Man has been differentiated from the mem-
bers of the lower creation as the only animal
which cooks its food. The art of cooking is
older than civilization, and in spite of the
theories of the “ uncooked-foods cult ” is es-
sential thereto.
There are several reasons for cooking most
of the foods which we consume, the chief of
which, however, may be grouped under two
headings : the hygienic and the aesthetic.
Certain foods are rendered more digestible by
efficient cooking — that the opposite result
follows the inexpert efforts of the amateur
chef no one who has eaten an ill-cooked din-
ner needs to be told. The heat applied dur-
ing the process of cooking partially sterilises
the food, thereby averting certain dangers we
126
SOYER’S PAPER-BAG COOKERY 127
should otherwise meet with. All animal para-
sites are killed during the process of cooking,
provided that the temperature is maintained
for some time at not less than 70 deg. C., but
certain bacteria require greater heat to destroy
them. Cooking improves the appearance of
most of the foods we eat; it also develops in
many new, attractive and appetising flavours
which are by no means unimportant even
from the hygienic point of view, as they con-
duce to perfect digestion. Cooked foods of
certain kinds keep longer without turning ran-
cid or undergoing objectionable forms of fer-
mentation and decomposition than the same
foods which have not undergone the process.
In spite of the fact that cooking is so im-
portant where most of our foods are con-
cerned, many of the methods employed have
the very opposite effect of those outlined
above. The food materials are rendered com-
paratively insoluble, and therefore difficult of
digestion ; their most valuable ingredients are
either destroyed or washed away and dis-
carded, or being volatile escape into the kitchen
and pollute the atmosphere of the entire resi-
dence.
Unskilful cooking of meat completely coagu-
128 SOYER’S PAPER-BAG COOKERY
lates the exterior of the joint, in some cases
rendering it unfit for food, whereas the in-
terior is hardly subjected to the culinary
process at all, the result being an indigestible,
unpalatable, and repulsive mess.
The cooking of vegetables of all kinds may
be no less disastrous to their food value. The
nutritive and blood-purifying salts are thrown
away in the water in which the vegetables are
boiled, the volatile oils are dissipated into the
atmosphere, the organic phosphates, the dias-
tatic ferments and the health-restoring “ en-
zymes ” are apt to be destroyed, and all that
is left is an insipid mass largely composed of
insoluble cellulose, from which a horse or a
donkey might extract some amount of nutri-
ment, but which is insusceptible of assimila-
tion by the human economy.
For many years the defects of the ordinary
methods employed in the kitchen have been
known to dietitians, and various suggestions
for their elimination have been made — such,
for instance, as the substitution of the Nor-
wegian hay-box for the kitchen range, or of
the “ Bainmarie,” as used in France, or the
duplex boilerette, all of which have their good
points — but, so far as my own experience
SOYER’S PAPER-BAG COOKERY 129
Page 40
Presented as published in 1911. 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
Man has been differentiated from the members of the lower creation as the only animal which cooks its food. The art of cooking is older than civilization, and in spite of the theories of the “ uncooked-foods cult ” is essential thereto.
There are several reasons for cooking most of the foods which we consume, the chief of which, however, may be grouped under two headings : the hygienic and the aesthetic. Certain foods are rendered more digestible by efficient cooking — that the opposite result follows the inexpert efforts of the amateur chef no one who has eaten an ill-cooked dinner needs to be told. The heat applied during the process of cooking partially sterilises the food, thereby averting certain dangers we
should otherwise meet with. All animal parasites are killed during the process of cooking, provided that the temperature is maintained for some time at not less than 70 deg. C., but certain bacteria require greater heat to destroy them. Cooking improves the appearance of most of the foods we eat; it also develops in many new, attractive and appetising flavours which are by no means unimportant even from the hygienic point of view, as they conduce to perfect digestion. Cooked foods of certain kinds keep longer without turning rancid or undergoing objectionable forms of fermentation and decomposition than the same foods which have not undergone the process.
In spite of the fact that cooking is so important where most of our foods are concerned, many of the methods employed have the very opposite effect of those outlined above. The food materials are rendered comparatively insoluble, and therefore difficult of digestion ; their most valuable ingredients are either destroyed or washed away and discarded, or being volatile escape into the kitchen and pollute the atmosphere of the entire residence.
Unskilful cooking of meat completely coagu-
lates the exterior of the joint, in some cases rendering it unfit for food, whereas the interior is hardly subjected to the culinary process at all, the result being an indigestible, unpalatable, and repulsive mess.
The cooking of vegetables of all kinds may be no less disastrous to their food value. The nutritive and blood-purifying salts are thrown away in the water in which the vegetables are boiled, the volatile oils are dissipated into the atmosphere, the organic phosphates, the diastatic ferments and the health-restoring “ enzymes ” are apt to be destroyed, and all that is left is an insipid mass largely composed of insoluble cellulose, from which a horse or a donkey might extract some amount of nutriment, but which is insusceptible of assimilation by the human economy.
For many years the defects of the ordinary methods employed in the kitchen have been known to dietitians, and various suggestions for their elimination have been made — such, for instance, as the substitution of the Norwegian hay-box for the kitchen range, or of the “ Bainmarie,” as used in France, or the duplex boilerette, all of which have their good points — but, so far as my own experience