Foods, their selection and preparation

When the coffee is added directly to the water, some means of settling or straining it must be used. The simplest means is to strain it through a very fine strainer as soon as it is finished. Or a small amount of cold water may be added. This lowers the tem¬ perature suddenly, the grounds are carried to the bottom of the pot, and the coffee is clear if not agitated to stir up the grounds again. Egg whites may be used to clear coffee. The egg white is added to a mixture of cold water and coffee. As the water heats, the egg is coagulated about the ground coffee, making it possible to separate it by straining. Since the protein of the egg surrounds the particles of coffee, there must be incomplete extrac¬ tion of flavor with this method. Iced Coffee. Good iced coffee requires just as much care in the making as hot coffee. Make the brew at least half again as strong and up to double strength of coffee to be served hot. Use a minimum of 3 level table¬ spoons of coffee to 1 standard measuring cup of water. Pour the hot coffee over the ice in the glasses. Unless the brew is quite strong the melting ice weakens the coffee too much. For this reason some prefer to make coffee two or three hours in advance, using the same amount of coffee as for serving hot or perhaps slightly more. Then cover tightly and set aside to cool. The cold coffee chilled in the refrigerator requires less added ice. Ice cubes may be made of left-over coffee for use in iced coffee. After-Dinner Coffee. The demitasse or small cup of coffee served after dinner should be made by using half again as much coffee up to double the amount used in the breakfast brew. Cafe au Lait. Coffee with milk, or cafe au lait, also should be made stronger than that which is served with a small amount of cream. Equal amounts of hot coffee and hot milk are poured into the coffee cup. The coffee should be at least half again as strong for this method of serving as for the usual method. TEA Tea is prepared from the leaves and leaf buds of the different species of Thea, an evergreen shrub of the Orient. The amount of tea used in the United States is very small compared with the amount of coffee — less than a pound per person per year. In Eng¬ land it can well be called the national bever¬ age, eight to nine pounds per person per year being consumed. The tea used in the United States comes from China mainly, with smaller amounts from India, Ceylon, Japan, Java, Formosa, and Sumatra. Kinds of Tea. The plant is virtually the same in all the countries where tea is grown, but with variations in the soil, climate, ele¬ vation, and methods of growing and cutting, individual flavors and other characteristics result. The main differences in tea are due, first, to the method of treatment and, second, to the maturity of the leaves. All teas fall into one of three general classes: black or fermented, green or unfer- [340] mented, and oolong or semifermented. Black and green teas may be prepared from leaves picked from the same plant. Descriptive names have been given to the leaves of varying maturity. China teas, and those from some of the other countries, usu¬ ally are designated as follows: A. Black Teas 1. Flowery Pekoe 2. Orange Pekoe 3. Pekoe 4. Pekoe — Soochong 5. Soochong or English Breakfast Tea B. Green Teas 1. Gunpowder 2. Imperial 3. Young Hyson 4. Hyson