Veal
Veal may be occasionally added to the hospital menu for variety, but because of the excessive proportion of bone it is not considered an economical meat to be used in any quantity. It is also believed to be more difficult of digestion than most other meats.
Mutton will perhaps rank next to beef for hospital uses, and like beef it differs greatly in quality. The fibre is shorter and more tender, and the color of both the lean and fat of mutton somewhat darker than that of beef. Good mutton should have a sprinkling of fat, but excess of fat should be guarded against. An entire carcass should be purchased at one time, cutting it as required.
Chickens
In selecting chickens for the hospital, both young and old fowls will be needed. For broths and jelly an old fowl, not too fat, is preferable. Where the meat of the chicken is the substance wanted, a fowl of from one to two years old should be purchased. The proportion of bone to meat in chickens under that age makes them quite an expensive commodity. To ascertain if the meat is tender try the skin under the wing or leg. If the joint of the wing yields readily or breaks it is tender.
Fish
Fish help to supply the demand for variety in the diet, which is more important in dealing with the capricious appetites of invalids than with those in health. The different varieties vary greatly in nutritive value, in flavor, and also in digestibility, owing largely to the proportion of fat. The amount of bone in proportion to the meat in most ordinary fresh fish makes them a trifle more expensive than most meats, steak and fowl being excepted. Because of their strong odor, which would require for them an entirely separate storage receptacle, it is better to buy them each day as needed. Salmon is considered more rich in nutrition than most other varieties of fish, and the oily or coarser grained species more nutritious than the white or finer grained, although the latter have the more delicate flavor and are easier of digestion. In choosing the fish, if the gills are a bright, clear red, the body firm and stiff, the odor not disagreeable, the fish may be accepted as in good condition.
Pork
Pork will occasionally have to be purchased, even in a hospital. In spite of the fact that it is more difficult of digestion than many other forms of animal food, and of the adverse criticisms heaped upon it, most people in their secret heart (or stomach) are fond of a bit of good ham. Ham and bacon are more suitable for use in a hospital than fresh pork. The lean of ham should be a deep pink, and excess of fat should be avoided. Bacon should be quite thoroughly mottled with both fat and lean. Care should be taken that the ham and bacon have been cured and prepared for market by a reliable firm, and that they are protected from dust and kept in a cool place.
Butter