Middle class cookery book

must be supplied to replace what goes out, and must therefore form an important part of food. Liquid foods (milk, soups, and drinks) consist largely of water. It is not, however, necessary to replace the waste entirely by drinking liquid, as a large proportion of all appar- ently solid food is in reality water. Fruit and vege- tables contain a great deal of water, and there is much even in animal food. Water does not directly nourish the body either by forming flesh or giving heat. Its chief uses are — (a) to mix with and soften solid food, and thus help the various stages of digestion ; (6) to assist in carrying the food to the various parts of the body, where it is required to replace what has been wasted ; (c) to mix with and help to carry off matter which has been used up.1 It is very important that 1 The blood contained in tlio arteries conveys the digested food to the various parts of the body, and that contained in the veins removes the used-up matter. More than three-fourths of the blood consists of water. CHAP. I THE MATERIALS OF FOOD 9 water for cooking and drinking should be pure. If it is impossible to obtain pure water, it should first be boiled and then filtered.1 There is a class of foods that might be arranged under some of the heads already mentioned, but it is simpler to speak of it separately, viz. : — Flavourings, or, as they are sometimes called, Condiments. These consist of salt (which comes under the head of minerals), pepper, mustard, vinegar, flavour- ing herbs, spices, etc. Condiments are of little or no use in repairing the waste of the body, but, used in moderation, they assist in making food more palatable ; and by helping to draw out the saliva in the mouth, and the other fluids in the stomach, which are required to mix with the food, they assist in producing the won- derful changes which have to take place before it is taken into the blood and becomes part of the human body. The four classes of foods — heat-givers, flesh-formers, salts, and water — must be represented in our diet if the body is to be kept in a healthy state.2 Of these four, cookery has chiefly to do with heat-giving and flesh-forming foods ; and it will be observed that in- clination leads us to couple foods together, so that one may supply what the other wants. For example, veal 1 It should be noted that a filter only removes solid matter, such as gravel, sand, etc., but it does not take away the more dangerous matters which are often dissolved in the water, such as sewage, lead, etc. 2 The chief elements of the body are oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, and salts. A certain amount of these, after undergoing various changes and combinations, passes off from the body daily, and is replaced as follows : oxygen, chiefly by the air entering the body by the lungs ; hydrogen, chiefly in the form of water ; nitrogen, by flesh -forming or nitrogenous foods; carbon, by warmth-giving or carbonaceous foods ; and salts, by the salts mentioned above. 10 MIDDLE CLASS COOKERY BOOK PART I and poultry are flesh-formers, but are deficient in beat- giving material, therefore we take bacon with them. Pork is very fat, therefore we take peas pudding with it. To corn flour, tapioca, etc., we add milk, and so on. A General Statement of the Component Parts of ottr Chief Foods Warmtli-giving Flesh-forming Minerals or Materials. Materials. Salts.