Except for the making of soup stock, and of extracts and beef tea,
boiling of meats is not much in vogue in America. Vegetables, on the
other hand, are usually boiled--and thereby hangs a melancholy tale.
Boiled they should be, but not in the careless, unscientific way
generally practised in America and England, where they usually are
served at table entirely denatured, that is, deprived of their Flavors.
Villainous and idiotic are the only adjectives that adequately describe
this method of cooking vegetables, for their utility as food lies
chiefly in these Flavors, the nutritive value of green vegetables being
small.
How small it is may be seen by the analysis given in Dr. Wiley's "Foods
and their Adulteration," Part VI, where he says, for example: "There is
very little nourishment obtained in eating a turnip which perhaps is 95
per cent. water,--yet its palatability, its condimental character, and
its general salutary effect upon digestion is such as to make it worth
while to pay even a high price in proportion to its nutriment."
If the reader wants more evidence on this point he may find it in Sir
Henry Thompson's valuable book, _Food and Feeding_. Speaking of "the
entire cabbage tribe in great variety; lettuces, endives, and cresses;
spinach, sea-kale, asparagus, celery, onions, artichokes, and tomato,"
he remarks that all these are "valuable not so much for nutritive
property, which is not considerable, as for admixture with other
food chiefly on account of salts which they contain, and for their
appetizing aroma and Flavor."
Therefore, to boil green vegetables without the slightest attempt to
preserve or develop their natural Flavors, as is almost universally
done in our country, is, I repeat, villainous and idiotic.
Americans undoubtedly eat too much meat. Preaching about the
injuriousness of this excess may do some good, but a much more
effective way would be to cook vegetables more temptingly.
If peas and string beans are succulent and fresh, they are delicious
when simply boiled in salted water. In cities they seldom are quite
fresh, and, as a rule, it is well to add soup stock or butter to
develop the Flavor. In any case, it is of importance that the water
should be already boiling when the vegetables are put in. If this is
not the case, there is a loss of valuable salts and Flavors. Some loss
there must always be; that is, the water always absorbs some of these
juices and Flavors; but note the difference. French cooks preserve this
vegetable stock, as they do the meat stock, for diverse combinations.
Our cooks pour it down the sink.
It is fortunate that the United States Government has undertaken to
establish the principles of savory cooking by scientific methods, which
will lead to more satisfaction and generally helpful results than the
empirical, haphazard methods hitherto followed by cooks.
An interesting glimpse into the kitchen laboratories of our Government
experts is given by Murray in his "Economy of Food."
"It is obvious," he says, "that the loss of nutrients will be increased
by cutting the vegetables into small pieces, and by soaking them in
cold water before cooking. In the case of potatoes, turnips, and
similar products, the loss might be greatly diminished by cooking them
whole with the skins on, but as a rule this method is not practicable.
"These conclusions are confirmed by the experiments of Snyder,[6]
Frisby, and Bryant. They found that when potatoes were peeled, cut
into pieces in the usual way, and soaked in cold water before boiling
about half the total nitrogen--including about a quarter of the true
albuminoids--was lost. When put into cold water and cooked at once,
only about a sixth of the total nitrogen--including a twelfth part of
the true albuminoids--was lost. When the potatoes were put, at once,
into boiling water, the loss was only about half the amount recorded
in the last case; but, for some reason, this method is not suitable for
some kinds of potatoes, as they 'go to smash' if so treated. The loss
from potatoes boiled in their skins was quite inconsiderable, being
less than one per cent. of the total nitrogen.
"In boiling carrots which had been scraped and cut into pieces, the
amount of the loss was found to depend almost entirely upon the size of
the pieces. Small pieces lost about 40 per cent. of the total nitrogen
and 26 per cent. of the sugar. With large pieces, the loss of nitrogen
was about 20 per cent. and of sugar, 15 per cent."
A number of useful hints for the practical cook are supplied by these
scientific experiments.
It is needless to say that in potatoes and beets, and in dried
vegetables, like beans, corn, and peas, the proportion of nutriment
is greater than in the succulent greens. In the cooking of dried
vegetables the preservation and development of Flavors is also of great
importance, with a view especially to digestibility. Unlike the green,
the dried vegetables should be cooked by putting them into cold water;
and prolonged cooking is necessary in order to soften and otherwise
prepare them for the alimentary canal.
Our benevolent Government a few years ago engaged one of the country's
chief cooking experts, Maria Parloa, to write a brief treatise on the
_Preparation of Vegetables for the Table_ for free distribution by
the Department of Agriculture as Farmers' Bulletin No. 256. Like all
these documents, it is excellent; in less than fifty pages it explains
the best ways of cooking potatoes, beans, peas, carrots, asparagus
and two-score more of the products of the garden; and these pages
are followed by others on vegetable soups, seasoning and sauces for
vegetables, and salads and salad dressings.
Every cook, urban as well as rural, should have a copy of this pamphlet
and mark with a red pencil the more important directions. If every cook
in the country knew and practised only the following directions given
in this useful document, what a transformation there would be in our
dining-rooms!
"All green vegetables, roots, and tubers should be crisp and firm when
put on to cook. If for any reason a vegetable has lost its firmness
and crispness, it should be soaked in very cold water until it becomes
plump and crisp. With new vegetables this will be only a matter of
minutes, while old roots and tubers often require many hours."
"All vegetables should be thoroughly cooked, but the cooking should
stop while the vegetable is still firm." "Over-cooked vegetables are
inferior in flavor and often indigestible." "Badly cooked, water-soaked
vegetables very generally cause digestive disturbances, which are often
serious." Cabbage "is apt to be indigestible and cause flatulence when
it is improperly cooked. On the other hand, it can be cooked so that
it will be delicate and digestible."
_Steaming_ is one of the best ways of cooking vegetables. It is largely
practised in France and Germany, but neglected in England as it is
in America. Potatoes have more of their natural Flavor when steamed
than when cooked any other way. An English writer says on this point:
"Steaming has the double advantage of conserving the Flavor and making
the food more digestible. Its only drawback is that it takes more
time, and this is probably the reason why it has somewhat fallen into
disfavor in England."