FoodNet

History and present status of instruction in cooking in the public schools of New York city

1899

Page 36

Presented as published in 1899. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Oats. — Oats are classed among cereals, and belong to the grass family. Long ago, when people believed iu gods and goddesses, they thought that there was a goddess of corn, whom they called Ceres, from which they derived the name of cereals. They believed that she had a daughter named Proserpina, who was once taken in a king's palace and had to go there for a few months in every year. Her mother, being very much grieved at hearing this, would let nothing grow while she was away. In the spring of every year, Proserpina returned, and again things began to grow, as before Proserpina's absence. 9900— No. 56 4. 50 Oats go through much preparation before being cooked. First they are cut and thrashed, then hulled, then steamed, and last of all, crushed, the last process, half cooking them. Before going through these processes, oats consist of straw, which is at the bot- tom, the ear at the top. the chaff, which is the outside of the oat, and the grain inside the chaff, containing the bran. When oats are being tied, we call it, " Bind- ing the sheaves.-' In hulling oats, we take off the hull, and in rolling oats, we put them between rollers, after being hulled. The hulled oats take ten hours to cook, and the rolled take about two hours. Eice, oatmeal, hominy and farina are cereals. The Scotch, especially, are very fond of cereals, and the Chinese are fond of rice. For the reason that cereals are strengthening, when a horse is ready for hard work or to race, he is given oats. They contain proteid. which is called gluten, and helps to build up the system. E. E. SYLLABUS OF LESSON ON BREAD. •• Eemember thy bread and bake it well, for he will not be kept well that eateth his bread as dough."' I. Picture of harvest field. Different grains grown in the class room to study botany of. Study of the action of enzyms in germination. Samples of the different milling products. Picture of old-fashioned mill. Materials Microscope and slides to study cross section of grains. Gluten, wheat starch, iodin. Yeast cultures. Supplementary reading : Bulletins and charts issued by the United States Department of Agriculture, History of a Mouthful of Bread, by Jean Mace. {The bread of the different people of the world. What portion uses wheat four and eats light bread. Besides the grains the use of chestnuts, Iceland moss, barks of trees, roots of plants. Xeatness and care in measuring materials. Necessity for lukewarm liquid. Consistency of batter for different kinds of bread. Proper handling of the spoon. Eeasons for. Different methods employed. Which simplest and least tiring. How to tell when sufficiently kneaded. Danger from diseased hands. Different machines used. Eeasons for. Temperature required. Length of time depending on quantity of yeast. Effect of too long raising. Necessity of covering the dough. Size of loaf and molding. Small loaves better — why. Temperature of oven. Effect of too hot or too cool an oven. Length of time for baking. Effect of heat in baking, cooking of starch — forma- tion of dextriu in crust— killing yeast. Danger of underdone bread. Processes in bread making. Mixins Kneadim Eaising Baking. U. S. Dept. of Agri., Bui. 56, Office of Expt Stations. Plate II. Bunch of Wheat. Drawn by A. P. t 51 Flour Yeast. Manufacture Chemistry History ... Biology II.