Tisane. Diat Getriinke.

No. 654. - It is the duty of every chief cook to know how to compound and prepare diet drinks, juleps and apozems. Diet drinks, or tisanes, are made for sick persons, to be taken as a refreshment. They should be prepared in such a manner that the taste will be agreeable to the patient. In making diet drinks it is best to use earthen pots. They should not be allowed to draw more than half an hour or they will get too strong and bitter. When flowers, leaves or herbs are used, diet drinks are made by infusion; when roots are used, they are boiled.

The following are the principal plants, roots, flowers, herbs and seeds from which diet drinks are made:

Basil, Sweet,

Barley (heads or crowns),

Beets (white),

Borage,

Brier leaves, Catechu,

Centaury,

Chamomile,

Chervil,

Colt's-foot (flowers),

Colt's-foot (roots), Comfrey (roots),

Coriander (seeds),

Corn Poppy, Corsican Sea Moss, *Crow's-foot,

Elder Tree (flower buds),

Endive,

Fennel, Sweet, *Gentian Root,

Hollyhock,

Horseradish, Iceland Moss,

Juniper Berries,

See description of these in the glossary.

Lettuce, Lichen,

Lime Tree or Linden Tree,

Mallow (flowers),

Malt,

Marsh Mallow, Marsh Trefoil,

Marjoram, Sweet,

Mint,

Mullen,

Oak (common wall Germander), *Orange (blossoms), *Orange (leaves),

Parsley (roots), Pomegranate (roots.)

Rosemary,

Sage,

Sorrel,

Thyme,

Venus hair, *Violet (flowers),

Water Cress, *White Archangel Nettle.

Decoction Of Malt

No. 655. - Malt is barley or other grain steeped in water till it germinates, and then dried in a kiln, thus evolving the saccharine principle. The decoction of malt makes an emollient diet drink of agreeable taste, which is nourishing to a small degree.

Herb Juice

No. 656. - Herb juice is made by combining a variety of herbs and vegetables, such as the endive, water cress, lettuce, chervil, sorrel and white beet. Use equal parts of the herbs or vegetables desired and pound them in a mortar into a fine, homogeneous paste. Then press out or extract the juice. Mix four or five ounces of it in a cup of veal or chicken broth and drink it before breakfast. A spoonful of lime syrup may be added to it. This is a drink that will cleanse the system well.

Iceland Moss, Or Lichen Diet Drink

No. 657. - Put one ounce of Iceland Moss or Lichen into one pound of water, to macerate for twelve hours. Then drain off the water and put the Moss to boil in three pounds of fresh water, letting it boil until one-third of the quantity of water is reduced. Then strain it through a napkin and add one ounce of marsh mallow syrup. This is an emollient drink, and is frequently used for complaints relative to the chest or breast, and for affections of the larynx. It would be advisable to dilute this with one-third of its quantity of cow's milk, if the stomach can stand it.