Elements of the theory and practice of cookery

181. The fat globules, being lighter than the rest of the milk, tend to rise to the top as cream. If cream be vigorously beaten or churned, the globules lose their shape and stick together, forming butter. Some of the casein clings to them. This is usually washed out, as it decomposes easily. Butter is salted to further pro- 98 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF COOKERY tect it from spoiling. It is usually packed in wooden tubs for market. Butter moulded in " prints " for im- mediate table use is made less salt than tub butter. " Sweet " butter contains no salt and sells at a high price. 182. Economy in buying and using butter. — Good butter has about eighty -seven per cent of fat ^ is firm, not crumbly, yields little water when pressed, and foams when heated. It is wiser to economize by using some less expensive fat, such as beef fat, in cooking, than to buy a poor grade of butter because it is cheap. So- called " cooking-butter " is often an imitation of butter, or rancid (spoiled) butter, worked over and unfit to be eaten. Milk from grass-fed cows makes rich, yellow butter. Winter butter comes white, and is usually colored for market with anatto, a substance obtained from the seeds of a tropical plant. Sour cream makes the finest-fla- vored butter. 183. Experiment to illustrate butter-making. — Put half a cupful of thick cream into a small bowl and beat it with a Dover egg-beater until it separates into buttermilk and specks of butter. Gather the butter into a lump, and after pressing out as much of the buttermilk as you can, wash the butter under a stream of cold water. Work with a wooden spoon to remove the water, and add a few grains of salt. Dip butter- spatters into hot water, then into cold, and with them roll the butter into a ball. (Plate VI, facing p. 89.) TISSUE-BUILDING FOODS: MILK AND EGGS 99 184. Butter as food. — Does butter rank as tissue- builder, strength-giver, or heat-giver? Name some of the foods with which butter is commonly eaten. Does it supply anything that these foods lack? If so, what? Do you need as much butter with corn bread as with white bread ? As much when you eat bacon for break- fast as when you eat lean meat? Recipe for Whipped Cream Cream, ^ pint. Powdered sugar, 2 tablespoonfuls. Extract of vanilla, %. to % teaspoonful. If the cream is thicker than ordinary milkman's cream, dilute with milk, or it will turn to butter when whipped. Whip it with a wire whisk or a Dover beater until stiff enough to hold its shape, beat in the sugar and vanilla, and keep in a cool place till served. In warm weather, set the bowl of cream in a pan of cracked ice while whipping it. Serve on hot chocolate, or as a sauce with desserts. CHEESE 185. Cheese is the curd of milk, drained, salted, and pressed. Cheese made from unskimmed milk is about one-half fat, the fat globules being entangled in the curd. Skimmed milk cheese is sometimes '^ filled " by having lard or other cheap fat added to it. "Filled" cheese is greasy when warm, has little flavor, and does not keep well. Neufchatel and other cream cheeses are made from milk to which cream has been added. LofC. 100 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF COOKERY