FoodNet

Elements of the theory and practice of cookery

1901

Page 67

Presented as published in 1901. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
With more fat, however, he would require less pro- teid. The quantity and proportion of food needed varies with age, climate, habits of life, and other conditions. Familiarity with the Table giving the Chemical Composition of American Food Materials, on p. 319, will aid you in selecting food and in planning meals. 142 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF COOKERY Practical Points about feeding a Family 252. 1 . Brain-workers (teachers, students, clerks, etc.) need easily digestible food ; muscle workers (working- men, etc.) find coarser food better suited to their needs. 2. No one meal need be " balanced," that is, need contain proteids, carbohydrates, and fats in perfect pro- portion, but each day's food should include all three kinds, and a week's dietary should approach the stand- ard. (See table on p. 141.) 3. Diet should be varied as well as mixed ; for ex- ample, do not depend too much on potatoes for starch ; have rice or macaroni sometimes instead. 4. When planning a meal, think what was served at the preceding one ; if starchy foods chiefly, supply plenty of proteid. Do not forget that butter, eggs, milk, etc., used in cooking count as food just as much as if served by themselves on the table. By planning meals, in part at least, for several days ahead, you will find it easier to provide varied and rightly balanced fare. 5. Food is not necessarily nutritious in proportion to its cost. (See Economy in Marketing, § 320, and Selecting Vegetables, §395; also Appendix B.) 6. Remember that plant proteid may take the place of animal proteid ; if you have but a small piece of meat, serve peas or beans with it rather than beets. (§392.) 7. Familiarize yourself with the composition of com- mon foods so that you may readily think of suitable FOOD IN ITS RELATION TO LIFE 143 combinations and know how to supply lack of one food by another of similar character. Helpful Reading in the American Kitchen Magazine. — " Every- day Breakfasts," Vol. XIII, p. 18; "Food for a Typical American Family," Vol. VI, p. 26 (for pupils who have had a year of cookery) ; " A Twenty-fom- Cent Dinner," Vol. XI, p. 9 ; and " Menus " in each month's issue during 1898. CHAPTER VI TISSUE-BUILDING POODS : THE FLESH OF ANIMALS Section 1. Meat: Its Structure, Composition, and Cooking 253. In general, flesh-food is called meat. In our markets, however, this term is applied only to the flesh of cattle, sheep, and swine, that of mature animals being known as beef, mutton, and pork, respectively, that of calves as veal, and of lambs as lamb. Lean Meat: A study of it in connection with its preparation in some simple ways. Directions for One Way of preparing Beef-juice 254. Use a one-half pound slice of the top round of beef cut three-fourths of an inch thick. Let a small bowl stand in a pan of boiling-hot water until thor- oughly heated ; then lay in it the beef, letting first one side, then the other, lie next to the bowl. When the heat has whitened it, cut it into small pieces, and squeeze these, a few at a time, in a meat-press, vege- table-press, or lemon-squeezer. (For serving Beef- juice, see p. 305.) 255. Composition and structure of lean meat. — What foodstuff have we found in the animal foods we have 144 THE FLESH OF ANIMALS 145 already used ? How can we find out if it is also con- tained in meat ?