1. Take two large, plump, " floated " oysters. Cook
one in distilled water, the other in a strong salt solution,
until the gills separate and become frilled.
2. Take two oysters and use any preferred medium
for cooking. Cook one until properly done, cook the
other for five minutes longer. Compare the two.
3. Take four freshly opened oysters. Bruise the soft
part of one, and set it away in a moderately warm place
for from one-half to one hour. Cook the second until
done, then bruise and set away as before. Place the
third, without bruising, in a moderately warm place with
the other two. Do not allow the oysters to touch one
another. Set the third in the refrigerator. Compare the
flavor, etc., of the four.
Note. If you should not be able to make a satisfactory Inference
from the first experiment, or from your cooking of oysters, the follow-
ing experiment may be performed.
Half fill a gold-beater's bag with a strong salt solution,
and suspend it in a vessel of pure water for one or two
67
02
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68 PRINCIPLES OF FOOD PREPARATION
hours. Measure the volume of water in the bag before
and after suspension. The water in the vessel, and the
solution in the bag, should be tested for chlorides be-
fore and after the experiment. The membrane lining
an egg-shell may be used instead of the gold-beater's
bag.
TOPICS FOR STUDY OR DISCUSSION
1. The cultivation of oysters, and the location of the
largest oyster beds in the country.
2. The best age for the marketing of oysters; how the
age of this fish can be told from an examination of the
shell.
3. Varieties of oysters in this and other countries.
4. The ''soaking" or ''floating" of oysters. The
effect of this process on the healthfulness, the nutritive
value, the keeping qualities, etc., of the oyster.
5. Approved methods for the shipment of oysters.
6. Harmful preservatives and other adulterations.
7. Other shellfish and crustacese used as food.
8. The cost of oysters as compared with their nutritive
value.
9. The 100-calorie portion.
QUESTIONS
1. Compare the effect of water, heat, and acid on eggs,
fish, and oysters.
2. Compare raw and cooked oysters as to flavor,
digestibility, and wholesomeness.
3. What form of carbohydrate should you expect to
find in oysters? In what part of the oyster is it
found?
4. What is the economic value of floated oysters
compared with that of unfloated? What evidence
have you that the oysters used today were either floated
or unfloated?
5. When may salt be used in a recipe for cooking
oysters? When may it be omitted?
QUESTIONS 69
6. Account for the expression, ''An oyster digests
itself." What is the least digestible part of the oyster?
7. Compare as to nutritive value ten cents' worth
of the following foods: oysters, milk, round steak, eggs.
(See charts.)
8. Arrange in tabular form the cost, protein content,
and calorific value of a pint of milk and a pint of oysters.
(See charts.) Why do we pay so much more for one
food than for the other? What justification is there for
the excess in price? What relation can you trace between
the comparative cost of the two foods and the recipes
chosen for today's lesson?
9. What new principles in the preparation of food have
you gained from the work with oysters?
10. Trace the relation between the experiments and
the cooking of the various dishes made.
EXERCISES
Page 29
Presented as published in 1914. 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. Take two large, plump, " floated " oysters. Cook one in distilled water, the other in a strong salt solution, until the gills separate and become frilled.
2. Take two oysters and use any preferred medium for cooking. Cook one until properly done, cook the other for five minutes longer. Compare the two.
3. Take four freshly opened oysters. Bruise the soft part of one, and set it away in a moderately warm place for from one-half to one hour. Cook the second until done, then bruise and set away as before. Place the third, without bruising, in a moderately warm place with the other two. Do not allow the oysters to touch one another. Set the third in the refrigerator. Compare the flavor, etc., of the four.
Note. If you should not be able to make a satisfactory Inference from the first experiment, or from your cooking of oysters, the following experiment may be performed.
Half fill a gold-beater's bag with a strong salt solution, and suspend it in a vessel of pure water for one or two
a:
>^ O
o
CZi
hours. Measure the volume of water in the bag before and after suspension. The water in the vessel, and the solution in the bag, should be tested for chlorides before and after the experiment. The membrane lining an egg-shell may be used instead of the gold-beater's bag.
1. The cultivation of oysters, and the location of the largest oyster beds in the country.
2. The best age for the marketing of oysters; how the age of this fish can be told from an examination of the shell.
3. Varieties of oysters in this and other countries.
4. The ''soaking" or ''floating" of oysters. The effect of this process on the healthfulness, the nutritive value, the keeping qualities, etc., of the oyster.
5. Approved methods for the shipment of oysters.
6. Harmful preservatives and other adulterations.
7. Other shellfish and crustacese used as food.
8. The cost of oysters as compared with their nutritive value.
9. The 100-calorie portion.
1. Compare the effect of water, heat, and acid on eggs, fish, and oysters.
2. Compare raw and cooked oysters as to flavor, digestibility, and wholesomeness.
3. What form of carbohydrate should you expect to find in oysters? In what part of the oyster is it found?
4. What is the economic value of floated oysters compared with that of unfloated? What evidence have you that the oysters used today were either floated or unfloated?
5. When may salt be used in a recipe for cooking oysters? When may it be omitted?
6. Account for the expression, ''An oyster digests itself." What is the least digestible part of the oyster?
7. Compare as to nutritive value ten cents' worth of the following foods: oysters, milk, round steak, eggs. (See charts.)
8. Arrange in tabular form the cost, protein content, and calorific value of a pint of milk and a pint of oysters. (See charts.) Why do we pay so much more for one food than for the other? What justification is there for the excess in price? What relation can you trace between the comparative cost of the two foods and the recipes chosen for today's lesson?
9. What new principles in the preparation of food have you gained from the work with oysters?
10. Trace the relation between the experiments and the cooking of the various dishes made.