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Grains for the Sick

A thickened mixture of wheat gluten, cream, and water served as a nourishing mush.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By E. E. Kellogg · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,034 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: milk, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Also mentioned in the method: wheat, almond

Directions

Make the gluten mush

  1. Heat together a cup of thin cream and three cups of water.

  2. When boiling, sift in lightly with the fingers, stirring continuously meanwhile, enough wheat gluten to make a mush of the desired consistency.

  3. Boil up once and serve.

  4. A few blanched or roasted almonds may be stirred in just before serving, if desired.

Make the tomato version

  1. Heat a pint of stewed tomato, which has been rubbed through a fine colander to remove the seeds, to boiling.

  2. Add salt to season.

  3. Add three tablespoonfuls of gluten meal.

  4. Boil together for a moment until thickened.

  5. Serve hot.

Make the second tomato version

  1. Heat a pint of stewed tomato, rubbed through a fine colander to remove the seeds, to boiling.

  2. Add salt to season.

  3. Add five tablespoonfuls of gluten meal.

  4. Season with two tablespoonfuls of rather thick, sweet cream.

  5. Boil together for a moment until thickened.

  6. Serve hot.

By E. E. Kellogg. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Cream + tomatotop 21% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together2,034 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Wheat gluten meal
Thickens the liquid into a mush as it boils and sets as it cools.
Thin cream
Adds richness and a soft, smooth body to the mush.
Stewed tomato
Provides the main liquid and a bright, acidic flavour to the tomato versions.
Rather thick sweet cream
Adds richness and a smoother, creamier mouthfeel when stirred in as seasoning.

The step that matters

Sift the gluten in slowly while stirring. Adding gluten meal to boiling liquid all at once or without stirring can form lumps, because the starch and protein clump before they disperse. Sifting lightly while stirring continuously spreads the particles so they thicken evenly.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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