FoodNet

A manual of home-making

1919

Page 254

Presented as published in 1919. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
'* Extra standard," ^' extra," and ''fancy" are terms applied to grades increasingly gqod* If fruits grade high as to variGly^ color, size, flavor, texture, and are packed in bca\*3' !$irup, they will be graded as Fancy, and fruits less good will fail into the other group grades according to the degree in which ihcy ap- proximate the grade called Fancy, and according to the weight of sirup used. That it is quite impossible under this S3rstein to depend on the tenn Fancy representing the same quality of fruit year after year is easily seen, for the crops yielded of various fruits are seldom of the same standard in successive yeare. The same is true of any grade* In a good year the trade known as Standard may prove l)ctter than the Extra Standard in a poor year. This makes for uncertainty on the part of the purchaser, and amy buyer of large quantities of canned goods finds it nee- essarj^ to see the contents of tins selected as samples and to order according to sample as well as by grade and trade name. The small buyer is at a great disadvantage in being unable to do this. The trade terms for grades of vegetables are in g^eneral the same as for fruits* The poorest of southern-grown produce and the trimmings of northern-grown are graded below standard. In tomatoes these gut)*standard grades are sometimes known as "pulp* and ''pur^^Z' In peas they are known as ''seconds" and "soaked/* This last term refers to peaa that have grown too hard for canning purposes, but have l>oen soaked in water from twelve to thirty-six hours and then canned. Quality of mnnml goods. On opc*ning the can the vnhitne of the contents in relation to the capacity of the can should be noted. The contents should I 1 I I MARKETING FOR THE HOUSEHOLD 449 fill the can; any considerable space between the top of the can and the surface of tlie contents sFioiihl count a^^ainst the grade of the product. Any excei58 of ht|uid, that is, more tlian is necessary to im- merse the 8ohds, lowern the p:radc of the paekaRe. The presence of any foreign materia! such an drops of solder or bits of paper, which indicate carelesH methods in packing, should be looked for, Peas^ — In canned peas, a very cloudy or starchy liquid prob- ably indicates that the pea^s have l>een *' soaked/^ This would be confirmed by the peas being mealy, large, and with skins easily loosc^ned in the can. Since peas are graded according to size, those known as ** sifted/' whatever the size, are higher in price tlian the unsifted, sometimes known as **the run of the garden/^ A large nundjer of yellowish peas in a can indicates inferior quality and flavor. String beans. — The smaller string beans, less than two inches in length, are high priced and more decorative than nutritious. Those over three inches in length are coarse. Those between two and tliree inches are generally satisfactory'. The ''cut" beans are cheaper l)ut not unifonnly gooiJ in flavor and texture. Lima beans. — ^The smaller lima beans, bush Umas, are higher in price and generally of a better color than the large beans, pole linias. Corn, — C^anned com that is verj^ milky or full of hquid may be sweety but it does not grade so high as the dry packs ajid does not keep so welb Okra, — Young okra is tender and the pods are canned whole. This !>rings a better price than the older pods which are cut before being packed.