them are very popular and satisfactory. There are also various kinds of
“Extracts” and “Essences” of coffee, and even humble chicory may
sometimes be seen without disguise and nicely put up in yellow papers.
Cocoa and Chocolate.
The theobroma tree grows in Central and South America. The seeds of its
fruit, which are about the size of almonds, are gently roasted, deprived
of their husks and ground to a paste. This is COCOA. If this paste be
mixed with sugar and flavored with vanilla, bitter almonds, etc., it
forms the well known, delicious, and nourishing CHOCOLATE, which may
either be eaten as a confection or drank as a beverage. The husk, which
forms about 10 per cent. of the weight of the bean, is called “SHELLS,”
and used by invalids and others for making a light and delicate infusion
or tea.
The aroma of cocoa is due to an essential oil which is developed, as
with tea and coffee, by roasting. Its exhilarating principle,
theobromine, resembles theine. It contains a large percentage of fat, is
very rich and nutritious, and may be said to unite in itself the
inspiring properties of tea with the strength-giving qualities of milk.
Starch, as well as sugar, is sometimes added to cocoa and chocolate by
the manufacturers, and the practice is believed to be justified, owing
to their richness in oil and as better fitting them for digestion. Cocoa
is, however, also prepared free from starch and deprived of a portion of
its oil. There are many preparations of chocolate and cocoa in market,
and they embrace all grades of purity, sweetness and price.
DAIRY PRODUCTS.
Milk, Etc.
Milk is sophisticated by robbing it of its cream, or by adding to it
“The milk of the cow with the iron tail,” and by coloring it. CREAM
contains about 40 per cent. of fat and 55 per cent. of water; SKIMMED
MILK is water, with sugar and caseine. WHEY is merely a solution of milk
sugar with a little albumen. Milk is best and most plentiful in spring,
and richer but less abundant in dry seasons. The last milk drawn from
the cow contains most cream. KOUMISS, the use of which is rapidly
increasing, is well skimmed milk, treated with a lactic ferment for 30
or 40 hours. It is very easy of digestion. CONDENSED MILK is ordinary
milk evaporated so that three pints are reduced to one. It soon spoils
unless the air is excluded. PRESERVED MILK in cans contains about
one-third its weight of sugar.
Butter.
Good, fresh butter, contains 84 to 88 parts of milk fat, 10 or 12 parts
of moisture, and a little milk sugar, caseine and salt. inferior butter
may contain as much as 33 per cent. of water, or buttermilk, and salt.
The more buttermilk left in, the sooner the butter grows rancid, while
over-working tends to make it soft and oily. The melting of butter
changes its physical properties, and long exposure to the air injures
the best butter.
Good butter is solid and of a grained texture, has a fine orange yellow
color and a pleasant aroma. It may comfort the curious to know that its
odor is due to a very little butyric acid, combined with oxide of
lipyle. To test the quantity of moisture, put a little of the butter in
a bottle, heat gently, and leave near the fire for half an hour, when
the butter will rise, leaving the water and salt at the bottom.
Two-thirds of all the butter made is colored.
Classification of Butter.
The New York Mercantile Exchange classification, which is standard, is
as follows: EASTERN CREAMERY, SWEET CREAM CREAMERY, DAIRY BUTTER,
WESTERN CREAMERY, IMITATION CREAMERY, and DAIRY, also “LADLE” and
“GREASE BUTTER.”
CREAMERY BUTTER is the best. It is such as is made from the cream
obtained by setting the milk at the creamery, or by the system known as
“Cream gathering,” by which the farmer delivers his cream to the
creamery to be churned or made into butter. Butter made under the former
system, or from the milk, is better than that made from the gathered
cream. SWEET CREAM CREAMERY is made from unfermented cream.
DAIRY BUTTER is that which is made, salted, and packed by the dairyman
or farmer. Though often really excellent, it is less uniform in quality,
and therefore less reliable.
LADLE BUTTER.—This is butter of all seasons, ages, and qualities,
collected by the dealer, in rolls, lumps, or packages, from the farm
houses, salted, or unsalted, as the case may be, and by him reworked,
resalted, colored, and packed.
GRADES OF BUTTER.—The varieties are all graded again into “Extras,”
“Extra Firsts,” “Firsts,” “Seconds,” “Thirds,” etc. “EXTRAS” are the
choicest grades under each classification, and must come up to the
following standard. Flavor must be perfect if fresh made, and fine if
held; body perfect and uniform, color good for the season when made,
perfect and uniform; must be properly salted, and in good and uniform
packages. “EXTRA FIRSTS” must be a grade just below “Extras,” and fine
butter; good color, etc., etc. “FIRSTS” must be clean and sweet, sound
and good. “SECONDS” must be fair throughout, may be strong if held, on
tops and sides of package. “Thirds” may be off-flavored, etc. “Poor
Butter” may be strong, and of all grades below “Thirds” down to “Grease
Butter.”
Artificial Butter.
About 20 years ago a French chemist tried to imitate the process which
takes place when cows are underfed, and when, therefore, the butter they
yield is supplied from their own fat. His aim was to make a substitute
for butter for the poor, etc., which should be healthful, agreeable and
cheap, and which should keep a long time without becoming rancid. The
man’s name was Mege-Mouries, and he discovered OLEOMARGARINE. This
product has been, and is still extensively manufactured in the United
States, and is pronounced by some of the most eminent and scientific men
to be wholesome, nutritious and palatable.
OLEOMARGARINE is made from the fat of slaughtered cattle. This is melted
at a temperature of 150 deg. F., and the stearine extracted. The “Oleo
oil” which is left is now churned with cream or milk, colored and
salted.
BUTTERINE is made from oleo oil, neutral lard, and some butter. These
ingredients are churned with milk or cream, colored, salted and packed
in tubs. Refined cotton seed oil is also frequently used in the
manufacture of both products.
Oleomargarine Laws.
In 1886 Congress passed the “Oleomargarine Bill,” defining butter to be
an article made solely from milk and cream. It imposes a tax of two
cents per pound upon oleomargarine and similar butter substitutes,
compels their sale in certain sized packages, plainly marked or branded
with the name of their contents, and requires manufacturers and dealers
to take out special licenses, all under heavy penalties. Some of the
State laws, restricting the sale of oleomargarine, are still more
stringent, and its consumption has diminished, although it is still used
in some sections and extensively exported.
Cheese.
No article of food appears to be more affected than cheese by slight
variations of the materials from which it is made, or by such apparently
trifling differences in the methods of manufacture. Both full and
skimmed milk are used; the former yielding, of course, the best product.
The latter cheese is little used in this country. An English writer says
that if milk is skimmed for several days, “it yields a cheese so hard
that pigs grunt at it, dogs bark at it, but neither dare bite it.”
People’s tastes vary greatly in the flavor of cheese, and while some
prefer the natural tint, others buy that which is colored. Color adds
neither richness nor flavor, and is gradually falling into disuse.
Cheese as a Staple Food.
Some nations (as Great Britain, etc.,) consume cheese largely as a
staple food, while others use it more sparingly, and mainly as a
condiment or relish. Bread and cheese consort better with ale than with
whiskey and this country is not greatly given to cheese as a staple
food, although its consumption is increasing here, owing to recent
improvements in the modes of manufacture and in its quality. Two-thirds
of our total product now goes to Europe.
Analysis of Full and Skim Milk Cheese.
The composition of cheese is given as follows:
Rich Skim
cheese. milk
cheese.
Water 36 44
Casein 29 45
Milk fat 30-1/2 6
Salt and phosphates 4-1/2 5
Good and Poor Cheese.
Cheese dries fast and shrinks in weight; hence the grocer who sells it
in small quantities is compelled to charge a fair margin or advance upon
its cost to save himself from loss. The ordinary weight of American
cheeses is about 60 lbs., but smaller ones are growing in favor, and
many are now made weighing from 35 to 40 lbs. A grocer who has a good
class of custom soon realizes that our poor cheese takes the place of
several good ones, and it is his aim to secure a good and popular
quality and stick to it.
Facts About Cheese.
The best cheese is made from the rich June grasses, the poorest in the
heats of summer. June cheese is safest to keep, as the curds are then
scalded higher, to ensure that they will sustain the coming warm
weather. Cheese may be made for immediate use—and such will grow sharp
if long kept—or it may be so made as to keep a year or more with
constant improvement or ripening. It requires about ten pounds of milk
to make one pound of cheese.
“FILLED” CHEESE is made by substituting lard in place of the cream of
the milk. Ten pounds of such cheese contains about 1 pound of lard. This
product is largely made in some sections, and is chiefly sold in the
South or exported.
Classification of Cheese.
Cheese made in New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin has the first “Call”
in the New York Mercantile Exchange. “FANCY” must be full cream, perfect
in flavor, close made, well cured, of uniform color and perfect surface.
“FINE” is the next grade below—must be also full cream, clean flavor,
etc. “KNOWN MARKS” or FACTORY CHEESE may not be full cream. “WESTERN
CHEESE” “Shall include those of all States not mentioned above and shall
be classified as fancy, fine, and known marks, but they may not be full
cream.”
Imported Cheese.
SWISS CHEESE comes from Switzerland, and more of this is imported than
of all others combined. Next stands EDAM from Holland. The delicious
ROQUEFORT CHEESE, made in France, from ewes milk and kept in mountain
caves to ripen, stands third in the list of imported cheeses, and
PARMESAN stands fourth; it is made from skimmed milk, the curd hardened
by a gentle heat. This and SBRINZ cheese are used for soups—grated.
GORGONZOLA is a fine, rich, Italian cheese, each weighing about ten
pounds. Other good Italian cheeses are made from the milk of the buffalo
which feed on the Roman Campagna. STILTON is the finest of English
cheeses. It is made from full milk with added cream. It improves with
age, and is best when at least two years old. The CHEDDAR, CHESHIRE and
QUEEN’S ARMS are other varieties of good English cheese.
Eggs.
Eggs are cheap and substantial food. The white is mostly albumen, while
the yolk is two-thirds oil. Turkeys eggs are pronounced the best in
flavor. Guinea hens eggs are excellent, and keep well on account of
their thick shells. Goose eggs are larger, whiter, and less esteemed.
Duck eggs are bluish, and less desirable than hens eggs. Eight hens eggs
weigh a pound.
A fresh egg feels heavy in the hand and is semi-transparent before the
light. Its large end feels warm to the tongue. The older it is, the less
pleasant and nutritious it becomes. If it stands upright in water it is
bad; if obliquely it is not quite fresh. If it lies at the bottom it is
quite fresh. An egg begins to lose flavor a few hours after it has been
laid.
Lard.
Good, pure lard should be white, should melt without ebullition or
sputtering, be almost as clear and white as water, and not deposit any
sediment. It is composed of oleine 62 parts, stearine 65 parts. The fat
of the hog taken from around the kidneys and the layers over the ribs is
called “Leaf lard” and is better, firmer and will stand warm weather
better, than lard made from the entire fat of the animal.
LARD ADMIXTURES.—There is no complaint that lard is adulterated with
substances injurious to health; but in February, 1888, a leading lard
manufacturer testified before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, at
Washington, that seven-eighths of the lard now on the market is made
from the entire fat of the hog, refined and purified, and mixed with a
proportion of refined cotton seed oil and about 15 per cent. of
stearine, to give it hardness. This, he claimed, is preferred by the
public generally to strictly pure lard. The testimony of Prof.
Sharpless, of Boston, given at the same time and place, substantially
bore out this statement as to the ingredients used, although in the many
analyses of American lard made by him, he found some brands which were
absolutely pure hog products. Lard is sometimes adulterated with water,
but this may be easily detected by melting it, evaporating the water,
and reweighing.
Lard may be had in barrels, wooden and tin tubs and pails, and in one
pound tin cups. It is also retailed in bulk, like butter.
Fresh Meats and Poultry.
BEEF.—Good beef should be juicy, somewhat firm and elastic, velvety and
smooth grained to the touch, and “marbled” with little streaks, dots or
points of fat. The suet fat should be plentiful, white, firm, dry, and
crumbly; if the fat is yellow, oily, or fibrous, the beef is inferior.
MUTTON is wholesome, nutritious, and easily digested. The best is from a
plump, small boned animal, with abundant white, clear, solid fat. The
lean should be firm, dark red, and juicy, the leg bones clear, white,
and short. GOOD LAMB has hard, white fat and reddish bones.
PORK is best in fall and winter. The skin should be thin and pearly, the
lean a delicate red, juicy, firm, and finely grained, and the fat white.
If the fat is yellow and soft, the pork is inferior. Pork is dangerous
if not thoroughly cooked.
VEAL should be from a good sized, reasonably fat milk or stall fed calf,
five to ten weeks old. The fat should be firm and white, but not too
white; the meat finely grained, fairly firm, and juicy.
POULTRY.—Many farmers have found that it pays better to feed their grain
to poultry than to sell it by the bushel, and poultry is therefore much
more abundant, cheaper, and more widely consumed than ever before. The
dry-picked or unscalded has the preference in price. The best have short
legs and small bones, and are plump. If fresh, the eyes are bright and
full, the feet and legs moist and limber. If stale, poultry looks dark
and slimy. When chickens grow to be a year old they are called fowl; the
legs grow rougher, the skin fat and tougher, and the rear end of the
breast bone hard. A moderate sized TURKEY is more apt to be tender than
a very large one.
Smoked and Dried Meats and Fish.
HAMS, ETC.—The best are of medium size, weighing, say, from 8 to 14
pounds, plump, round, and the bone small. The shank should be short and
tapering, skin thin and not shriveled or wrinkled, and the fat white and
firm. To ascertain if ham has begun to spoil, thrust a skewer or knife
in at the side of the aitch bone and at the knuckle joint; if sound
there, it is good throughout. BACON.—This is the smoked flank. BREAKFAST
BACON, made from young pigs, is very delicate and palatable. BEEF
TONGUES are a delicacy, whether fresh, smoked, or pickled, hot or cold.
The best are thick, firm, and with plenty of fat on the under side of
the base.
DRIED COD.—This is an important grocers’ staple. The largest and best
are caught on the “Banks” or in the deep waters off the Eastern coast.
Some are sold whole and others are deprived of the back bone. Codfish is
also prepared for market by being boned, skinned, trimmed, and even
shredded. Other and inferior fish, such as Haddock, Hake, Pollock, etc.,
are often sold for cod, when salted, and especially when prepared as
above.
HERRING, smoked whole, or scaled and boneless, are widely consumed. The
freshest, fattest, and largest are best. Smoked SALMON, HALIBUT, and
STURGEON, are appetizing relishes for the summer tea table. There are
also EELS pickled in jelly. SARDELLES—small fish packed in highly salted
milk, smoked SPRATS, ANCHOVIES, etc.
Salt or Pickled Fish.
Mackerel have the front rank in this line, and there are few good tables
on which they do not occasionally appear. They are sold by the grocer in
barrels and fractions of barrels, in kits of 20, 15, and 10 pounds, in
tins, minus heads and tails, and by the single fish. The best are the
fattest, largest, and freshest of the current season. They should be
free from rust and soaked before cooking until all the brine is drawn
out. They can be afterwards salted, if necessary. They are graded as
“Extra” and “Fancy” “Shores” and “Bays,” and vary in size and fatness,
as numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4.
SALMON, ETC.—Both Halifax and Oregon salmon are pickled or salted, and
in demand in many sections of the country, and pickled SALMON BELLIES
are very fine. HERRING and COD are also to be had in brine.
Meat Essences and Extracts.
There are several varieties of these articles in liquids, pastes, and
solids. Some, at least, of them, without being true nutrients are
excellent as condiments, stimulants, and tonics for digestion. Meat
juices contain a substance called kreatine, which is similar in its
exhilarating properties to the peculiar principles of tea and coffee.
Fifty pounds of meat are said to be required to make one pound of
Liebig’s meat extract. These preparations are valuable additions to
other foods, but all that is needed for nourishment should be added to
them.
CANNED GOODS.
Until lately, man had done little more in preserving his food in a fresh
condition, than the squirrels which gather and store their nuts and
seeds in a warm, dry place. To be sure, he knew how to dry and smoke,
and the uses of salt and sugar. He had even tried to preserve his meats
and fruits in a fresh state; but his rude methods hardly foreshadowed
the splendid results which have recently been achieved in the line of
canned goods.
Excellence of American Canned Goods.
M. Appert, of France, first patented (in 1810) a process for preserving
animal and vegetable substances in close vessels of glass—after
subjecting them to the action of heat—and an English firm soon after
introduced provisions preserved in tin. But it was reserved for
Americans to lead the world, not only in the magnitude of their canning
industries, but also in the art of preserving meats, vegetables, and
fruits, by processes so delicate and effective, as to retain their
original shape and texture, as well as their freshness and flavor. And,
moreover, while they have practically prolonged the “Seasons” for
perishable food products throughout the entire year, and furnish them
for the consumer at very reasonable rates, the producer has often
thanked them for giving stability to prices in seasons of great “Gluts”
and abundance.
Varieties of Canned Goods.
Among canned goods, in glass or tin packages of various sizes, qualities
and prices, are the following:
Canned Meats.
CORNED BEEF, boiled; ROAST BEEF, BEEF A LA MODE, BOILED HAM, BOILED
TONGUE, ROAST MUTTON, ROAST VEAL, ROAST CHICKEN, ROAST TURKEY, BRAWN,
POTTED MEATS of all kinds; GAME PATES of WILD DUCK, GROUSE, PARTRIDGE,
PLOVER, WOODCOCK; BONED TURKEY AND CHICKEN, with jelly; CURRIED CHICKEN,
DEVILLED CHICKEN, TURKEY, HAM, PIG’S FEET, LAMB’S TONGUES, etc.
Canned Soups and Broths.
BEEF, CHICKEN, GREEN TURTLE, OXTAIL, JULIENNE, MOCK TURTLE, CONSOMME,
MACCARONI, VERMICELLI, PEA, MUTTON BROTH, etc.
Fish.
CLAMS, CLAM CHOWDER, ANCHOVIES, CRABS FRESH, CRABS DEVILLED, CODFISH
BALLS, MACKEREL FRESH, LOBSTER, OYSTERS, PRAWNS, SHRIMP, SALMON,
SARDINES, TROUT, TURTLE, KIPPERED HERRING, BLOATERS, etc.
Canned Vegetables.
ASPARAGUS, Baked, Lima, and String BEANS, GREEN CORN, MUSHROOMS, OKRA,
ONIONS, PEAS, PUMPKIN, SQUASH, SUCCOTASH, SPINACH, RHUBARB, etc.
Canned Fruits.
APPLES, APRICOTS, BLACKBERRIES, BLUEBERRIES, CHERRIES, GRAPES,
GOOSEBERRIES, PEACHES, PEARS, PLUMS, PINEAPPLES, QUINCES, RASPBERRIES,
STRAWBERRIES, etc.
Canned Sundries.
Besides the above, there are “Heaps” of canned delicacies, such, for
instance, as TRUFFLES, TRUFFLE PATES, TRUFFLE DU PERIGORD, in tins and
glass, PLUM PUDDINGS, PLUM PUDDING SAUCES, etc.
Some of the French vegetables in glass and tin are beautifully green in
appearance, but it is evident that they are artificially colored. A more
wholesome device is to put the articles up in the intensely green
bottles sometimes seen.
THE TIN CANS.—Tin is mainly used for canned goods, and is the least
objectionable of all the metals, and better than anything probably,
except glass. It does not oxidize easily, and if it does, its soluble
salts are less injurious than those of any other available metal.
Jellies, Preserves, etc.
Jellies are made from nearly all the fruits by mixing their juices with
sugar, and often with gelatine or isinglass, (four parts of which will
convert 100 parts of water into a tremulous jelly) and boiling them
down. Jellies are wholesome, cooling, and grateful, provided they are
free from adulterations and noxious colorings, and are much used upon
the tea table and in the sick room. Among the varieties of jelly in the
market are APPLE, CRAB APPLE, BLACKBERRY, CURRANT, GRAPE, LEMON, GUAVA,
ORANGE, QUINCE, RASPBERRY, STRAWBERRY, etc. They come in tumblers and
jars, and in bulk. There are also CALVES’ FOOT, WINE and SPIRIT jellies.
PRESERVES.—All the above fruits are preserved in sugar, and put up in
quart and pint jars. CHERRIES, PEACHES, PEARS, etc., are also preserved
in BRANDY, and sold in glass jars. There is also a great variety of JAMS
and MARMALADES, both foreign and domestic; GINGER ROOT, boiled in syrup,
etc. FRUIT BUTTER is made from various fruits, as, Apple, Cranberry,
Peach, Pear, or Raspberry, etc., by stewing them in sugar or molasses.
It is usually sold from pails by the pound, and is much used in some
sections.
Flavoring Extracts and Essences.
The delicate flavors of fruit and the fragrant principles of spice and
other substances, as vanilla, etc., are extracted by pressure or
distillation, and dissolved in spirits of wine for culinary purposes. It
is found also, that certain ethers and oils may be so combined (as, for
instance, potato oil) as to yield the taste and smell of many fruits,
such as pears, apples, grapes, pineapples, etc. Flavoring extracts and
essences are variously put up in vials and bottles; among them are
LEMON, VANILLA, ROSE, ALMOND, PEACH, CELERY, GINGER, CLOVES, NUTMEG,
STRAWBERRY, RASPBERRY, PINEAPPLE, NECTARINE, etc.
ISINGLASS AND GELATINE are used to make jellies, and thicken soups and
gravies. Isinglass is made from the intestines of fish. Its advantages
over gelatine are lighter color, less flavor, and greater thickening
power. In cold water it softens, swells, becomes white and opaque. In
hot water it smells a little fishy. Gelatine is made from the bones of
animals; it also swells in cold water, but becomes glassy and
transparent, while in hot water it has somewhat the smell of glue. It is
often sold for isinglass. The test of both is in the fineness and
clearness of their jelly. CALVES’ FOOT JELLY is delicate, but less firm.
Gelatine is sold in sheets and shreds.
HERBS for seasoning, as, SAGE, SUMMER SAVORY, SWEET MARJORAM, THYME,
etc., are sold in the leaf, and also powdered, in tins and paper
packets.
Spices and Condiments.
Spices are generally understood to be more aromatic and fragrant and
less pungent than what are called condiments. Spices are usually added
to sweetened food, while condiments, as pepper and mustard, are better
suited to meats and food containing salt.