FoodNet

A manual of home-making

1919

Page 253

Presented as published in 1919. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Color. —The natural color of the product when at its best is the standard of the high-grade pack. Unfortunately, tho attempt to ernuhite nature hiis lxM>n overdone by some packers to thi» I mint where most of the public havit come to regard cop- per-gret*ned |kvis and t>eans as sufierior to those of nature^a green. Now that the law requires that the facts rogarfling tho use of coloring matter be stated on the package, the public is in a poHition to choose f>et ween the natuml and the artificial, the safe and the possibly hannfuh Fortunately, it is the fancy gnidcs of vegetables which receive the copper treatment, such as the MARKETING FOR THE HOUSEHOLD 447 ver^'^ 8mall peas ami beans in which the nutritive value is low and the price prohibitively high to the average buyer. Even when the natural color of the vegetable after cooking is the standanl sought, gratling of the prothict is still done on co!or lines. Peas that have an occasional yellow one in the lot are graded lower than those uniformly green, while if many are yellowish the lot is gradeil low^r still. String beans containing an occasional brown or rusty pod are graded lower than those uniforraly green. Form, whole or ciiL — The fruit or vegetable of suitable size wliieh is sufficiently perfect — free from bruise and spots of de- cay—to can wiiole is of tlie highest grade, provided it grades high on other points. Those cot in halves grade next highest, such as peaches, apricots,'pears, and ajjples, and those in slices next, Buch a.s sliced peache.s. Smaller pieces, sometimes re- ferred to as chips, grade low^er yet. Pineapple sUce^^ afford the highest gi'ade in that fruit, the chunks and cubes grading next and the chipped, grated, and crushed pineapple respectively lower. Preparation, peeled^ unpeeled^ pitted ^ cored, — ^Those fruits which are improved by peehng are left unpeeled only in the lowest grades. The same is true of pitting and coring, except when the fruit is handsome in appesu^ance but unsound at the pit or core. Medium of packing. — Fruits packed in water are of the lowest grade and generally known as **pie" fruit. Those packed in sirups are graded according to the density of the sirup, 35*^ to 40** sirup being used for preserves, such as strawberries, 30° to 34° for fancy peaches, plums and other fruit for table sauce; 25" to 28'' for high-grade fruits for table sauce; 20'' to 23° for a still les8 rich grade of table sauce, and lO'^ to 20** for ver>"^ light sirup suitable only on sweet fruits or those to which more sugar will be added in preparation for the table. J oicy vegetables such as tomatoes are now by law required to be packed in their own juice. Other vegetables nmst be packed in as little water as is neccssiiry to immerse them completely. A httle ,salt and sugar are allowed in the hquid. I I I I 448 A MANUAL OF BOMB-MAKING Trade terms. ''Pie fruit'' is the lowest class of fruit. In peaches there s^ two grades, the uopeeled and the peeM, the latter bnnging the higher price. The '' standard " grade of fruit rank^ next. It ha^ the tightest mnip aad consists of the relatively inferior fruits in siae, eokkr, flavor, and texture.