tains to food and cookery ; I refer to Sir Henry Thompson,
the eminent London surgeon. His work on Food and
Feeding has already run through six editions, and one can
only hope that he will long be enabled to benefit his race by
a succession of issues. He has written other volumes on the
same subject, and further, by his contributions to The
nineteenth Century and The Lancet, he has materially
raised the status of the culinary art. And there are also quite
a number of works on diet, and on food, written by well-
known authorities in the medical world, so that the science of
dietetics must eventually attain an unassailable position.
The preceding naturally leads up to the main point,
namely, the controlling influence which cookery exercises
over health. Now if I were asked to name the one single
cause which produces more indigestion than anything else,
I should unhesitatingly answer, bad Cookery. Many people
run away with the idea that good Cookery is necessarily
elaborate Cookery, and that in consequence it is quite beyond
the ordinary purse. Such is not, by any means, the case,
and as a matter of fact good Cookery aims at getting the
best possible results at the least possible cost. Herein lies
the excellence of French Cookery, and as I have occasion to
remark elsewhere, the bulk of the population in that country
live infinitely better than does the average Briton.
Indigestion, then, is the great primary result of bad
cookery. But, on the other hand, let us hear what Dr.
Lauder Brunton has to say on the score of food when pro-
perly prepared. " Savoury food," says he, " causes the diges-
" tive juices to be freely secreted ; well cooked and palatable
" food is therefore more digestible than unpalatable, and
" if the food lacks savour, a desire naturally arises to supply
" it by condiments, not always well selected or wholesome."
But important as good Cookery, in itself, may be in its in-
fluence upon health, there is still another essential, which must
SCHOOL COOKERY— INFLUENCE ON DAILY LIFE. 107
not be overlooked. And it is that of variety. The oft-quoted
phrase of toujour s perdrix bears upon this very point. It is
a way of saying that even a luscious dish when constantly
repeated becomes wearisome, or, in other words, that there is
too much of the same thing over and over again. And if a
ceaseless repetition of the same dish — however well it may
be cooked — palls upon the palate, it is at least certain that it
is equally burdensome to the stomach. Dr. Horace Dobell
well expresses this fact when he says that it is of the
highest importance to avoid unnecessarily limiting the variety
of food allowed to all persons, but especially to those of
poor appetites and troublesome digestions. Monotonous,
uninteresting meals depress the spirits and are subversive
of appetite, digestion, and nutrition.
COOKEEY AS A PEEVENTIVE OF DRUNKENNESS.
Page 77
Presented as published in 1893. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
tains to food and cookery ; I refer to Sir Henry Thompson, the eminent London surgeon. His work on Food and Feeding has already run through six editions, and one can only hope that he will long be enabled to benefit his race by a succession of issues. He has written other volumes on the same subject, and further, by his contributions to The nineteenth Century and The Lancet, he has materially raised the status of the culinary art. And there are also quite a number of works on diet, and on food, written by wellknown authorities in the medical world, so that the science of dietetics must eventually attain an unassailable position.
The preceding naturally leads up to the main point, namely, the controlling influence which cookery exercises over health. Now if I were asked to name the one single cause which produces more indigestion than anything else, I should unhesitatingly answer, bad Cookery. Many people run away with the idea that good Cookery is necessarily elaborate Cookery, and that in consequence it is quite beyond the ordinary purse. Such is not, by any means, the case, and as a matter of fact good Cookery aims at getting the best possible results at the least possible cost. Herein lies the excellence of French Cookery, and as I have occasion to remark elsewhere, the bulk of the population in that country live infinitely better than does the average Briton.
Indigestion, then, is the great primary result of bad cookery. But, on the other hand, let us hear what Dr. Lauder Brunton has to say on the score of food when properly prepared. " Savoury food," says he, " causes the diges- " tive juices to be freely secreted ; well cooked and palatable " food is therefore more digestible than unpalatable, and " if the food lacks savour, a desire naturally arises to supply " it by condiments, not always well selected or wholesome."
But important as good Cookery, in itself, may be in its influence upon health, there is still another essential, which must
not be overlooked. And it is that of variety. The oft-quoted phrase of toujour s perdrix bears upon this very point. It is a way of saying that even a luscious dish when constantly repeated becomes wearisome, or, in other words, that there is too much of the same thing over and over again. And if a ceaseless repetition of the same dish — however well it may be cooked — palls upon the palate, it is at least certain that it is equally burdensome to the stomach. Dr. Horace Dobell well expresses this fact when he says that it is of the highest importance to avoid unnecessarily limiting the variety of food allowed to all persons, but especially to those of poor appetites and troublesome digestions. Monotonous, uninteresting meals depress the spirits and are subversive of appetite, digestion, and nutrition.
COOKERY AS A PREVENTIVE OF DRUNKENNESS.