Recipes from Disaster - Part 2© John Barham
Jul 22, 2005
Lord Panmure received Alexis Soyer with the bluff cordiality he reserved for such as this longstanding and respected acquaintance, although perhaps underlining his more elevated status in turning up half an hour late. He was of course keen to know how Alexis intended to tackle the nutrition problems at the Scutari hospitals.
Alexis, for all his flamboyance and eccentric manner, was no fool. He knew that by going public with his offer to go to the war zone, his reputation and track record from Dublin would virtually guarantee him the right to name his terms from the beleaguered government. He was also acutely aware that the celebrity status which he held so dear would probably not survive an ignominious failure. So it was with both confidence and a spirit of no compromise that he demanded of Panmure the right to immediate use of any foodstuffs stored in the hospitals, and the power to order the Commissariat and Purveyor's Departments to purchase immediately other foodstuffs and items which he might find necessary. In return he would endeavour to keep expenditure to current levels or less, utilising the existing ration scales as far as consistent with the overall objective of producing a effective hospital diet. He stressed that he was aware of the sensitivities of the hospital staff, and he promised never to act in isolation from the medical authorities, and that no new diet would be introduced without the knowledge and approval of the Chief Medical Officer. He outlined his initial plan to start with a base of two hundred patients and to put them on his diet for a week or so to allow for medical assessments; if favourable he would gradually increase numbers until the whole hospital diet was under his direction. Lord Panmure, his nickname 'the Bison' appropriately mirroring his craggy features and burly stature, as well as a somewhat bovine deliberation of movement and - as some less charitable spirits claimed - also of thought, found Soyers demands and intended method of operating perfectly reasonable and acceptable. He promised to issue the necessary instructions and letters of introduction, and suggested that after finishing at Scutari, Soyer should go to the Crimea to teach the soldiery how to make better use of their rations. Alexis said he feared that this would be impossible whilst the troops continued to be forced to use the issue cooking kettles which were far too small and used too much fuel.
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