Cereals are the seeds of grasses. The most common ones are
wheat, rice, oats, corn, barley, and rye. Cereals are extensively
cultivated in every part of the world except the Polar regions.
The reasons for their extensive use is due to the fact that they
are so cheaply and easily grown; they contain good proportions
of necessary food principles with but little refuse; they are
easily prepared for the table and are both palatable and digest-
ible; they are easily preserved on accoimt of their dryness and
of their compactness of form.
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CEREALS 67
Men very early discovered how to make flour out of kernels of
grain and to use it as food. The first method of grinding the
flour by means of a pestle and mortar was very crude. Those
who have visited a flour mill know how very complicated the
milling process of today is, yet the rude implements of ancient
times were the first step towards this end.
Com:
Formerly the word "com" was applied to any grain. In
Scotland it meant oats; in England, wheat. In this coimtry
the only grain to which the name is given is the Indian com,
or maize. How it became known to the early American colo-
nists can be learned from history, which tells how the Pilgrims
were taught by the Indian Squanto to plant the com with a
fish in each hill as fertilizer.
There are many varieties of com: flint, having a broad
kernel; dent, with a small dimple, or wrinkle across each kernel;
sweet, the variety used for cooking purposes; popcorn.
Besides its use directly as a food, corn has a great many uses,
the most important of which are: (1) the manufacture of
glucose, a substance used in commercial candy-making and also
for the ginn on the back of postage stamps; (2) the manufac-
ture of cornstarch.
Rice:
Rice is one of the oldest grains, for it was raised in India in
ancient times, and a thousand years before Christ was bom
it formed the chief food of the Chinese. About the time that
Columbus discovered America, the people along the coast of
Europe began to raise rice, and about two hundred years later,
someone brought some rice to our country. In a very short
time the production of rice became very profitable to the
people who had low, swampy land, such as is found in Georgia,
South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas.
Wheat:
Wheat, because it is so commonly used in bread-makmg and
as a cereal in all parts of the world, is sometimes called the
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68 DOMESTIC SCIENCE
"King of Cereals/' Wheat was first grown in Asia Minor or
in Egypt, and it was not until Europeans came to this country
that it was brought here.
Among all the cereals wheat is the most perfect food for man.
The outer layer of a wheat kernel is hard and useless as food
for human beings, but the next layer is rich in tissue-building
material, and the central part is starchy; there is oil, or fat, in
the tiny germ, but the amount is very small. The whole grain
of wheat, after the outside layer has been removed, is made into
rolled wheat, puffed wheat, and so forth. Cracked wheat is
made by breaking the kernel into pieces; cream of wheat or
farina, by grinding the inner part of the kernel into a meal.
Macaroni Wheat:
Page 25
Presented as published in 1914. 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
Cereals are the seeds of grasses. The most common ones are wheat, rice, oats, corn, barley, and rye. Cereals are extensively cultivated in every part of the world except the Polar regions. The reasons for their extensive use is due to the fact that they are so cheaply and easily grown; they contain good proportions of necessary food principles with but little refuse; they are easily prepared for the table and are both palatable and digestible; they are easily preserved on account of their dryness and of their compactness of form.
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Men very early discovered how to make flour out of kernels of grain and to use it as food. The first method of grinding the flour by means of a pestle and mortar was very crude. Those who have visited a flour mill know how very complicated the milling process of today is, yet the rude implements of ancient times were the first step towards this end. Com:
Formerly the word "com" was applied to any grain. In Scotland it meant oats; in England, wheat. In this country the only grain to which the name is given is the Indian com, or maize. How it became known to the early American colonists can be learned from history, which tells how the Pilgrims were taught by the Indian Squanto to plant the com with a fish in each hill as fertilizer.
There are many varieties of com: flint, having a broad kernel; dent, with a small dimple, or wrinkle across each kernel; sweet, the variety used for cooking purposes; popcorn.
Besides its use directly as a food, corn has a great many uses, the most important of which are: (1) the manufacture of glucose, a substance used in commercial candy-making and also for the gum on the back of postage stamps; (2) the manufacture of cornstarch. Rice:
Rice is one of the oldest grains, for it was raised in India in ancient times, and a thousand years before Christ was bom it formed the chief food of the Chinese. About the time that Columbus discovered America, the people along the coast of Europe began to raise rice, and about two hundred years later, someone brought some rice to our country. In a very short time the production of rice became very profitable to the people who had low, swampy land, such as is found in Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. Wheat:
Wheat, because it is so commonly used in bread-making and as a cereal in all parts of the world, is sometimes called the
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"King of Cereals/' Wheat was first grown in Asia Minor or in Egypt, and it was not until Europeans came to this country that it was brought here.
Among all the cereals wheat is the most perfect food for man.
The outer layer of a wheat kernel is hard and useless as food for human beings, but the next layer is rich in tissue-building material, and the central part is starchy; there is oil, or fat, in the tiny germ, but the amount is very small. The whole grain of wheat, after the outside layer has been removed, is made into rolled wheat, puffed wheat, and so forth. Cracked wheat is made by breaking the kernel into pieces; cream of wheat or farina, by grinding the inner part of the kernel into a meal. Macaroni Wheat: