For convenience the elements are classified chemically into
Non- Combustibles, or inorganic compounds, including water and
salts; Combustibles, or organic compounds, including carbona-
ceous and nitrogenous foods. Some foods contain no carbon,
some contain no nitrogen, and some have all the elements in
454
The Boston Cook Book.
various proportions. Food has been classified into gaseous, or
air; liquid, or water; and solid, including animal and vegetable
foods. But the division into carbonaceous, or heat-producing,
and nitrogenous, or flesh-forming foods, answers every purpose.
NON-COMBUSTIBLE COMPOUNDS.
"Water and Salts.
Water forms more than two thirds of the whole body. It
is especially abundant in the blood and secretions. It gives
them the necessary fluidity, and enables them to dissolve the
important materials they contain. It is contained in all kinds
of solid food, as well as in the liquids drunk as beverages. It
is most abundant in fruits and vegetables. Every pound of
perfectly dry food should be accompanied with four pounds of
water.
Pure water is composed of oxygen and hydrogen, one ninth
hydrogen and eight ninths oxygen by weight. The usual test
for pure drinking water is that it be " free from color, smell, or
taste, be soft, bright, and aerated, and free from all deposit.
But it is very seldom found in that condition, as its power of
dissolving other substances is so great that it nearly always
holds animal, vegetable, or mineral matters in solution, obtained
from the earth through which it flows. It also absorbs gases
and odors from the air. The animal and vegetable substances
found in it render it impure. But the mineral matters, unless
in excess, are not objectionable.
When water contains more than a few grains to the gallon of
carbonate of lime, it is termed hard water. When water is hard
or impure, it should be boiled before being used for drinking,
as this destroys the vegetable and animal impurities.
Water evaporates at all temperatures, boils at 212°, and freezes
at 32° Fahrenheit. In freezing, the substances dissolved in
water are expelled. Water, as it approaches the freezing-point,
expands, and often bursts the vessels in which it is contained.
In ponds or rivers it expands, becomes lighter, freezes, and
floats on the surface in the form of ice.
Water is perfectly neutral. It combines with acids and with
bases. It becomes sweet, sour, salt, astringent, bitter, or poison-
ous, according to the nature of the bodies it holds in solution.
The Boston Cook Book.
455
Salts and other Mineral Matters. — The chief purpose of min-
eral ingredients is to replenish certain tissues, and aid in the
transferrence and absorption of the combustible nutrients, as a
scaffolding aids in the construction of a building.
Chloride of sodium, or common salt, is essential to the life of
the higher animals. It exists in all parts of the body. It is
more abundant in the blood than any other inorganic ingredient
except water ; but it is an active poisonous irritant if taken in
excess, causing diseases of the mucous membranes, as in catarrh,
and stiffening of the muscles, as in rheumatism. We take it as
a natural ingredient in many kinds of food, and as a condiment
to increase the relish of many others.
Page 267
Presented as published in 1884. 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
For convenience the elements are classified chemically into Non- Combustibles, or inorganic compounds, including water and salts; Combustibles, or organic compounds, including carbonaceous and nitrogenous foods. Some foods contain no carbon, some contain no nitrogen, and some have all the elements in
The Boston Cook Book,
various proportions. Food has been classified into gaseous, or air; liquid, or water; and solid, including animal and vegetable foods. But the division into carbonaceous, or heat-producing, and nitrogenous, or flesh-forming foods, answers every purpose.
NON-COMBUSTIBLE COMPOUNDS.
"Water and Salts.
Water forms more than two thirds of the whole body. It is especially abundant in the blood and secretions. It gives them the necessary fluidity, and enables them to dissolve the important materials they contain. It is contained in all kinds of solid food, as well as in the liquids drunk as beverages. It is most abundant in fruits and vegetables. Every pound of perfectly dry food should be accompanied with four pounds of water.
Pure water is composed of oxygen and hydrogen, one ninth hydrogen and eight ninths oxygen by weight. The usual test for pure drinking water is that it be " free from color, smell, or taste, be soft, bright, and aerated, and free from all deposit. But it is very seldom found in that condition, as its power of dissolving other substances is so great that it nearly always holds animal, vegetable, or mineral matters in solution, obtained from the earth through which it flows. It also absorbs gases and odors from the air. The animal and vegetable substances found in it render it impure. But the mineral matters, unless in excess, are not objectionable.
When water contains more than a few grains to the gallon of carbonate of lime, it is termed hard water. When water is hard or impure, it should be boiled before being used for drinking, as this destroys the vegetable and animal impurities.
Water evaporates at all temperatures, boils at 212°, and freezes at 32° Fahrenheit. In freezing, the substances dissolved in water are expelled. Water, as it approaches the freezing-point, expands, and often bursts the vessels in which it is contained. In ponds or rivers it expands, becomes lighter, freezes, and floats on the surface in the form of ice.
Water is perfectly neutral. It combines with acids and with bases. It becomes sweet, sour, salt, astringent, bitter, or poisonous, according to the nature of the bodies it holds in solution.
The Boston Cook Book.
Salts and other Mineral Matters. — The chief purpose of mineral ingredients is to replenish certain tissues, and aid in the transferrence and absorption of the combustible nutrients, as a scaffolding aids in the construction of a building.
Chloride of sodium, or common salt, is essential to the life of the higher animals. It exists in all parts of the body. It is more abundant in the blood than any other inorganic ingredient except water ; but it is an active poisonous irritant if taken in excess, causing diseases of the mucous membranes, as in catarrh, and stiffening of the muscles, as in rheumatism. We take it as a natural ingredient in many kinds of food, and as a condiment to increase the relish of many others.