FoodNetArchive

Miss Parloa's new cook book and marketing guide

1880

Page 19

Presented as published in 1880. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
There is now in use flour made by two different processes, by the old, or St. Louis, and the new, or Haxall. The Haxall flour is used mostly for bread and the old-process for pastry, cake, etc. By the new process more starch and less of the outer coats, which contain much of the pros- phates, is retained ; so that the flour makes a whiter and moister bread. This flour packs closer than that made in the old way, so that a pound of it will not measure as much as a pound of the old kind. In using an old rule, one-eighth of this flour should be left out. For instance, if in a recipe for bread you have four quarts (old-process) of flour given, of the new-process you would take only three and a half quarts. This flour does not make as good cake and pastry as the old-process. It is, therefore, well, to have a barrel of each, if you have space, for the pastry flour is the cheaper, and the longer all kinds of flour are kept in a dry place, the better they are. Buying in small quantities is GROCERIES. 57 extremely extravagant. When you have become accus- tomed to one brand, and it works to your satisfaction, do not change for a new one. The best flour is the cheapest. There are a great many brands that are equally good. Graham. The best Graham is made by grinding good wheat and not sifting it. Much that is sold is a poor quality of flour mixed with bran. This will not, of course, make good, sweet bread. The " Arlington Whole Wheat Meal " is man- ufactured from pure wheat, and makes delicious bread. Graham, like flour, will keep in a cool, dry place for years. Indian Meal. In most families there is a large amount of this used, but the quantity purchased at a time depends upon the kind of meal selected. The common kind, which is made by grinding between two mill-stones, retains a great deal of moisture, and, in hot weather, will soon grow musty ; but the granulated meal will keep for any length of time. The corn for this meal is first dried; and it takes about two years for this. Then the outer husks are removed, and the corn is ground by a pro- cess that produces grains like granulated sugar. After once using this meal one will not willingly go back to the old kind. Indian meal is made from two kinds of corn, Northern and Southern. The former gives the yellow meal, and is much richer than the Southern, of which white meal is made. Rye Meal. This meal, like the old- process Indian, will grow musty in a short time in hot weather, so that but a small quantity of it should be bought at a time. The meal is much better than the flour for all kinds of bread and muffins. Oat Meal. There are several kinds of oat meal — Scotch, Irish, Cana- 58 MISS PARLOA'S NEW COOK BOOK. dian and American. The first two are sold in smalJ packages, the Canadian and American in any quantity. It seems as if the Canadian and American should be the best because the freshest; but the fact is the others are con- sidered the choicest. Many people could not eat oat meal in former years, owing to the husks irritating the lining of the stomach. There is now what is called pearled meal. x\ll the husks are removed, and the oats are then cut. The coarse kind will keep longer than the fine ground, but it is best to purchase often, and have the meal as fresh as pos- sible. Cracked Wheat.