Chapter IV: Part 4

Baking powder is made from bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and cream of tartar. When these are brought in contact with moisture, carbon dioxid is formed, and, in the effort to escape, it causes the dough to expand and become light. The reason that the cook attempts to bake her biscuits, or anything made with baking powder as quickly as possible, after the baking powder comes in contact with the moisture, is that the dough may have the full effect of the expansion of the gas. If the room in which she mixes her dough is cool, or if her biscuit dough is left in a cool place, this is not important, as heat and moisture are both required for full combustion.

_Macaroni and spaghetti_ are made from a special wheat flour rich in gluten known as Durum. They contain about seventy-seven per cent starch, little fat and little protein. They may take the place of bread, rice or potato at a meal.

* * * * *

=Rice= is a staple cereal in all tropical and temperate climates. It requires special machinery to remove the husk and the dark, outer skin of the kernel. It is seldom eaten within three months after harvesting and it is considered even better after two or three years. It requires thorough cooking.

Unhusked rice is called paddy.

_Wild rice_ is used by the North American Indians. The seeds are longer, thinner and darker, than the tame rice. It is coming into favor as a side dish, but it is served more particularly at hotels in soup and with game.

As previously stated, rice contains a larger proportion of starch than any other cereal and the smallest proportion of protein. Next to rice, in starches, comes wheat flour; yet whole wheat or graham flour contain half as much again of protein.

Because of the quantity of starch in flour, potatoes and rice, it is obvious that one should not eat freely of more than one of these at the same meal, else the digestive organs will be overworked in converting the starch into sugar and the liver overworked in converting the sugar into glycogen and back again into sugar; and the liver will be overloaded in storing it up. By far the best plan is to eat but one cereal at a meal.

Rice contains no gluten, hence it cannot be raised in bread.

* * * * *

=Corn= (maize) is a native of America and has been one of the most extensively used cereals. Corn bread and corn meal mush were important foods with the early settlers, partly because they are nutritious and partly because the corn meal was easily prepared at the mill and was cheap. The germ of the corn is larger in proportion than the germs of other grains, and it contains much fat; therefore it is heating. For this reason, it is strange that corn bread is so largely used by inhabitants of the southern states. It is a more appropriate food for winter in cold climates.

Because of the fat in the germ, cornmeal readily turns rancid, and, on this account, the germ is separated and omitted from many cornmeal preparations.

_Hulled corn_, sometimes called lye hominy, is one of the old-fashioned ways of using corn. In its preparation, the skin is loosened by steeping the corn in a weak solution of lye, which gives it a peculiar flavor, pleasing to many.

_Cornmeal mush_ is a valuable breakfast food.

_Pop corn._ The bursting of the shell in popping corn is due to the expansion of the moisture in the starch, occasioned by the heat.

_Green sweet corn_ does not contain the same proportion of starch as cornmeal, it being, in its tender state, mostly water. It is laxative, because it is eaten with the coarse hull, which causes more rapid peristalsis of the intestines.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Breakfast Foods]

The claims made for various advertised breakfast foods would be amusing if they were not intended to mislead. Nearly all of them have sufficient merit to sell them, if the advertiser confines himself strictly to the truth, but the ever pertinent desire to excel, which is one great incentive to progress, leads to exaggeration. For example: Claim is sometimes made that they contain more nutriment than the same quantity of beef. Reference to above table does not bear out such statement; they contain more starch but less protein. It is also claimed by some advertisers that breakfast foods are brain and nerve foods. The idea that certain foods are brain and nerve foods is erroneous, excepting that any tissue building food (protein) builds nerve and brain tissue as it builds any other tissue. There is a prevalent idea that fish and celery are brain food, but there is no scientific basis for the theory.

The grains commonly used for breakfast foods are corn, oats, rice, and wheat. Barley, and wild rice, millet and buckwheat are used in some sections but not enough to warrant discussion here. Barley is used chiefly for making malt and pearled barley for soups.

The following table, from one of the bulletins published by the United States Department of Agriculture, is interesting from an economical standpoint.

Table VI.

_Comparative cost of digestible nutrients and available energy in different cereal breakfast foods._

————————————————————+—————+———————+———————+——————————————————————————————
| |Cost of|Cost of| Amount for 10 cents
|Price| one |1,000 +———————+————+————+——————+—————
Food Materials | per | pound |calo- | Total |Pro-| |Carbo-|En-
|pound| of |ries |wgt. of|tein|Fat | hy- |ergy
| |protein| of | mate- | | |drates|
| | |energy | rial | | | |
————————————————————+—————+———————+———————+———————+————+————+——————+—————
Oat preparations: | | | | | | | |
Oatmeal, raw | 3 | 0.24 | 1.7 | 3.33 |0.42|0.22|2.18 |5,884
Do | 4 | .32 | 2.3 | 2.50 | .31| .16|1.64 |4,418
Rolled oats, | | | | | | | |
steam cooked | 6 | .48 | 3.4 | 1.67 | .21| .11|1.08 |2,938
Wheat preparations: | | | | | | | |
Flour, Graham | 4 | .40 | 2.6 | 2.50 | .25| .01|1.61 |3,790
Flour, | | | | | | | |
entire-wheat | 5 | .46 | 3.1 | 2.00 | .22| .03|1.36 |3,188
Flour, patent | 3.5| .35 | 2.1 | 2.86 | .29| .03|2.10 |4,700
Farina | 10 | 1.12 | 6.2 | 1.00 | .09| .01| .73 |1,609
Flaked | 15 | 1.69 | 9.3 | .67 | .06| .01| .46 |1,005
Shredded | 12.5| 1.62 | 8.2 | .80 | .06| .01| .57 |1,217
Parched and | | | | | | | |
ground | 7.5| .88 | 4.9 | 1.33 | .11| .02| .94 |2,050
Malted, cooked | | | | | | | |
and crushed | 13 | 1.43 | 8.5 | .77 | .07| .01| .53 |1,175
Flaked and | | | | | | | |
malted | 11 | 1.21 | 7.2 | .91 | .08| .01| .62 |1,389
Barley preparations | | | | | | | |
Pearled barley | 7 | 1.06 | 4.6 | 1.43 | .09| .01|1.04 |2,165
Flaked, steam | | | | | | | |
cooked | 15 | 1.83 | 9.6 | .67 | .05| | .50 |1,051
Corn preparations: | | | | | | | |
Corn meal, | | | | | | | |
granular | 3 | .44 | 1.8 | 3.33 | .23| .06|2.48 |5,534
Hominy | 4 | .62 | 2.4 | 2.50 | .16| .01|1.97 |4,178
Samp | 5 | .78 | 3.0 | 2.00 | .13| .01|1.57 |3,342
Flaked and | | | | | | | |
parched | 13 | 1.73 | 7.5 | .77 | .06| .01| .60 |1,335
Rice preparations: | | | | | | | |
Rice, polished | 8 | 1.48 | 4.7 | 1.25 | .07| | .94 |1,855
Flaked, steam | | | | | | | |
cooked | 15 | 2.31 | 9.8 | .67 | .04| | .51 |1,026
Miscellaneous foods | | | | | | | |
for comparison: | | | | | | | |
Bread, white | 6 | .74 | 5.0 | 1.67 | .14| .02| .87 |2,009
Do | 5 | .62 | 4.2 | 2.00 | .16| .02|1.04 |2,406
Crackers | 10 | 1.10 | 5.3 | 1.00 | .09| .08| .71 |1,905
Macaroni | 12.5| 1.08 | 7.5 | .80 | .09| .01| .58 |1,328
Beans, dried | 5 | .28 | 3.5 | 2.00 | .35| .03|1.16 |2,868
Peas, dried | 5 | .26 | 3.4 | 2.00 | .38| .02|1.20 |2,974
Milk | 3 | .94 | 9.7 | 3.33 | .11| .13| .17 |1,030
Do | 3.5| 1.09 | 11.3 | 2.86 | .09| .11| .14 | 885
Sugar | 5 | | 2.8 | 2.00 | | |2.00 |3,515
Do | 6 | | 3.4 | 1.67 | | |1.67 |2,940
————————————————————+—————+———————+———————+———————+————+————+——————+—————

The less expensive breakfast foods, such as oatmeal and cornmeal, are as economical as flour, and, as they supply heat and energy in abundance, as shown by above table, they should be supplied in the diet in proportion to the energy required. They are easily prepared for porridge, requiring simply to be boiled in water, with a little salt.

For invalids, children and old people, breakfast foods prepared in gruels and porridges are valuable as they are easily digested. All should be thoroughly cooked so as to break the cells enclosing the starch granules.

* * * * *

=Predigested Foods.= Some foods are claimed to be partly digested and thus valuable for those with weak stomachs, but breakfast foods are largely starch and the gastric juices are not active in the digestion of starch. It is digested by saliva and the ferment diastase in the intestines. (Diastase is a ferment of saliva and pancreatic juice, which changes starch into dextrin and maltose, in which form it is more easily acted upon by the intestinal juices.)

Experiments with “predigested” foods do not show a larger proportion of dextrin, however, than would naturally be produced by the heating of the starch, as these foods are being cooked at home. The natural cooking at home makes starch more or less soluble, or at least gelatinized. As a result of these experiments, therefore the “predigested” argument is not given much weight.

Predigested foods, excepting in cases so weak as to be under the direction of a physician, are not desirable. Nature requires every organ to do the work intended for it, in order to keep up its strength, just as she requires exercise for the arms or legs to keep them strong. If an organ is weak, the _cause_ must be found and corrected,—perhaps the stomach or intestines need more blood which should be supplied through exercise; or perhaps the nerves need relaxation; or the stomach less food; or food at more regular intervals.

Another argument against predigested foods lies in the fact that dentists hold that the chewing of coarse food is necessary to keep the teeth strong. For this strengthening of the teeth, children are given dry crackers and dry toast each day.

In the so-called “predigested” or “malted” preparations, malt is added while they are being cooked. Malt is a ferment made from some grain, usually from barley, the grain being allowed to germinate until the ferment diastase is developed.

There is no doubt that a number of foods, containing malt are valuable in the hands of physicians to assist in converting starch into dextrin or sugar, where diastase is not formed in sufficient quantity, just as pepsin is an aid in the digestion of protein,—but eaten indiscriminately, there can be no question that it is more important for the stomach and intestines to perform their natural work and thus keep their strength through normal exercise.

While they are not “predigested,” as claimed, they are, as a rule, wholesome and nutritious. They are cleanly, and made from good, sound grain and they contain no harmful ingredients. Some contain “middlings,” molasses, glucose and similar materials, but these are in no way injurious and have value as foods. The dry, crisp, ready-to-eat foods are especially advantageous because of the mastication they require,—this mastication insuring plenty of saliva being mixed with them to aid in digestion. A dish of such dry breakfast food, well masticated, together with an egg, to furnish a larger proportion of protein, makes a wholesome breakfast.

* * * * *

=Cracked Wheat.= In America wheat is seldom used whole. In England the whole grain, with the bran left on, is slightly crushed and served as cracked wheat or wheat grits.

Wheat is also rolled, or flaked, or shredded. The majority of wheat breakfast foods contain a part of the middlings and many of them bran. Farina and gluten preparations do not contain these, however.

The preparations of the various breakfast foods are a secret of the proprietors. The ready-to-eat brands are cooked, then they are either rolled or shredded, the shredding requiring special machinery to tear the steamed kernels; later they are dried, and, finally packed, sometimes in small biscuits. Many preparations are baked after being steamed, which turns them darker and makes them more crisp. Some preparations are steamed, then run through rollers, while still wet, and pressed into flakes or crackers.

* * * * *

=Oatmeals= are the most nutritious cereals. The oat contains more fat than other grains and a larger proportion of protein. It is, therefore, the best adapted to sustain life in the proportion of nutrient elements. On account of the fat, oats are especially well adapted for a breakfast food in winter. Another advantage oatmeal, or rolled oats, have as a breakfast food is in their laxative tendency, due to the coarse shell of the kernel.

Oat breakfast foods keep longer than the foods made from wheat and rice.

There are no malts, or any mixtures in the oat preparations. The difference between the various oatmeal breakfast foods is in their manner of preparation. They all contain the entire grain, with the exception of the husk. They are simply the ground or crushed oat. In preparing the oats before grinding, the outer hull is removed, the fuzzy coating of the berry itself is scoured off, the ends of the berry, particularly the end containing the germ, which is usually the place of deposit for insect eggs, is scoured, and the bitter tip end of the oat berry is likewise removed.

_Rolled oats_ consist of the whole berry of the oat, ground into a coarse meal, either between millstones, or, in the case of the so called “steel cut” oatmeal, cut with sharp steel knives across the sections of the whole oat groat.

_Quaker Oats_ consist of the whole groat, which, after steaming in order to soften, have been passed between hot steel rolls, somewhat like a mangle in a laundry, and crushed into large, thin, partially cooked flakes. The oats are then further cooked by an open pan drying process. This roasting process insures that all germ life is exterminated, renders the product capable of quicker preparation for the table and the roasting causes the oil cells to release their contents, thereby producing what is termed the “nut flavor,” which is not present in the old fashioned type of oat product.

Both Rolled Oats and Quaker Oats are now partially cooked in their preparation but the starch cells must be thoroughly broken and they should be cooked at least forty-five minutes in a double boiler; or, a good way to prepare the porridge, is to bring it to the boiling point at night, let it stand covered over night and then cook it twenty to thirty minutes in the morning. Another method of cooking is to bring the porridge to the boiling point and then leave it in a fireless cooker over night.

The great fault in the preparation of any breakfast food is in not cooking it sufficiently to break the starch cells.

* * * * *

=Puffed Rice= is made from a good quality of finished rice. The process is a peculiar one, the outer covering, or bran, is removed and then the product is literally “shot from guns;” that is, a quantity of the rice is placed in metal retorts, revolved slowly in an oven, at high temperature, until the pressure of steam, as shown by gauge on the gun, indicates that the steam, generated slowly by the moisture within the grain itself, has thoroughly softened the starch cells. The gun retort is pointed into a wire cage and the cap which closes one end is removed, permitting an inrush of cold air. This cold, on striking the hot steam, causes expansion, which amounts practically to an explosion. The expansion of steam within each starch cell completely shatters the cell, causing the grain to expand to eight times its original size. It rushes out of the gun and into the cage with great force, after which it is screened to remove all scorched or imperfectly puffed grains.

This process dextrinizes a portion of the starch and also very materially increases the amount of soluble material as against the original proportion in the grain.

* * * * *

=Puffed Wheat= is manufactured from Durum, or macaroni wheat, of the very highest grade. This is a very hard, glutinous grain. It is pearled in order to thoroughly clean and take off the outer covering of bran. It then goes through a puffing process, identical with that of Puffed Rice. The chemical changes are very similar to those of puffed rice.

Both Puffed Rice and Puffed Wheat are more digestible than in the original grain state. They are valuable foods for invalids.

* * * * *

=Stale Bread.= A food which tastes much like a prepared breakfast food, but is cheaper, may be made by dipping stale bread into molasses and water, drying it in the oven for several hours, and then crushing it. It is then ready to serve with cream. This is a palatable way to use up stale bread.

* * * * *

=Crackers and Milk or Bread and Milk.= As noted by above table, crackers are similar to breakfast foods in nutrient elements, and with milk make a good food for breakfast, or a good luncheon. Business men, and others who eat hurriedly and return immediately to work, will do well to substitute crackers and milk, or bread and milk, for the piece of pie, which often constitutes a busy man’s lunch.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Cereal Coffees]

According to investigations made by the United States Agriculture Experiment Station, cereal coffees are made of parched grains. A few contain a little true coffee, but for the most part they are made of parched wheat, barley, etc., or of grain mixed with wheat middlings, pea hulls, or corn cobs. There is no objection to any of these mixtures providing they are clean. The cereal coffees, as seen by the following table, contain no more nourishment than the true coffee, but they are probably more easily digested; only a very little of the soluble starch passes into the water. Coffee and tea are not taken for their nutrition, but for their stimulating effect upon the nerves; and, if stimulation is desired, the cereal coffees fall short.

TABLE VII.

_Composition of cereal-coffee infusion and other beverages._

————————————————————————————————————+—————+———————+———+————————+—————
| | | |Carbo- | Fuel
Kind of Beverage |Water|Protein|Fat|hydrates|Value
| | | | | per
| | | | |Pound
————————————————————————————————————+—————+———————+———+————————+—————
Commercial cereal coffee (0.5 ounce | | | | |
to 1 pint water) | 98.2| 0.2 | | 1.4 | 30
Parched-corn coffee (1.6 ounces to 1| | | | |
pint water) | 99.5| 0.2 | | .5 | 13
Oatmeal water (1 ounce to 1 pint | | | | |
water) | 99.7| 0.3 | | .3 | 11
Coffee (1 ounce to 1 pint water) | 98.9| .2 | | .7 | 16
Tea (0.5 ounce to 1 pint water) | 99.5| .2 | | .6 | 15
Chocolate (0.5 ounce to 1 pint milk)| 84.5| 3.8 |4.7| 6.0 | 365
Cocoa (0.5 ounce to 1 pint water) | 97.1| .6 | .9| 1.1 | 65
Skimmed milk | 88.8| 4.0 |1.8| 5.4 | 170
————————————————————————————————————+—————+———————+———+————————+—————

By reference to table VII it will be seen that cocoa and skimmed milk contain much more nutrition than any of the coffees. Their chief value is that they furnish a _warm_ drink with the meal. They should not be too hot.

Barley or wheat, mixed with a little molasses, parched in the oven, and then ground, makes about the same mixture as the cereal coffee.

The old fashioned crust coffee, made from bread crusts, toasted in the oven, is just as nutritious as any of the coffees and has the advantage of being cheaper.

Barley water and oat water, made by boiling the grain thoroughly and then straining, are nourishing foods for invalids and children. They are often used as drinks by athletes and manual laborers, as they have the advantage of both quenching thirst and supplying energy.

Gruels are made in the same way, only strained through a sieve. This process allows more of the starch to pass with the water.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Legumes]

The legumes are the seeds of peas, beans, lentils and peanuts.

While they are seeds, just as the cereals are, they differ in that they contain a very much larger proportion of protein and may be substituted for meat or eggs in a diet. In all vegetarian diets the legumes should be used freely to replace the meat.

All legumes must be thoroughly cooked and thoroughly masticated. Because the protein in these foods is more difficult of digestion than that in meat or eggs, particularly if not thoroughly masticated, they are better adapted for the use of men doing manual labor. Soldiers, day laborers, and others, whose work calls for physical exercise, can digest legumes, when those whose occupation is more sedentary can not do so.

TABLE VIII.—LEGUMES

—————————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+——————————
Food Materials |Water|Protein|Fat |Carbo- | |
| | | |hydrates|Ash |Fuel Value
|Per |Per |Per |Per |Per |per pound
|Cent |Cent |Cent |Cent |Cent |Calories
—————————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+——————————
Dried Legumes: | | | | | |
Navy beans |12.6 | 22.5 | 1.8 | 59.6 | 3.5 | 1,605
Dried Peas | 9.5 | 24.6 | 1.0 | 62.0 | 2.9 | 1,655
Lentils | 8.4 | 25.7 | 1.0 | 59.2 | 5.7 | 1,620
Lima beans |10.4 | 18.1 | 1.5 | 65.9 | 4.1 | 1,625
Peanuts | 9.2 | 25.8 |38.6 | 24.4 | 2.0 | 2,560
Peanut butter | 2.1 | 29.3 |46.5 | 17.1 | 5.0 | 2,825
Fresh Legumes: | | | | | |
Canned peas |85.3 | 3.6 | 0.2 | 9.8 | 1.1 | 255
Canned lima beans |79.5 | 4.0 | 0.3 | 14.6 | 1.6 | 360
Canned string beans|93.7 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 3.8 | 1.3 | 95
Canned baked beans |68.9 | 6.9 | 2.5 | 19.6 | 2.1 | 600
String beans |89.2 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 7.4 | 0.8 | 195
Shelled peas |74.6 | 7.0 | 0.5 | 16.9 | 1.0 | 465
—————————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+——————————

The protein of the legumes is of the same nature as the casein of milk. It has been called vegetable casein.

* * * * *

=Peanuts.= While an underground vegetable, grown like potatoes, peanuts resemble nuts, inasmuch as they contain so much oil. Like other legumes, they require cooking. They are roasted because this develops the flavor.

Because of the proportion of the chemical elements in peanuts, they will sustain life for an indefinite period, without other food, as they provide rebuilding material, energy and heat. Used alone, however, there is no counteracting acid, and it is better to add some fruit, such as apples, or apples and dates.

In eating peanuts it is imperative that they be masticated _until they are a pulp_; otherwise they are very difficult of digestion. The pain which many people experience, after eating peanuts, is probably due to eating too large a quantity and not fully masticating them, forgetting that they are a very rich, highly-concentrated food. Both peanuts and peanut butter contain over twenty-five per cent of protein and a much larger percentage of fat; therefore they yield much heat and energy.

_Peanut Butter._ While peanut butter contains forty-six and one half per cent fat, it contains only seventeen per cent carbohydrates. Since sugars and starches are protections to fat, being used for energy before the fats are consumed, if these sugars and starches are not supplied in other food, the fats in the peanut butter are consumed for energy. If starches _are_ consumed in other foods, it is clear that one who wishes to reduce in flesh should avoid peanut butter, as well as other fats.

Peanut butter is more easily digested than the baked peanut, unless the latter is chewed to a pulp. It can be made at home by grinding the peanuts in a meat grinder and then further mashing with a rolling pin or a potato masher. A little lemon juice mixed with the peanut butter makes it not only more palatable, but more easily digested. A peanut butter sandwich is quite as nourishing as a meat sandwich.

* * * * *

=Shelled Peas.= Shelled peas were used in Europe as far back as in the Middle ages, and there, to-day, the dried or “split” pea is used quite as extensively as the dried bean. In America, peas are used almost entirely in the green stage, fresh or canned.

As seen by Table VIII, the green, shelled pea contains seven per cent protein and sixteen per cent sugar and starch, while the dry or “split” pea contains over twenty-four and a half per cent protein and sixty-two per cent sugar and starch, the difference being in the amount of water in the shelled peas. Canned peas contain even a larger per cent of water.

A variety of green peas is now being cultivated in which the pod of the pea is used, just as the pod of the string bean. It is a sweet and delicious side dish.

_Dry Peas_ are used in this country only by boiling, putting through a sieve, and serving as pureé.

* * * * *

=Beans.= Baked navy beans may well be substituted on a menu for meat, containing, as they do, twenty-two and one half per cent protein. It is needless to state that beans and lean meat or eggs should not be served at the same meal. Beans have the advantage of being cheaper than meat, yet, as stated above, the protein in the legumes is less easily digested than the protein of meat or eggs. They must be thoroughly cooked and thoroughly masticated.

There is but a small percentage of fat in dried beans and for this reason they are usually baked with a piece of pork. They make a very complete, perhaps the most complete food, containing nutrient elements in about the proper proportions. Effort has been made to make a bean cracker for the sustenance of soldiers on a march, thus giving them a complete food in condensed form.

In baking dried beans or peas, soft or distilled water should be used, as the lime of hard water makes the shell almost indigestible. For the same reason salt should be added when the beans are nearly done. If soft water is not obtainable, add a little baking soda, in the proportion of a half a teaspoon to two quarts of water.

_String Beans._ The string bean contains very little nutrient elements, as shown by Table VIII. The pod and the bean, at this unripe stage, are nearly ninety per cent water. Their chief value as a food consists of their appetizing quality to those who are fond of them, thus stimulating the flow of gastric juice. Like all green vegetables, they stimulate the action of the kidneys. For this reason all green vegetables are particularly valuable to those who drink little water.

_Lima Beans._ The dry, shelled bean, used during the winter, boiled and baked is the lima bean.

_Kidney Beans_ contain much water but are more nutritious than the string bean.

_Soy Bean._ In China and Japan this bean is used extensively. Being rich in protein, it makes a well balanced diet with rice.

The soy bean is made into various preparations, one of the most important being _shoyo_, now being introduced into other countries. To make it, the soy bean is cooked and mixed with roasted wheat flour and salt; into this is put a special ferment. It is then allowed to stand for years in casks. The result is a thick, brown liquid with a pungent, agreeable taste. It is very nourishing.

A kind of cheese is also made from boiling the soy bean for several hours, then wrapping the hot mass in bundles of straw, and putting it in a tightly closed cellar for twenty-four hours.

* * * * *

=Lentils= are not commonly used in this country, but they were one of the earliest vegetables to be cultivated in Asia and the Mediterranean countries. They are imported and are found only in the best markets of large cities. They are used in the menu like dried peas and are fully as nourishing, but the flavor of the lentil is pronounced and they are not as agreeable to the average person as peas or beans.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Nuts]

Nuts are classed with the carbo-nitrogenous foods, because of the more nearly equal proportion of proteins and carbonaceous substances.

TABLE IX.—NUTS
——————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+——————————
Food Materials |Water|Protein|Fat |Carbo- | |
| | | |hydrates|Ash |Fuel Value
|Per |Per |Per |Per |Per |per pound
|Cent |Cent |Cent |Cent |Cent |Calories
——————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+——————————
Almonds | 4.8| 21.0 |54.90| 17.3 | 2.0| 3,030
Brazil nuts | 5.3| 17.0 |66.80| 7.0 | 3.9| 3,329
Filberts | 3.7| 15.6 |65.30| 13.0 | 2.4| 3,342
Hickory nuts | 3.7| 15.4 |67.40| 11.4 | 2.1| 3,495
Pecans | 3.0| 16.7 |71.20| 13.3 | 1.5| 3,633
English walnuts | 2.8| 16.7 |64.40| 14.8 | 1.3| 3,305
Chestnuts, fresh | 45.0| 6.2 | 5.40| 42.1 | 1.3| 1,125
Walnuts, black | 2.5| 27.6 |56.30| 11.7 | 1.9| 3,105
Cocoanut, shredded| 3.5| 6.3 |57.30| 31.6 | 1.3| 3,125
Peanuts, roasted | 1.6| 30.5 |49.20| 16.2 | 2.5| 3,177
——————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+——————————

It will be noted, by reference to the table, that nuts contain a much larger proportion of fats and less starch than the legumes. Chestnuts contain the largest amount of starch, pecans the most fat, and roasted peanuts the most protein.

Nuts are a valuable food, but they should be made a part of a meal and may well take the place of meat, because of the large percentage of protein, rather than to be eaten as a dessert. They are too hearty to eat at the end of a meal, after one has eaten as much other food as the system requires. In planning a meal, if the dietary is rich in starches and lacking in protein, a side dish of nuts may be served.

Too great stress cannot be laid upon the importance of the thorough mastication of nuts; otherwise they are difficult of digestion. When thoroughly chewed, however, they are as easily digested as cereals or legumes. If ground fine in a meat grinder or through a sieve, they digest more readily, but this grinding does not take the place of the grinding with the teeth and the mixing with saliva. They are best ground for salads, cake or croquettes.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Milk]

Milk is called a complete food. It is a perfect food for the sustenance of its own species,—the milk of the cow for the calf, the mother’s milk for the infant; yet the milk of the cow is not perfect for the child,—it is lacking in the proper proportion of sugar, and when fed to the child a little sugar is added.

There has been a tendency among certain classes, to recommend an all-milk diet, because the proteins, carbohydrates and fats are in proportion to sustain life indefinitely, but experiments have shown that healthy, digestive organs do their work better when a part of the food is solid. Moreover, if an all-milk diet were followed, the adult, in order to get sufficient nutriment, would be compelled to take a larger proportion of water than necessary, the proportion of water required by the system being about sixty-seven per cent, while milk contains eighty-seven per cent.

In order for the adult to get the proper quantity of carbohydrates and fat, from an all-milk diet, it would be necessary to drink from four to five quarts of milk a day (sixteen to twenty glasses). Therefore, although an exceedingly valuable food, containing nutriment elements for repair and to supply heat and energy for an indefinite time, _milk is not a desirable, perfect food for an adult_.

If the mother’s milk contains eighty-seven per cent water it seems not too much for the infant. Young babies, on a milk diet, are almost always fat. This is not because the fats, sugars and starches are in too large a proportion to the protein, but it bears out the theory, which is fully demonstrated in actual experiments of the writer with over twenty thousand women, that the free drinking of liquid at a meal aids digestion and a better absorption and assimilation of food.

One advantage of drinking milk with the meal, is that it is not taken as cold as water and it supplies a portion of actual food.

TABLE X.

_Milk and Milk Products._

——————————————+———————+————————+——————+———————+———————+———————
Food Materials| Water |Proteins| Fats | Sugar | Salts |Lactic
| | | | | |Acid
——————————————+———————+————————+——————+———————+———————+———————
Milk | 86.8 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 4.8 | 0.7 | ......
Skimmed milk | 88.0 | 4.0 | 1.8 | 5.4 | 0.8 | ......
Buttermilk | 90.6 | 3.8 | 1.2 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 0.3
Cream | 66.0 | 2.7 | 26.7 | 2.8 | 1.8 | ......
Cheese | 36.8 | 33.5 | 24.3 | ......| 5.4 | ......
Butter | 6.0 | 0.3 | 91.0 | ......| 2.7 | ......
——————————————+———————+————————+——————+———————+———————+———————

Reference to the above table shows that the thirteen per cent of organic foods are about equally divided between fat, sugar and protein. The protein is _casein_. There is no starch in milk. The digestive ferment, which acts upon starch, has not developed in the young babe and the infant cannot digest starch. The salts promote the growth of bone.

The fat in milk is in small emulsified droplets within a thin albuminous sheath. When allowed to stand in a cool place it rises to the top.

Besides casein, there is a certain amount of albumen in milk,—about one-seventh of the total amount. This is called lactalbumin.

A part of the digestion of the casein is performed by pepsin in the stomach and a part by the trypsin of the pancreatic juice.

_Digestion of Milk._ The larger part of the digestion of the milk sugar is performed by the pancreatic juice; yet it is partly acted upon by the saliva. There is little chance for the saliva to act upon the milk sugar in the mouth, however, as very little saliva is mixed with the milk. This constitutes another objection to the diet of all milk, and is an argument in favor of drinking milk slowly and holding it in the mouth until it is mixed with saliva. It is one reason, also, why children should be given bread broken in the milk, instead of a piece of bread and a glass of milk. By swallowing the milk slowly, the curds formed in the stomach are smaller and the milk is more thoroughly digested.

When the fat (cream) is removed milk digests more readily, so that in case of delicate stomachs _skimmed milk, clabbered milk or buttermilk_ are often prescribed instead of sweet milk. Boiled milk is also more easily digested by some because of the lactalbumin which is separated and rises to the top in a crinky skum. The casein is also more readily digested in boiled milk, forming in small flakes in the stomach instead of in curds.

When one takes from two to three glasses of milk at a meal, less solid food is needed, because the required nutriment is partially supplied with the milk. One reason why milk seemingly disagrees with many people, is because they lose sight of the fact that milk is an actual food, as well as a beverage and they eat the same quantity of food in addition to the milk that they eat if drinking water. This is the reason that milk seems to make some people bilious and causes constipation. It is due to too much food rather than to any quality in the milk.

Constipation may be occasioned by drinking milk rapidly so that large curds are formed by the acids in the stomach, rendering it difficult of digestion. The constipating effect will be overcome by lessening the quantity of food and by the addition of limewater to the milk.

To prepare limewater put a heaping teaspoon of slaked lime into a quart of boiled or distilled water; put into a corked bottle and shake thoroughly two or three times during the first hour. Then allow the lime to settle, and after twenty-four hours pour or siphon off the clear fluid.

Barley water or oatmeal water added to milk also prevent the formation of curds.

In young babes the milk is curdled, or the casein separated from the water and sugar, not by hydrochloric acid, but by a ferment in the gastric juice, known as rennin. It is the rennin, or rennet, from the stomachs of young calves and young pigs, which is used to coagulate the casein in cheese factories.

Milk is coagulated or curdled by many fruit and vegetable acids, as the housewife well knows, using milk in pies containing certain acid fruits, such as lemons, or in soup containing tomatoes. The hydrochloric acid of the stomach at once causes a similar coagulation, though the curds are tougher and more leathery. The milk forms into curds immediately upon entering the stomach. This is the natural process of milk digestion and is the chief reason why it should be drunk slowly, otherwise the curds will form in too large sizes, thus pressing upon the entrance to the stomach and causing distress. The tough, large curds formed by the hydrochloric acid, are difficult for invalids or for very delicate stomachs to digest.

If an alkali, such as limewater, is added, to neutralize the acids of the stomach, the curds do not form, or are re-dissolved, and digestion is aided. One sixth limewater to five-sixths milk is the proper proportion.

_Milk Tests._ In testing the value of milk, or the value of a cow, butter makers and farmers gauge it by the amount of butter fat in the milk, while the cheese maker tests the milk for the proportion of protein (casein). The amount of butter fat depends upon the feed and water, and upon the breed. The milk from Jersey and Guernsey cows yields about five per cent butter fat. If the total nutrient elements fall below twelve per cent, it is safe to assume that the milk has been watered.

In cheese and butter there is no sugar; it remains in the buttermilk and the whey, both of which the farmer takes home from the factories to fatten his hogs.

_Preserving Milk._ Many forms of bacteria thrive in milk and it is needless to say that the utmost cleanliness should be observed on the part of the dairyman in the care and cleanliness of his cows, in the cleanliness of the milk receptacles, and in the place in which the milk is allowed to stand over night. Care and cleanliness in the home is quite as important.

If milk could be kept free from bacteria, it would keep sweet almost indefinitely. At the Paris Exposition, milk from several American dairies was kept sweet for two weeks, without any preservative, except cleanliness and a temperature of about forty degrees. The United States Bureau of Animal Industry states that milk may be kept sweet for seven weeks without the use of chemicals.

The best method for the housewife to follow is to keep the milk clean, cool, and away from other foods.

_Pasteurized Milk._ In pasteurizing milk the aim is to destroy as many of the bacteria as possible without causing any chemical changes or without changing the flavor. One can pasteurize milk at home by placing it in an air tight bottle, immersing the bottle to the neck in hot water, heating the water to one hundred and forty-nine degrees F for a half hour and then quickly cooling the milk to fifty degrees, by immersing the bottle in cold water. The rapid cooling lessens the cooked taste. Many of the best dairies pasteurize the milk in this way before it is marketed.

_Sterilized Milk._ Milk is sterilized to destroy all bacteria, by boiling it. It must sometimes be boiled one, two or three successive days. Sterilized milk remains sweet longer than pasteurized milk, but more chemical changes are produced and the flavor is changed.

Formerly borax, boric acid, salicylic acid, formalin and salt petre were used to keep the milk sweet, but this adulteration is now forbidden by the pure food laws.

_Malted Milk_ is a dry, soluble food product in powder form, derived from barley malt, wheat flour and cows milk, with the full amount of cream.

The process of the extraction from the cereals is conducted at elevated temperatures so as to allow the active agents (enzymes) of the barley malt to affect the conversion of the vegetable protein and starches. The filtered extract, containing the derivatives of the malt, wheat and the full-cream cows milk, is then evaporated to dryness in vacuo, the temperature being controlled so as to obviate any alteration of the natural constituents of the ingredients and so as to preserve their full physiological values. The strictest precautions are observed to insure the purity of the product. It contains,

Fats 8.75
Proteins 16.35
Dextrine 18.80
Lactose and Maltose 49.15
(Total Soluble Carbohydrates) 67.95
Inorganic Salts 3.86
Moisture 3.06

It is free from germs, the starches and sugars being converted in the process of manufacture in maltose, dextrine and lactose. The fats are in an absorbable condition, and it contains a high percentage of proteins derived from both the milk and the grains, as well as a marked percentage of mineral salts. It is readily soluble in water and is easily digested.

_Smierkase_, made in the home, is coagulated casein. It contains thirty-three per cent protein, twenty-four per cent fat and five per cent salts. The thickening of the milk, or the coagulation of the casein, is like that produced by lactic acid.

_Skimmed Milk_, as shown by the table, contains the same amount of protein as fresh milk, but more sugar and more ash, the difference consisting almost entirely of less fat, which has been removed in the cream.

_Buttermilk._ There is less fat, protein, sugar or ash in buttermilk than in skimmed milk; it is therefore less nourishing but more easily digested. The sugar has partially fermented and the free lactic acid gives the pungent taste. Buttermilk made by lactone tablets and fresh milk is as nourishing and as desirable as that made in the process of butter making, and it has the advantage of being fresh.

_Clabbered Milk._ The casein in clabbered milk coagulates, and, if kept in a hot place, the coagulation continues until the water, sugar and salt are separated. This is the whey, which is fed to hogs,—the sugar fattens them.

_Milk Sugar._ Sugar made from milk is now a commercial factor; it is evaporated and compressed into a fine powder. This powder is used by physicians and druggists in mixing powders, pills, tablets, etc.

_Milk Junket._ The junket tablets, used in milk junket, are milk coagulated by rennet. Flavored milk coagulated by rennet, has not the sour taste of milk coagulated by acid.

_Condensed Milk_ is made by evaporating the water until the milk is reduced to about one fourth its volume. It is then sterilized and hermetically sealed. It is convenient for use, wherever fresh milk cannot be obtained, but the process of evaporation changes its flavor so that few care for it as a drink. It makes a good substitute for cream in coffee, and diluted with three times its volume in water, it is again of the same constituency as before the water was evaporated.

FOOTNOTES:

[7] Charles D. Woods Dr. Sc. in “Cereal Breakfast Foods.”

BEVERAGES

[Sidenote: Tea]

Tea is made by steeping the leaves of a shrub, which grows in the tropical regions of Asia and adjacent islands. The green tea comes from China and Japan and the darker varieties from India and Ceylon.

It should never be boiled nor allowed to stand longer than a few minutes, as standing in water causes tannin to be extracted from the leaves, and this tannin disturbs digestion. It is the tannin extracted from the bark of trees which toughens animal skins into leather. The best way to make tea is to pour on boiling water and serve almost immediately, or at least within five to ten minutes.

Because of the uncertainty as to the length of time tea may be allowed to steep in hotel kitchens or restaurants, it is a wise custom to have a ball of tea and a pot of hot water served that the guest may make the tea at the table.

Tea, as well as coffee, is diuretic—stimulating the action of the kidneys. It is not a _food_; it is a _stimulant_.

_Thein_, which is the ingredient for which tea is drunk, is chemically identical with caffein in coffee.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Coffee]

Coffee is a beverage, prepared from the seeds of the coffee tree. The best known brands come from the Island of Java, Mocha, Rio de Janeiro, and Mexico.

Coffee _is not a food_. The active principle is caffein. This is an alkaloid and is a strong stimulant to the central nervous system. It quickens the heart action, and, unless the heart be weak, one does not need so strong a stimulant. The stimulating effect is so apparent with many, that they cannot sleep for several hours after drinking it. Others drink coffee to quicken mental activity and to keep them awake.

It must be borne in mind, however, that there is a reactionary effect from all stimulants, and while coffee is not intoxicating, as alcohol, it has a similar effect upon the nerves and heart. It is given to those addicted to liquor, as a milder stimulant, when they are recovering from a spell of intoxication.

Whether because of the strong stimulant, or because of some chemical effect of caffein, coffee retards digestion, especially when the digestive organs are weak. It has the redeeming feature, of having a pleasing aroma, which, because of the effect upon the mind, may incite the flow of gastric juice; but, despite the fact that no morning beverage has quite the same pleasing aroma, or pungency, as coffee, one is much better without it.

One who knows that coffee disturbs his digestion and yet cannot break himself from the habit of drinking it, should have sympathy for the one who is addicted to liquor and finds it difficult to break the habit of depending upon this _so-called_ stimulant.

_Cereal Coffee_ has been discussed under the heading “Cereals.”

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Cocoa and Chocolate]

_Cocoa and Chocolate_ are prepared from the chocolate bean. Cocoa is from the shell of the bean and chocolate from the kernel. As shown by Table VII, they are more nutritious than the other beverages; yet the fat in chocolate is not like the fat in other foods. It is not used as a reserve in animal tissue as are the other fats.

The active principle in cocoa and chocolate is _theobromin_ and is similar to caffein in its stimulating effect upon the nervous system, though milder.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Lemonade]

_Lemonade_ and other fruit drinks, particularly those made from the citrous fruits, slake the thirst more quickly than most drinks.

All fruit drinks are diuretic, and, wherever the action of the kidneys is sluggish, they are especially desirable.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Carbonized Drinks]

are made from bottling some drink, and, before sealing, forcing carbon dioxid into the bottle under pressure. As soon as the cork is removed the escape of the gas causes effervescence. These drinks have no advantage, other than that they slake the thirst.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Water]

There is no beverage nor concoction devised by man equal to water. It is to be deplored that it is not used as freely as Nature demands,—from eight to ten glasses a day.

The value of water as a food and as an aid to digestion is discussed on page 41.

CONDIMENTS

Without doubt, highly spiced foods are undesirable. They tend to weaken digestion, by calling for an undue secretion of digestive juices, which, if prolonged, tires out the glands. A reasonable amount of condiments such as pepper, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, sage, thyme, ginger, mustard, cinnamon, mace, horseradish, vanilla, dill, etc., may be used as appetizers, because the pleasing thought of them may incite the flow of gastric juice; but if one has not cultivated a taste for them this thought will not be pleasing and they are then better omitted from the diet. The taste is undoubtedly a cultivated one, and should not be encouraged in children. The child rarely cares for condiments and it is better that he continue to relish his food for its natural flavor.

Condiments are not foods.

PRESERVATION OF FOODS

All food for preservation should be kept in a clean, cool, dry, dark place. Reduction in temperature to near freezing, and removal of moisture and air stop bacterial development.

Drying, cooking, and sealing from the air will preserve some meats and fruits, while others require such preservatives as sugar, vinegar and salt. The preservative in vinegar is acetic acid.

All preservatives which are actual foods, such as sugar, salt and vinegar, are to be recommended, but the use of antiseptic preservatives, such as salicylic acid, formaldehyd, boracic acid, alum, sulphur and benzonate of soda, all of which have been used by many canning merchants, is frought with danger. The United States Department of Agriculture holds, that by the use of such preservatives, unscrupulous dealers may use fruits and vegetables not in good condition.

There can be no doubt that, wherever possible, the best method for the housewife to preserve food is to do her own drying, canning, preserving and pickling of fruits and vegetables, which she knows are fresh, putting up her own preserves, jams, jellies, pickles, syrups, grape juice, etc.

Since economy in food lies in the least amount of money for the greatest amount of nutriment, the preparation of simple foods in the home, with a care that no more is furnished for consumption than the system requires, is the truest economy in health and in doctor’s bills.

It is not more brands of prepared food which are needed, but purity of elements in their natural state. A dish of wholesome, clean oat meal has more nourishment and more fuel value than the average prepared food.

_In the effort to emphasize the importance of pure food in amount and quality, pure air and pure water must not be overlooked. Much infection is carried by these two elements. Pure air, containing a normal amount of oxygen, is absolutely necessary that the system may digest and assimilate the foods consumed._

COOKING

The cooking of food is as important as its selection, because the manner of cooking makes it easier or more difficult of digestion. The question of the proper selection and cooking of food is so vital to the health and resultant happiness of every family, and to the strength and well being of a nation, that every woman, to whom the cooking for a family is entrusted, should have special preparation for her work, and every girl should be given practical and theoretical training in Dietetics in our public schools. The study is as dignified as the study of music and art. Indeed it can be made an art in the highest conception of the term. Surely the education of every girl in the vocation, in which she sooner or later must engage, either actively or by directing others, means more than education in music and drawing. We must all eat two and three times every day; there are few things which we do so regularly and which are so vital; yet in the past we have given this subject less study than any common branch in our schools. When the dignity of the profession of dietetics is realized, the servant problem will be largely solved.

In cooking any food, heat and moisture are necessary, the time varying from thirty minutes to several hours, according to different foods. Baked beans and meats containing much connective tissue, as boiling and roasting cuts, require the longest time.