1 (Art of Cooking, Atkinson) ; Galaxy, vol. 2, p. 215 ; vol. 4,
p. 863 (Ancient and Modern Cooking) ; Blackwood, vol. 60, p. 238
M 161
162 HANDBOOK OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE
(Cooking and Civilization) ; Lippincott, vol. 1, p, 91 (Cooking in
History) ; American Kitchen Magazine, vol. 6, p. 51 (Evolution in
Methods of Cooking and Heating).
Facts. — Atkinson defines cooking as the art of applying
heat to foods in such a way as
(1) To render it digestible, so that its nutrient properties
may be assimilated in true proportions in the human
system.
(2) To render it appetizing by the development of its own
specific flavor.
(3) To combine different kinds of food material in such a
way that each will render the other palatable.
(4) To remove certain portions which may not be pala-
table or digestible after the first application of heat, either
as waste, like bone, or as excess, like much of the fat that
may be used for other purposes, or as woody fibre in many
vegetables.
(5) To add to the essential elements salt in its due pro-
portion in almost every process, and sugar in some combi-
nations, and other condiments, spices, or flavorings in such a
way as to develop rather than disguise the true flavor of the
principal food material entering into each dish.
In addition to these five results of cooking may be given
another and very important one, viz., the destruction of all
parasites and bacteria.
The effect of cooking of the starches is to break up the
granules, bursting the enclosing sack. Cooking dissolves the
connective tissue of meats and fish, thus making the muscle
fibres more accessible to the digestive juices. Nevertheless,
the cooked proteins, both meat and milk, take a longer time
for digestion than the uncooked. A quantity of raw beef
that will digest in two hours requires two and a half hours
when boiled half done ; three hours, boiled well done ; three
PRINCIPLES OF COOKING 163
hours, roasted half done; and four hours roasted well
done.
Boiling, steaming, stewing, extracting, roasting, broiling,
frying, are the main methods employed in cooking.
Effects of Heat. — To understand the relative merits and
best way of using these various methods it is necessary to
know the effects of different temperatures upon the food
elements. Long continued high temperature together with
more or less moisture is necessary for the cooking of all
starchy foods. The amount of moisture and length of cook-
ing depends upon whether the result is to be " mealy," or a
sweet nutty paste. For a temperature of 320° F. is required
to change starch to dextrin, and a still higher temperature
to change this product into sugar.
For a fuller exposition of this subject, see the chapter on
Starchy Foods, and How to Cook Them.
Heat coagulates the proteids. This may be seen in the cook-
ing of milk. The caseine (a proteid) thickens with heat, forms
a layer across the top. The white of egg — almost pure al-
bumen— coagulates at about 165° F. Additional heat first
brings out the flavor (about 180° F.), and still greater heat
makes it hard and indigestible. These statements are approx-
imately true for the protein of meat and fish as well as of eggs.
Obviously, then, a high temperature, desirable in cooking
the starches, is undesirable for the proteids.
Page 78
Presented as published in 1900. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
1 (Art of Cooking, Atkinson) ; Galaxy, vol. 2, p. 215 ; vol. 4, p. 863 (Ancient and Modern Cooking) ; Blackwood, vol. 60, p. 238
(Cooking and Civilization) ; Lippincott, vol. 1, p. 91 (Cooking in History) ; American Kitchen Magazine, vol. 6, p. 51 (Evolution in Methods of Cooking and Heating).
Facts. — Atkinson defines cooking as the art of applying heat to foods in such a way as
(1) To render it digestible, so that its nutrient properties may be assimilated in true proportions in the human system.
(2) To render it appetizing by the development of its own specific flavor.
(3) To combine different kinds of food material in such a way that each will render the other palatable.
(4) To remove certain portions which may not be palatable or digestible after the first application of heat, either as waste, like bone, or as excess, like much of the fat that may be used for other purposes, or as woody fibre in many vegetables.
(5) To add to the essential elements salt in its due proportion in almost every process, and sugar in some combinations, and other condiments, spices, or flavorings in such a way as to develop rather than disguise the true flavor of the principal food material entering into each dish.
In addition to these five results of cooking may be given another and very important one, viz., the destruction of all parasites and bacteria.
The effect of cooking of the starches is to break up the granules, bursting the enclosing sack. Cooking dissolves the connective tissue of meats and fish, thus making the muscle fibres more accessible to the digestive juices. Nevertheless, the cooked proteins, both meat and milk, take a longer time for digestion than the uncooked. A quantity of raw beef that will digest in two hours requires two and a half hours when boiled half done ; three hours, boiled well done ; three
hours, roasted half done; and four hours roasted well done.
Boiling, steaming, stewing, extracting, roasting, broiling, frying, are the main methods employed in cooking.
Effects of Heat. — To understand the relative merits and best way of using these various methods it is necessary to know the effects of different temperatures upon the food elements. Long continued high temperature together with more or less moisture is necessary for the cooking of all starchy foods. The amount of moisture and length of cooking depends upon whether the result is to be " mealy," or a sweet nutty paste. For a temperature of 320° F. is required to change starch to dextrin, and a still higher temperature to change this product into sugar.
For a fuller exposition of this subject, see the chapter on Starchy Foods, and How to Cook Them.
Heat coagulates the proteids. This may be seen in the cooking of milk. The caseine (a proteid) thickens with heat, forms a layer across the top. The white of egg — almost pure albumen— coagulates at about 165° F. Additional heat first brings out the flavor (about 180° F.), and still greater heat makes it hard and indigestible. These statements are approximately true for the protein of meat and fish as well as of eggs.
Obviously, then, a high temperature, desirable in cooking the starches, is undesirable for the proteids.