XVIII. Dried Legumes and Nuts 256 XIX. Batters and Doughs 265 XX. Flours and Meals 280 XXI. Leavening Agents 289 XXII. Cakes Containing Fat 296 XXIII. Yeast-Leavened Breads 310 XXIV. Pies and Other Pastries 321 XXV. Coffee, Tea, and Cocoa 334 XXVI. Condiments and Their Use 348 XXVII. Meal-Planning and Service 356 Appendix 365 Index 383 V . FOODS: THEIR SELECTION AND PREPARATION • I • Selection of Food The selection of food is a responsibility everyone faces. Available supplies, economic factors, likes and dislikes, may limit choice. Within these limits the individual selects his or her daily food from home stores, the market, the family table, or the public res¬ taurant. This should meet individual needs for good nutrition, as well as satisfy hunger and provide emotional and physical satis¬ faction. The responsibility for wise selection of food lies heavily on homemakers and persons responsible for group feeding; they limit the choices of those they serve by the food they provide and the way it is prepared. The pur¬ pose of this chapter is to emphasize the close relation of food to life and health; to show that abundant health requires not just food but the right food; and to make clear that the right food properly prepared can im¬ prove the quality of life as well as increase its length. Primitive man ate the natural foods avail¬ able. When food was adequate in kind and amount, the group survived. Inadequate food resulted in low physical development, poor health, and high death rates. Thus, through painful, expensive experiences, ra¬ cial food habits and appetites were developed and came to be fair guides in the choice of food under simple conditions of living. But racial habits and appetites can no longer be depended upon to guide the choice of food. So long as families lived in stable commu¬ nities and produced most of their food, tra¬ ditional diet patterns were developed that were reasonably safe guides to the choice of food. With the increasing specialization of agricultural production, interest centered in the cash crop to the neglect of food for the family. With increased efficiency in agricul¬ tural production, fewer persons were re¬ quired in agriculture. Many families moved from rural to urban areas to find employ¬ ment. Under these changed situations, many families were unable to obtain their accus¬ tomed foods and were left with no experience to guide their choice of food in the new situation. Now food production and distribution is highly centralized and commercialized. Many foods must be transported long dis¬ tances. Some are processed and refined to such a point that they have lost important nutrients which they contained in their natu¬ ral state. Many families buy all the food they eat; all buy some. Nationwide dietary studies made in 1937 and 1942 indicated that in spite of our abundant supplies of food many families have inadequate diets. CAUSES OF POOR DIETS These inadequate diets were shown to re¬ sult from a combination of causes: low in¬ comes, bad food habits, and lack of knowledge as to the importance of food and what con¬ stitutes a good diet. Low Incomes. Economic factors were most important. Inadequate diets are most likely to occur among low-income groups, but they are not confined to them. Some families in the low-income group were able to obtain good diets by wise expenditure of

AI-modernized reading of the original text

XVIII. Dried Legumes and Nuts 256 XIX. Batters and Doughs 265 XX. Flours and Meals 280 XXI. Leavening Agents 289 XXII. Cakes Containing Fat 296 XXIII. Yeast-Leavened Breads 310 XXIV. Pies and Other Pastries 321 XXV. Coffee, Tea, and Cocoa 334 XXVI. Condiments and Their Use 348 XXVII. Meal-Planning and Service 356 Appendix 365 Index 383 . FOODS: THEIR SELECTION AND PREPARATION • I • Selection of Food The selection of food is a responsibility everyone faces. Available supplies, economic factors, likes and dislikes, may limit choice. Within these limits the individual selects his or her daily food from home stores, the market, the family table, or the public res¬ taurant. This should meet individual needs for good nutrition, as well as satisfy hunger and provide emotional and physical satis¬ faction. The responsibility for wise selection of food lies heavily on homemakers and persons responsible for group feeding; they limit the choices of those they serve by the food they provide and the way it is prepared. The pur¬ pose of this chapter is to emphasize the close relation of food to life and health; to show that abundant health requires not just food but the right food; and to make clear that the right food properly prepared can im¬ prove the quality of life as well as increase its length. Primitive man ate the natural foods avail¬ able. When food was adequate in kind and amount, the group survived. Inadequate food resulted in low physical development, poor health, and high death rates. Thus, through painful, expensive experiences, ra¬ cial food habits and appetites were developed and came to be fair guides in the choice of food under simple conditions of living. But racial habits and appetites can no longer be depended upon to guide the choice of food. So long as families lived in stable commu¬ nities and produced most of their food, tra¬ ditional diet patterns were developed that were reasonably safe guides to the choice of food. With the increasing specialization of agricultural production, interest centered in the cash crop to the neglect of food for the family. With increased efficiency in agricul¬ tural production, fewer persons were re¬ quired in agriculture. Many families moved from rural to urban areas to find employ¬ ment. Under these changed situations, many families were unable to obtain their accus¬ tomed foods and were left with no experience to guide their choice of food in the new situation. Now food production and distribution is highly centralized and commercialized. Many foods must be transported long dis¬ tances. Some are processed and refined to such a point that they have lost important nutrients which they contained in their natu¬ ral state. Many families buy all the food they eat; all buy some. Nationwide dietary studies made in 1937 and 1942 indicated that in spite of our abundant supplies of food many families have inadequate diets. CAUSES OF POOR DIETS These inadequate diets were shown to re¬ sult from a combination of causes: low in¬ comes, bad food habits, and lack of knowledge as to the importance of food and what con¬ stitutes a good diet. Low Incomes. Economic factors were most important. Inadequate diets are most likely to occur among low-income groups, but they are not confined to them. Some families in the low-income group were able to obtain good diets by wise expenditure of

Foods, their selection and preparation