It is a curious fact that not only manioc, but other roots
of a poisonous nature, have been used for food by uncivilised
peoples from time immemorial, and it must have required a
considerable amount of thought and observation to enable
men in such a low state of culture to convert such plants
into wholesome food. The root of the Arum lily is one of
the plants thus utilised, and we must not forget that the
potato, now so universally eaten and esteemed, belongs to
the most poisonous order of plants, being cousin-german to
the deadly nightshade.
Maize may be regarded as the connecting link between
cereals used for bread-making, and roots like the arum and
manioc, since like these it becomes more palatable by being
steeped in water to precipitate the starch, and using this for
baking or boiling, instead of simply pounding or grinding
the grain and mixing the flour with water, as is done with
wheat, barley, oats, and rye.
The Italians use maize in large quantities to make that
which seems the chief food of the poor, and is known as
polenda, being a kind of porridge of ground Indian corn,
and you can scarcely enter a cottage without seeing the
padrona stirring the rich yellow mess destined for the family
meal, which is always slowly simmering in a huge brass
vessel hung over the charcoal fire in the common apartment.
Sometimes this porridge is made of chestnuts, and is then
known as polenda dolce.
There was a grain formerly much cultivated in Cornwall
which is said to have made excellent porridge, and with
VARIOUS BREAD-STUFFS 47
potatoes a splendid food for pigs and poultry ; this is a kind
of oat (avena nuda) known locally as pilez or pellas, which
grows readily in black moorland moist soils, and which
might probably be grown advantageously in Ireland, for it is
said that a gallon of ground pilez, mixed with twenty gallons
of potatoes, makes an excellent fattening food for pigs and
poultry ; whilst the straw, which is very fine, is capital fodder
for cattle and horses.
Rice, which may be reckoned as one of the most important
of the cereals, is not used for making bread, although the
grain boiled, or ground and mixed with other materials,
forms an excellent food.
It is the fashion of the present day to ignore or deny the
value of rice as an article of food, and it is, perhaps, true
that its nutritive properties are less than those of other
cereals; nevertheless, it affords support to untold millions
of Asiatics, forming the principal food of the natives of
India, China, Japan, and many other countries; whilst in
Europe, Africa, and America — in fact, in the whole civilised
world — no store closet would be complete without a bag of
rice for use in curries, puddings, cakes, and a variety of
dishes too numerous to mention. In fact, this cereal — not-
withstanding the dictum of doctors and analytical chemists
— seems to enter more largely into our cookery books than
any of the others, with the exception of wheat, which, in the
form of flour, is now a prime necessary of civilised life.
It is somewhat singular that rice, so highly esteemed by
the poor in Asia, is used chiefly by the rich in other parts of
the world. Even in times of famine, our poor would think
themselves very badly used if charity doled out to them the
rations which the mild Hindoo or John Chinaman would
48 OUR VIANDS
Our viands
1893Page 20
Presented as published in 1893. 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
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It is a curious fact that not only manioc, but other roots
of a poisonous nature, have been used for food by uncivilised
peoples from time immemorial, and it must have required a
considerable amount of thought and observation to enable
men in such a low state of culture to convert such plants
into wholesome food. The root of the Arum lily is one of
the plants thus utilised, and we must not forget that the
potato, now so universally eaten and esteemed, belongs to
the most poisonous order of plants, being cousin-german to
the deadly nightshade.
Maize may be regarded as the connecting link between
cereals used for bread-making, and roots like the arum and
manioc, since like these it becomes more palatable by being
steeped in water to precipitate the starch, and using this for
baking or boiling, instead of simply pounding or grinding
the grain and mixing the flour with water, as is done with
wheat, barley, oats, and rye.
The Italians use maize in large quantities to make that
which seems the chief food of the poor, and is known as
polenda, being a kind of porridge of ground Indian corn,
and you can scarcely enter a cottage without seeing the
padrona stirring the rich yellow mess destined for the family
meal, which is always slowly simmering in a huge brass
vessel hung over the charcoal fire in the common apartment.
Sometimes this porridge is made of chestnuts, and is then
known as polenda dolce.
There was a grain formerly much cultivated in Cornwall
which is said to have made excellent porridge, and with
VARIOUS BREAD-STUFFS 47
potatoes a splendid food for pigs and poultry ; this is a kind
of oat (avena nuda) known locally as pilez or pellas, which
grows readily in black moorland moist soils, and which
might probably be grown advantageously in Ireland, for it is
said that a gallon of ground pilez, mixed with twenty gallons
of potatoes, makes an excellent fattening food for pigs and
poultry ; whilst the straw, which is very fine, is capital fodder
for cattle and horses.
Rice, which may be reckoned as one of the most important
of the cereals, is not used for making bread, although the
grain boiled, or ground and mixed with other materials,
forms an excellent food.
It is the fashion of the present day to ignore or deny the
value of rice as an article of food, and it is, perhaps, true
that its nutritive properties are less than those of other
cereals; nevertheless, it affords support to untold millions
of Asiatics, forming the principal food of the natives of
India, China, Japan, and many other countries; whilst in
Europe, Africa, and America — in fact, in the whole civilised
world — no store closet would be complete without a bag of
rice for use in curries, puddings, cakes, and a variety of
dishes too numerous to mention. In fact, this cereal — not-
withstanding the dictum of doctors and analytical chemists
— seems to enter more largely into our cookery books than
any of the others, with the exception of wheat, which, in the
form of flour, is now a prime necessary of civilised life.
It is somewhat singular that rice, so highly esteemed by
the poor in Asia, is used chiefly by the rich in other parts of
the world. Even in times of famine, our poor would think
themselves very badly used if charity doled out to them the
rations which the mild Hindoo or John Chinaman would
48 OUR VIANDS