Foods of the foreign-born in relation to health

Other recipes which may be used for children are as follows : Spinagi i peck spinach i tablespoon butter I tablespoon salt f tablespoon flour 5 tablespoons cream i egg yolk 3 egg whites Wash and cook spinach in salt and one tablespoon water for twenty minutes; chop fine. Put butter and flour into saucepan. Stir while heating, then add chopped spinach. Cook for five minutes, and add cream. Add yolk of egg, well beaten; when cool add well-beaten whites, then place mixture in a buttered dish and bake for ten or fifteen minutes. Italian cooked vegetables are best for children in this form. They are more easilv digested than when cooked in olive oil or other fats Lettuga Informata (Lettuce Baked in Oven) Take off wilted outside leaves, wash and tie up heads, and place in baking pan with two cups of soup stock. Bake one-half hour. Place fork under heads, remove, and serve with stock for gravy. Polenta (Com Meal Mush) This is usually eaten with meat gravy instead of milk. It would not be difficult to teach children to eat it with milk. Gnocchi di Semolina (Indian Meal) Often called farina by the Italians, cooked in milk. Canestrelli (Tea Cakes or Cookies) i cup sugar i cup flour J cup butter i egg yolk i teaspoon vanilla Cream together sugar and butter ; add well-beaten egg yolk and vanilla; then enough flour to make a firm dough, probably one-half cup. Roll out thin and cut into fancy shapes. Italian children do not need to be encouraged to eat macaroni, vermicelli, or spaghetti, which are usually well cooked. They are quite ready to eat oat meal or rolled oats if these are codced in milk and raisins added. A constipation diet includes vegetables served in the many different ways of cooking and combining, and fresh fruit or fruit juices. When constipation is found among the Italians, it is usually due to the fact that they have been financially unable to secure vegetables, fruit, and olive oil, and have lived exclusively on macaroni, rice, and lentils. An Italian patient with nephritis finds it very hard to leave cheese out of his diet. He does not miss the other forms of proteins so much. A very little meat is used at any time ; eggs are used as thickening, and would not be missed if another thickening were used, but cheese furnishes flavor for many dishes. Therefore, if any protein is to be allowed, cheese should be selected. Tuberculous patients may be given milk in the same forms as are prescribed for undernourished children, and eggs in soups. The Italian people are not in the habit of using soft eggs, but have many recipes for using hardboiled eggs. Patients can be taught to poach or drop them, and serve a little grated cheese on them. In this way they may learn to eat them. Sugar may be prescribed in fruit compotes — stewed fruits, made of either fresh or dried fruits. Raisins and almond paste are other forms of sweets. Diabetic patients find it very hard to adjust themselves to a diet without any pasta, or macaroni. Among their people it has always been the staple at every meal. Vegetables used by them in many combinations are prescribed for this disease. Tomatoes may be scooped out and an egg dropped in each. Then the tomatoes are placed in a small dish, and baked until the eggs are set. Mushrooms are often chopped and baked in tomatoes. Beans of all kinds are used in their dietaries, and must be removed. Often the use of mushrooms may be encouraged in their place. Endive is enjoyed as well as dandelions, spinach, and many other leafy vegetables. If the Italians can secure their preferred diet, it is usually well-balanced. Naturally they are painstaking, good cooks. It is not, therefore, at all impossible for a person who knows their native dietaries to help them adjust