Popular Ideas about Food Values—Kind of Food Required in
Health—Concentrated and Bulk Foods—Initial Preparations for Cooking,
etc.
There are a good many vague notions current about food which it is
well to set right before we come to the actual work of cooking for
making ready a meal. For instance, people are content, as a rule, to
take what comes handiest, or to choose what is most customary, rather
than have the trouble of thinking out or of choosing what might really
make a meal of better value. Reliance on what is customary may easily
lead to great monotony and to narrowness of ideas. In some cases, of
course, monotony is perhaps inevitable, that is to say the material is
perforce the same, and can only be varied by bringing the imagination
into play in order to make its manner of presentment more varied. A
man, for example, writes to us from Canada (he is pioneering in the
Far West, let it be understood), and says that his meals consist of
beef and potatoes, varied by potatoes and beef. Another writes from
the Australian bush and declares there is nothing to be had but tea,
damper and mutton, mutton, damper and tea. Both cases are doubtless
exaggerations, but they show the monotony that may exist when there
is little time to give to thought about meals. But on the other hand,
people who have almost limitless resources at command, as in England,
show little more imagination when it comes to planning a week’s meals
for a family, year in year out, and monotony is their complaint also.
Then we speak of “nourishing food,” of dishes that are “rich,”
“indigestible” and so on, and of drinks that are “too strong” and “too
weak,” often without quite knowing what we wish to express.
All food is “nourishing” when properly combined and proportioned; if
we get an excess of one thing, of fat, for example, or of sugar, it
is “too rich” because less easily assimilated. As it is only by what
is digested and assimilated that the body is nourished, it is easy to
understand that two foods which contain the same amount of nutriment
will not be equally nutritious unless both are equally digestible.
What is wanted, speaking roughly, for proper nourishment and upkeep of
the bodily system, is a daily sufficient yet not excessive supply of
flesh-forming and heat-producing food, enough to repair the constant
slow wastage that goes on. This waste, it is easy to understand,
is increased when the body is actively engaged in hard labour and
lessened when it is resting or doing sedentary work. The whole science
of feeding lies in obtaining a right proportion of the two classes
of food in the diet. An excess of either class, unless excreted, is
stored up as fat. The reason we cook at all is that we may bring raw
materials into a state in which they can be digested easily, and
also that we may make those judicious mixtures which shall combine
flesh-forming and heat-producing substances ready to be assimilated
in the best possible way. There is no one perfect food that will do
this for adults, as there is for infants who find all they require in
milk. The adult body is only perfectly supplied by a mixed diet, and as
regards the selection of materials one of the best and safest guides
to take is the individual appetite under normal conditions. Appetite
will generally suggest the kind of food the body is needing and will
generally indicate when a sufficiency has been taken, also it will show
by “loss of appetite” when food is not required and what kind of food
is distasteful.
Feeding the human body is very like feeding a fire; combustion is
slow but steady and is made more rapid when the draught of air is
increased—that is, when the lungs are inhaling and exhaling more
deeply as in hard labour. The energy expressed by movement, labour,
exercise or play corresponds to the burning of the fire, and is made
up for by adding more fuel, and what part of the fuel is not consumed
is thrown away as ashes are taken away from the grate. How thoroughly
the food taken in is consumed must therefore depend a great deal upon
its digestibility. That which is raw, hard, lumpy or tough will take
long to assimilate, or indeed may be finally excreted as unassimilable.
We assist assimilation when we mince or grind down the food to fine
proportions—hence mastication. After it is swallowed the digestive
juices set to work upon it and make it fit for absorption into the
system. In addition to cooking food to make it tender and in addition
to mastication, we further assist the work of digestion when we add
condiments and flavours to it, because these help to increase the flow
of the gastric juices and stimulate the activity of the digestive
organs.
We cannot obtain more heat or more muscle by eating special foods for
the purpose. Flesh-forming and heat-producing foods must be taken
together for each to do their work properly, but we can and do increase
the proportions of one or the other according to the kind of work
we are doing and the kind of climate we are living under. An extra
cold atmosphere calls for more heat to make up for what is given off
by radiation from the surface of the body as well as by increased
respiration. Therefore fat and sugar must take a very prominent place
in the diet of those who live in cold countries, farinaceous foods
likewise. Meat and vegetables are needed where much muscular work
is being done and where a stimulating diet rather than a heating
one is wanted. A good deal of liquid food and water is needed when
perspiration is excessive and where outward heat dries the skin.
Appetite is again the best guide to follow under these different
conditions, for Nature prompts and suggests what she is needing by
means of appetite and taste. Appetite is also the best individual guide
as to quantity, for it is rarely that two people will eat exactly the
same amount in the same circumstances. Some appear to eat too much,
and others too little, but if we judge results by weight, where that
remains fairly constant, the quantities consumed merely correspond
with their requirements. It is when an excess of fat is stored up in
the system that the supply may be taken to exceed the demand. Yet this
again is not altogether a reliable criterion to go by; it, in fact,
puzzles many as it puzzled Dr. Johnson and his faithful Boswell.
Talking of a man who had grown very fat so as to be incommoded by his
corpulency, Dr. Johnson said, “He eats too much, sir.” Said Boswell,
“I don’t know, sir; you will see one man fat who eats moderately and
another lean who eats a great deal.” Johnson: “Nay, sir, whatever may
be the quantity a man eats, it is plain that if he is too fat he has
eaten more than he should have done. One may have a digestion that
consumes food better than common; but it is certain that solidity is
increased by putting something to it.” Boswell: “But may not solids
swell and be distended?” Johnson: “Yes, sir, they may swell and be
distended, but that is not fat!”
As regards food materials, all fibrous and tough substances cannot
be separated from the rest, nor is it necessary to separate them. A
certain amount of bulk food is needful for the organs to work upon,
and even if it is eventually excreted it still cannot be done without.
Highly-concentrated foods, like extracts and essences and tabloids,
will not satisfy the ordinary healthy appetite, and even if they did
satisfy it they would end in weakening the organs of the body through
want of sufficient work and exercise. Tissues and fibres can, however,
be made soft and tender, and therefore much more easily digestible, by
proper cooking. It should be remembered that the tissues of animals
and vegetables toughen as they get older, while birds and meats that
are freshly-killed are not so tender as when well hung. Wild birds and
young animals are tougher than maturer and fattened ones.
The initial processes of preparing food will present more difficulties
to the colonist, perhaps, than the actual cooking. The very first
process of all, that of catching and killing the animal or bird, is
less troublesome to contemplate than the process of skinning, cleaning
and cutting up; still, of course, it comes first.
All animals and birds which are killed by shot must have the blood let
out as soon as possible; it is usual to suspend them to drain this
away. Then the skin is drawn off, the abdominal and thoracic viscera
are removed, likewise the head and tail, and the animal is laid open
by cutting down the breast line. In large animals like oxen and sheep
by cutting through the middle of the back bone the carcass is divided
into two equal parts, called sides, and the sides are again cut up
into joints after quartering. The anterior portion is known as the
fore-quarter, the posterior as the hind-quarter. In small animals like
lambs the whole of the quarter is considered as one joint.
In cutting up a side of beef the usual method followed is according to
the following diagram:
[Illustration:
_A._ Rump.
_B._ Buttock.
_C._ Shin.
_D._ Buttock Steak.
_E._ Aitchbone.
_F._ Sirloin.
_G._ Ribs.
_H._ Chuck Ribs.
_I._ Clod.
_J._ Shin.
_K._ Shoulder or Bladebone.
_L._ Brisket.
_M._ Thin Flank.
_N._ Thick Flank.
_O._ Gravy Piece.
]
A young ox gives the best beef, but bull beef is dark in colour with
a coarse grain. If beef is to be tender it should be hung as long as
weather and climate will permit of, but should be looked over every day
and moisture wiped off. Any part which is touched with flies should
be rubbed over with cloths wrung out of vinegar. If any part seems
slightly tainted rub powdered charcoal over it, or black pepper.
The most suitable uses of the different parts for cooking are as
follows:
Sirloin and Ribs, prime roasting joints.
Rump, for cutting into steaks for grilling.
Buttock, for stewing steak, or for boiling fresh.
Round or Buttock, for salting and boiling.
Thick and thin Flank, salting, boiling or baking.
Shins and Gravy Piece, for soups.
Chuck Ribs, for second quality steaks.
Bladebone, for braising and stewing.
Clod, boiled or stewed.
Brisket, for salting and pressing, or for baking with potatoes.
Tail, for stewing and soup-making.
Tongue, for salting, boiling and pressing.
The Skirt makes delicious stews and rich gravy.
Beef Kidney is tough and too rich to use alone, but a little added to
other stews is excellent.
Liver too coarse to use except for feeding animals.
Knuckles and feet make stiff jelly.
Mutton does not cut up into so many parts, but is simply divided into
leg and loin (or if the loin is undivided it makes a “saddle,”) and the
fore-quarter makes breast, shoulder and neck pieces.
Veal is similarly jointed to beef but is much smaller, and the whole
round of the leg is called the fillet and is cut in thick portions or
slices; the loin includes the rump, and the neck is really included
with the ribs. The breast of veal is excellent as the gristly parts
easily soften, and the knuckles which correspond to the shin and leg of
beef are much more tender and gelatinous.
As pigs are killed at different ages and the larger and fatter animals
are usually cured and dried for bacon, the smaller pigs are cut up very
similarly to mutton and lamb. The hind-quarter gives the leg and hind
loin, the fore-quarter the “hand” or shoulder, foreloin, spare ribs and
neck, while the head is split into two “chaps.” When made into bacon
the side is cured whole and the leg becomes the ham, the shoulder half
the gammon. The breast gives the part known as “streaky” bacon, and the
back and ribs, flank and collar are sold at varying prices.
Certain portions of the interior organs of the carcass are useful for
food and quite digestible. The tongues, for instance, which when cut
away from the root part can be salted and pickled, then boiled or
dried, make an excellent dish. The sweetbreads in young animals are
very delicate, and after first boiling them in salted water for a few
minutes they can be fried or stewed to make a savoury dish. The kidneys
are removed from the fat in which they are embedded and split open and
lightly fried or grilled, or beef kidney is added to stews of other
parts of beef. Ox tails after skinning and jointing make an excellent
savoury stew or very nourishing soup. Sheep’s liver is edible when
properly cooked, but lamb’s and calf’s liver are better and not at all
tough when fried and stewed afterwards. Ox liver is not fit for human
food. The hearts of very young animals alone are edible, and even then
are somewhat tough.
The best suet is that found round about the kidneys, and this fat can
be removed in large pieces, which if kept dry will remain sweet for
a week or two and is used for making puddings and crusts for pies.
The other interior fat of the animal (both of beef and mutton) can be
melted down and clarified by pouring into jars containing a little
boiling water, then it is useful for all frying purposes and many other
things. The interior fat of the pig is also melted down, but it yields
lard, a pure white and soft fat that is as edible as butter. This
should be run into tins whilst warm and covered with paper when cold to
keep it from the air.
Rabbits are split open to let out the blood and the entrails removed
directly they are killed, and being thus paunched they can be slung on
a stick and kept for some time before skinning, although the fresher
they are the more easily will the skin be removed. To do this make an
incision down the length of the body, and draw the skin backwards,
bringing the legs up first and ending by pulling the skin over the
head. A rabbit can be turned round for boiling, or be cut into joints
for stewing. Hares are treated the same way except that hares are not
boiled, but they are often roasted. A better way is to cook a whole
hare in a casserole or braising-pan, as the meat is very dry, but the
best way of all is to cut it in joints and cook it in a deep stone jar,
with red wine and small vegetables and a little fat pork.
Fowls are plucked most easily by first dipping them bodily into
boiling water, but this renders the feathers unusable for any other
purpose. Plucking is quickly accomplished if the feathers are pulled
the reverse way from that which they take naturally, and after cutting
off the head, splitting the neck to remove the gullet and windpipe, an
incision at the lower end makes it easy to empty the fowl by drawing
out the entrails and organs; wash out with clean water afterwards, then
bind together the legs and tie down the wings to the sides, and the
fowl is trussed quite sufficiently for ordinary purposes. The reason
for fastening wings and legs to the sides is to prevent these from
shrivelling and getting too dry by cooking. As the meat of fowls and
indeed of most birds is very lean it is an improvement to wrap them
in some thin leaf fat, or to cook a piece of fat bacon with them if
braising or roasting, or even if boiling them.
The meat of wildfowl is drier and leaner than that of the domestic fowl
and wild ducks are a little fishy in flavour. Prairie hens are plump
as a rule but also lean, and most small wild birds are tastier and
more tender if they are wrapped in thin slices of fat before cooking.
Quick cooking is best for those that are small and young, but fowls of
uncertain age are better slowly stewed or boiled.
The flesh of fish contains more water than that of meat or fowl, but it
is light and digestible and nourishing when fresh, and plump fish are
invariably of primer quality than thin ones. Most fish want scraping
as well as washing, and it is well to cut off the heads and remove the
entrails; in some kinds like mackerel and herrings they are split open
and scraped clean, while in flat fish cutting off the heads and fins
suffices. Large fish like salmon and cod have a good deal of interior
to be removed before they are cooked and the heads are left on if
preferred.
Where a little curing house has been set up as before described,
herrings which have been cleaned and split open can be lightly salted
and smoke-dried, and thus the colonist can make his own kippers. Small
haddock can also be cured and smoke-dried, mackerel likewise.
Surplus fish can be kept by first cleaning and then salting them
and packing down in a barrel, but smoke-curing is a better way of
preserving them, and in the log-hut kitchen they can hang in strings
from the rafters.
Oysters, clams, mussels and shellfish that are eaten without cooking
should be very fresh indeed for it to be trustworthy. Oysters are
wholesome and easily digested and are rightly considered a delicacy,
and in some places they are plentiful enough.
Lobsters, crabs and shrimps want boiling in salted water until they
turn a bright red colour, and when cold they are broken open and the
flesh picked out. An iron cauldron or saucepan is best to boil them
in. All these should be killed by cooking; that is they should be
alive up to the time they are boiled, as if not perfectly fresh they
so quickly decompose and may easily set up ptomaine poisoning. There
are circumstances and places where shellfish are a valuable article
of food, however, and in moderation they do much to vary a diet that
without them would be monotonous and unappetising. A liberal washing
in clean water should be given to all creatures that are taken from
salt water pools and shallow places. But the same careful cleansing is
necessary in the case of freshwater fish, too, especially that taken
from ponds, as they are apt to taste of mud unless well soaked and
scraped before cooking.
The initial preparations for cooking which vegetables require make
many people forego their use altogether, yet although troublesome
enough there is nothing about them that is half so disagreeable as the
preparatory work of preparing meat and poultry for cooking. A liberal
washing, a scraping or paring, perhaps coring and dividing and cutting
up—and that is practically all there is to do except in the case of
peas which want shelling, or of beans which want stringing and slicing.
Almost without exception, the edible roots want paring after washing
before cooking them in any way whatsoever. The rind is not intended
to be eaten and is tough in all except very young roots. While the
actual nutritive value of roots, tubers and green vegetables is low,
their health value is high, and they are both a welcome and valuable
addition to the diet, and whenever a garden patch has been secured the
colonist’s first thought will be to grow his own vegetables, and as
great a variety of them as he can.
Potatoes are the most nutritive of all vegetables and rank next to
bread in value, but artichokes have a higher nutritive value than even
potatoes, and should be freely cultivated especially where there is a
pig to be fed, as pigs thrive rapidly and produce fine bacon when fed
upon these tubers.
The next most important vegetable to the potato is the onion, and this
is one of the best of nature’s medicines, too. But after skinning an
onion the root bit should always be cut out before cooking in any form.
Cut away the hard fibres from cabbages before boiling them and boil
rapidly in salted water. Never cook outer leaves or woody parts and
fibres of anything; all such parts should be returned to the ground as
its share of the proceeds, for they make the most valuable manure.
When gathering cabbages or lettuces, and things of like nature, if
not ready to make use of them for a few hours, leave the roots on as
they will keep fresh and crisp a much longer time. If on account of
frost these have to be dug up and brought under shelter, also leave
the roots on, but let them be kept covered with sand or soil and in
a dry place. Carrots and turnips keep well in a sand heap. Celery is
another excellent vegetable for the colonist to cultivate wherever it
will grow; it is good in all climates and will stand a good deal of
frost, and is most wholesome eaten either in a natural state or cooked.
Here again, eat only the best parts and let the rest be returned to the
ground.
Dried fruits are extremely useful where fresh fruits are hard to
procure, and the nutritive value of dried fruits is relatively high
in proportion to their weight. They are a form of concentrated food,
easily portable and satisfying, but their value is increased when they
are soaked in water for some hours and then cooked. But dried raisins,
dates and figs are excellent for eating without other preparation,
while prunes and apples are better after soaking and stewing.