef is believed to be the most nutritious of all animal foods, and that which seems to be most in demand in a hospital. It is a meat in which quality varies greatly, and much care needs to be used in its selection. The age of the animal, the method used in feeding it, the condition when slaughtered, and the length of time since slaughtering took place, all affect the quality and flavor. The flesh of a young animal is more tender, but lacks the flavor found in the flesh of older animals. A larger relative proportion of bone is found also in younger animals. The best beef is usually obtained from animals of from three to six years of age. When the cooling facilities are adequate, at least a side of beef should be purchased at one time. Most meats improve by being kept a reasonable length of time. In a hospital the various parts, even much of the so-called refuse of the butchers, can be utilized where several classes of diets have to be arranged daily, and a great saving of money effected by buying in quantity. This will be clearly shown by comparison if each part has to be bargained for separately. In order to guard against waste and use the meat to the best advantage, some system and skill in cutting will be needed. The accompanying diagram shows the different cuts into which the side may be divided, providing the largest amount of good cuts and with the least refuse. A good quality of beef from an animal three or four years old should show elasticity on being pressed with the finger; it should have a fair sprinkling of creamy-looking fat, the lean portion should be a deep red and of a rather fine fibre. Coarse fibre usually means poor flavor. Tough beef is usually darker in color, the proportion of fat will be less, the fat instead of being a creamy white will be a decided yellow and the fibre coarse.
