Middle class cookery book

2. Vegetables. — Vegetables, especially grains, con- tain a large quantity of starch, which is most unwhole- some as an article of diet, unless the grains are swollen and burst. To accomplish this, it must be mixed with a sufficient amount of liquid, and be subjected, for a few minutes at least, to a high degree of heat. The liquid is, in certain preparations, supplied in the form of fat which melts with heat. Suet, butter, or dripping may be mixed with flour ; but great care must be taken to have the fat very finely mixed with the flour, as when this is not done, the flour cakes together, and the melted fat cannot reach it to assist in bursting the grains. For this reason, short crust is more wholesome than puff paste, as in the former the starch and fat 14 MIDDLE CLASS COOKERY BOOK PART I are more thoroughly mixed. The use of baking powder makes pastry, etc., lighter. In cooking garden vegetables, the heat should reach boiling point, not only because the starch cells must be burst, but because there is a good deal of confined air in vegetables which it is desirable by this means to set free. The water may, however, after five or ten minutes, be reduced to slow boiling, as the full boiling point has the effect of hardening the woody fibre of which vege- tables consist largely. The bursting of the starch cells can be carried out at a somewhat lower heat (170° or 180° Fahr.) The cooking of garden vegetables in hard water helps to hold in the nourishing juices ; but it is at the risk of the lime in the water hardening the woody fibre. Therefore, while hard water makes vege- tables more nutritious, soft water makes them more digestible. CHAPTER III THE ADAPTATION OP FOOD TO VARYING CIRCUMSTANCES Hunger and thirst are instincts which indicate to us that food is required ; taste is a sense which assists us in selecting food ; but as the stomach can be trained to bad as well as to good habits, it is necessary to exercise intelligence, not only in choosing food, but in adapting its use to the varying circumstances of life. Food should be adapted to I. Different ages. II. Different climates. III. Different employments. IV. Different states of health. CHAT. Ill ADAPTATION OF FOOD 15 I. Different Ages Infants should, if possible, be fed on their mothers’ milk. When circumstances prevent this, substitutes are required, for which special recipes and directions will be found in the School Cookery Book. The food of children from weaning to the age of seven or eight years should consist chiefly of milk and eggs taken separately or made into well -cooked puddings, with bread, semolina, macaroni, rice, etc. Their digestion is not strong enough to assimilate much vegetable or animal food, as these contain much fibre, which is diffi- cult to digest. Meat, fish, soups, and vegetables should, however, be occasionally given in small quantities. Fixed hours for meals are important, as when regularly given, the stomach becomes prepared to receive them. The intervals should not be longer than four hours.1