CONDIMENTS are simpty seasoning or flavoring
agents, and, though hardly coming under the head of
food, yet have an important part to play. As food by
their use is rendered more tempting, a larger amount is
consumed, and thus a delicate or uncertain appetite is
often aided. In some cases they have the power of cor-
recting the injurious character of some foods.
Salt stands foremost. Vinegar, lemon-juice, and pick-
les owe their value to acidity; while mustard, pepper
black and red, ginger, curry-powder, and horse-radish all
depend chiefly upon pungency. Under the head of aro-
matic condiments are ranged cinnamon, nutmegs, cloves,
allspice, mint, thyme, fennel, sage, parsley, vanilla, leeks,
onions, shallots, garlic, and others, all of them entering
into the composition of various sauces in general use.
Salt is the one thing indispensable. The old Dutch law
condemned criminals to a diet of unsalted food, the effects
being said to be those of the severest physical torture.
Years ago an experiment tried near Paris demonstrated
the necessity of its use. A number of cattle were fed
without the ration of salt ; an equal number received it
regularly. At the end of a specified time, the unsalted
animals were found rough of coat, the hair falUng off in
CONDIMENTS AND BEVERAGES. HI
spots, the eyes wild, and the flesh hardly half the amount
of those naturally fed.
A class of extreme Grahamites in this country decry
the use of salt, as weU as of any form of animal food ; and
I may add that the expression of their thought in both
written and spoken speech is as savorless as their diet.
Salt exists, as we have already found, in the blood :
the craving for it is a universal instinct, even buffaloes
making long journeys across the plains to the salt-Kcks ;
and its use not only gives character to insipid food, but
increases the flow of the gastric juice.
Black pepper, if used profusely as is often done in
American cooking, becomes an irritant, and produces in-
digestion. Eed pepper, or cayenne, on the contrary, is a
useful stimulant at times ; but, as with mustard, any over-
use irritates the lining of the stomach.
So with spices and sweet herbs. There should be only
such use of them as will flavor weU, delicately, and almost
imperceptibly. No one flavor should predominate, and
only a sense of general savoriness rule. Extracts, as of
vanilla, lemon, bitter almond, &c., should be used with
the greatest care, and if possible always be added to an
article after it cools, as the heat wastes the strength.
BEVERAGES.
Tea and coffee are the most universal drinks, after water.
The flavor of both is due to a principle, theine in tea,
caffeine in coffee, in which both the good and the ill effects
of these drinks are bound up. It is hardly necessary the
principles should have different names, as they have been
found by chemists to be identical ; the essential spirit of
cocoa and chocolate, — theohromine, — tho\xg\\ not identi-
tal, having many of the same properties.
112 CONDIMENTS AND BEVERAGES.
Page 55
Presented as published in 1881. 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
CONDIMENTS are simply seasoning or flavoring agents, and, though hardly coming under the head of food, yet have an important part to play. As food by their use is rendered more tempting, a larger amount is consumed, and thus a delicate or uncertain appetite is often aided. In some cases they have the power of correcting the injurious character of some foods.
Salt stands foremost. Vinegar, lemon-juice, and pickles owe their value to acidity; while mustard, pepper black and red, ginger, curry-powder, and horse-radish all depend chiefly upon pungency. Under the head of aromatic condiments are ranged cinnamon, nutmegs, cloves, allspice, mint, thyme, fennel, sage, parsley, vanilla, leeks, onions, shallots, garlic, and others, all of them entering into the composition of various sauces in general use.
Salt is the one thing indispensable. The old Dutch law condemned criminals to a diet of unsalted food, the effects being said to be those of the severest physical torture. Years ago an experiment tried near Paris demonstrated the necessity of its use. A number of cattle were fed without the ration of salt ; an equal number received it regularly. At the end of a specified time, the unsalted animals were found rough of coat, the hair falling off in
spots, the eyes wild, and the flesh hardly half the amount of those naturally fed.
A class of extreme Grahamites in this country decry the use of salt, as weU as of any form of animal food ; and I may add that the expression of their thought in both written and spoken speech is as savorless as their diet.
Salt exists, as we have already found, in the blood : the craving for it is a universal instinct, even buffaloes making long journeys across the plains to the salt-licks ; and its use not only gives character to insipid food, but increases the flow of the gastric juice.
Black pepper, if used profusely as is often done in American cooking, becomes an irritant, and produces indigestion. Red pepper, or cayenne, on the contrary, is a useful stimulant at times ; but, as with mustard, any overuse irritates the lining of the stomach.
So with spices and sweet herbs. There should be only such use of them as will flavor weU, delicately, and almost imperceptibly. No one flavor should predominate, and only a sense of general savoriness rule. Extracts, as of vanilla, lemon, bitter almond, &c., should be used with the greatest care, and if possible always be added to an article after it cools, as the heat wastes the strength.
BEVERAGES.
Tea and coffee are the most universal drinks, after water. The flavor of both is due to a principle, theine in tea, caffeine in coffee, in which both the good and the ill effects of these drinks are bound up. It is hardly necessary the principles should have different names, as they have been found by chemists to be identical ; the essential spirit of cocoa and chocolate, — theobromine, — though not identital, having many of the same properties.