Principles of cookery

Chafing-Dish — the Modern Brazier. The difference between broiling over coals and in a hot pan is but slight and dry frying or sautering is a similar process. Toasting is a similar application of heat to foods already cooked once. The earliest forms of baking were in the hot dishes and then in covered kettles set in coals or hung over the fire. Our ovens are an outgrowth from those primitive methods, and now much so-called roasting is really baking. A point to study in this connection is the fact that food is fuel for the human body. The amount anr} quality of fuel is varied according to the work to be done, so should the food be chosen according to the work of the individual and the climate or season of the year. Water is not always considered to be strictly a food in itself, but by its aid many foods and flavors are put in forms more acceptable to the palate and more readily absorbed by the body than they could be in any other way. importance Immense quantities of water are necessary for in Cooking the preparation of food and the cleansing of dishes in addition to what is needed for laundry and bathing purposes. Cities make provision from some source safe from contamination for the water needed by their inhabitants. In small communities the individual family must each be responsible for its water supply. This is not the place to discuss the medical aspect of the water question, but all agree that water should be above the suspicion of danger of transmitting disease. Moreover, for household purposes water should be clean and soft, since hard water containing mineral salts hinders processes of cooking and cleaning. A limited water supply or inconvenient arrangements for its use and disposal afterward, tend to reduce the consumption to such an extent as to interfere with the proper cooking and service of food, if not below the actual standards for health, Nearly three-fourths of the human body is water and a similar proportion will hold in most foods served at our tables. The total amount of water taken by a human being daily averages two or three quarts, or from four to six pounds. The portion of this which is taken as a beverage depends upon the solidity of the food. The benefit gained from mineral waters often is quite as much due to an increased consumption of water as to the mineral constituents they contain. The tendency of civilized man in feeding himself is toward too concentrated foods, too little water as a beverage and too little watery food. Water not only brings solids into the stomach in an acceptable form, but it is essential in building new tissues and removing wastes. The inside of the body, as well as the outside, sometimes requires washing. The temperature at which water is taken into the stomach is an important point. A glass of cool water sipped slowly may have as stimulating an effect as one of wine. Often more ice than water is found in the glasses on American tables, and the ice water is taken hurriedly and interferes with digestion. Hot water taken slowly will often revive tired people as effectually as tea or coffee. The merit of soup as a first course at dinner probably is due to the fact that it contains ninety to ninety-five per cent hot water and that the solids are largely in solution and absorbable, Winers Water