Stir well ; if the water still looks milky, add more hot water or much of the curd will be left in the water ; if the curd is made too hot it will be hard and crumbly. Draw the corners of the strainer cloth together and let the whey drain out. Then tie them ; hang the cloth over the short-armed rack which should be near the sink, and let it drip without pressure into the pan below. When dripping has ceased and there is a firm ball of curd in the cloth, turn out into a bowl. If stringy or so hard that it is a mass of crumbs, press it through a strainer with a wooden masher. Season with salt and stir in sufficient cream or melted butter to moisten it so you may pack it smoothly into small cups ; — or shape it into small balls. Vary the flavor by stirring in minced parsley, cress, or pimientoes. Cheese is a higlily concentrated protein food and should be combined with milk, rice, bread or other starchy foods. It is a substitute for meat and costs much less. A dish of macaroni with milk and cheese is too rich to be served with hearty meat, but combines well in a made over dish of fish or meat, or as the chief dish at luncheon. LESSON XI EXPERIMENT WITH STARCH If thin slices of raw potato are soaked in cold water, after a while a sediment is found in the pan. This is starch, which has dropped out of the cells which were cut by slicing. This sediment may be purified and dried, and then it will be like the pure starch of commerce. Pure starch is a fine white powder and is found enclosed in cells in the various grains, seeds, and vegetables. The starch commonly used in cooking is made from potatoes and corn. Wet a teaspoon of cornstarch with a little cold water. It appears to mix with the water, but after standing a short time the starch is found at the bottom of the bowl, and the water is clear again, showing that it has not united with the starch ; but by stirring this wet starch until a smooth paste is formed, and pouring it quickly into boiling water, we find that the membranes of the cell walls soften and burst ; the starch grains swell and absorb the water ; and the fine powder inside unites with the boiling water. We learn from this experiment that cold water does not affect starch; and that boiling water is absorbed by the starch grains, causing them to swell and form a thick pasty mass, which when cold is something like jelly. We call this change in the starch, hydrating or gelatinizing the starch. Starch is from the German word, starke, meaning *' stiff." This experiment teaches us the first important principle of mixing dry and Hquid ingredients and for boiling starchy foods : Any starchy food in the form of a powder, like flour or cornstarch, when it is to be used as a thickening, should first be wet with a little cold liquid to form a smooth paste. Then add more cold water until it is thin 126 EXPERIMENT WITH STARCH 127 enough to pour. Stir it quickly into rapidly boiling water, and the grains will burst uniformly. If boiling water be poured upon fine dry starch, the grains are so compact it will not reach all of them. Some will burst more quickly than others, some will not burst at all, and the mass will be lumpy. But all other starchy foods, like rice and other whole grains, vegetables, tapioca, etc., should be put directly into boiling water.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Stir well ; if the water still looks milky, add more hot water or much of the curd will be left in the water ; if the curd is made too hot it will be hard and crumbly. Draw the corners of the strainer cloth together and let the whey drain out. Then tie them ; hang the cloth over the short-armed rack which should be near the sink, and let it drip without pressure into the pan below. When dripping has ceased and there is a firm ball of curd in the cloth, turn out into a bowl. If stringy or so hard that it is a mass of crumbs, press it through a strainer with a wooden masher. Season with salt and stir in sufficient cream or melted butter to moisten it so you may pack it smoothly into small cups ; — or shape it into small balls. Vary the flavor by stirring in minced parsley, cress, or pimientoes. Cheese is a higlily concentrated protein food and should be combined with milk, rice, bread or other starchy foods. It is a substitute for meat and costs much less. A dish of macaroni with milk and cheese is too rich to be served with hearty meat, but combines well in a made over dish of fish or meat, or as the chief dish at luncheon. LESSON XI EXPERIMENT WITH STARCH If thin slices of raw potato are soaked in cold water, after a while a sediment is found in the pan. This is starch, which has dropped out of the cells which were cut by slicing. This sediment may be purified and dried, and then it will be like the pure starch of commerce. Pure starch is a fine white powder and is found enclosed in cells in the various grains, seeds, and vegetables. The starch commonly used in cooking is made from potatoes and corn. Wet a teaspoon of cornstarch with a little cold water. It appears to mix with the water, but after standing a short time the starch is found at the bottom of the bowl, and the water is clear again, showing that it has not united with the starch ; but by stirring this wet starch until a smooth paste is formed, and pouring it quickly into boiling water, we find that the membranes of the cell walls soften and burst ; the starch grains swell and absorb the water ; and the fine powder inside unites with the boiling water. We learn from this experiment that cold water does not affect starch; and that boiling water is absorbed by the starch grains, causing them to swell and form a thick pasty mass, which when cold is something like jelly. We call this change in the starch, hydrating or gelatinizing the starch. Starch is from the German word, starke, meaning *' stiff." This experiment teaches us the first important principle of mixing dry and Hquid ingredients and for boiling starchy foods : Any starchy food in the form of a powder, like flour or cornstarch, when it is to be used as a thickening, should first be wet with a little cold liquid to form a smooth paste. Then add more cold water until it is thin EXPERIMENT WITH STARCH 127 enough to pour. Stir it quickly into rapidly boiling water, and the grains will burst uniformly. If boiling water be poured upon fine dry starch, the grains are so compact it will not reach all of them. Some will burst more quickly than others, some will not burst at all, and the mass will be lumpy. But all other starchy foods, like rice and other whole grains, vegetables, tapioca, etc., should be put directly into boiling water.

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