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Peptonised Gruel

A thick gruel mixed with Benger's liquor pancreaticus, boiled, cooled, stirred, and strained.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Peptonised Gruel

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the gruel

  1. Boil the gruel until well cooked and very thick.

  2. Pour into a jug or basin and let it cool to 140°F (60°C).

Peptonise

  1. Stir in the liquor pancreaticus well.

  2. Keep warm under a cozy near the fire for 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on desired peptonisation.

  3. Taste to ensure it does not become too bitter.

Finish and serve

  1. Bring the mixture to a boil and strain.

  2. Serve the strained gruel.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Gruel
Forms the thick, starchy body that the enzymes act on.
Benger's liquor pancreaticus
Pancreatic enzymes break down starch and protein, softening the gruel and building flavour over time.

The step that matters

Taste during the warm rest. The enzymes keep working while the gruel stays warm, and over-breakdown of protein produces bitterness. Tasting during the rest lets the cook judge when to stop. Boiling afterwards halts the enzymes, so the timing must be checked before that step.

“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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