In seeking to balance the food elements in a meal, we should
think of foods classified in the following four groups, and choose
some article of food from each group at least once a day; then the
daily ration is not likely to want for any necessary element. There
is nothing mysterious about the planning of most palatable, nutri-
85
SCIENCE of FOOD and COOKERY
tious, and inexpensive meals. By a study of these groups, one
may learn how to substitute one food for another in accordance
with palatability and price, and when laying in supplies of food,
to consider the question in terms of these groups.
TABLE OF FOOD CLASSIFICATION
i. FOODS RICH IN PROTEIN:
2. CARBOHYDRATE FOODS:
3. FOODS RICH IN FATS :
4. FOODS DEPENDED ON FOR
MINERAL MATTERS AND
BODY- REGULATING SUB-
STANCES :
Milk, skimmed milk, cottage cheese, eggs, nuts,
nut foods, dried beans, dried peas, lentils,
macaroni, entire wheat, oatmeal.
All cereals, breads, crackers, macaroni, break-
fast foods, sugar, honey, sirups, fruit, espe-
cially dried fruits, potato, other vegetables.
Olives, nuts, cream, butter, vegetable oils,
solid vegetable fats.
Whole cereals, fruits, whole meal cereal prod-
ucts, entire wheat breads, greens, fresh vege-
tables, melons, salads (raw green stuff).
Fresh vegetables, especially the coarser kinds, contain a large
proportion of water in their composition, and if served by them-
selves, would fail of supplying proper nutrition to the body.
However, when they are served with one of the more solid
foods, as grains, nuts, legumes, etc., they furnish a needed bulk
to the food, and are rich in mineral and vitamines.
As examples of simple foods that combine well in the making
of well balanced meals, take potato, consisting largely of starch,
and eggs, which are largely albumen and fat. These balance each
other in about the right proportion. Rice, being nearly all starch,
and beans, heavy in protein, when taken at the same meal, make
an excellent combination. Nuts, being rich in protein and fat,
when eaten with fruits, containing sugar and acid, make an ex-
cellent balance. If the meal be composed principally of potato or
rice (both consisting largely of starch), a few nuts, with ripe
olives or a little cream, will supply the needed protein and fat.
86
In seeking1 to provide foods that will give proper nourishment
to the body, we should avoid the extremes in either of two direc-
tions : on the one hand, that which tends toward an impoverished
diet ; on the other hand, that which brings into one meal too many
heavy, highly concentrated foods.
Avoid having the meals one-sided, by serving the more watery
foods, such as fruits or vegetables, with one of the heavier foods,
as grains, legumes, nuts, etc. Vary the meals from day to day,
making a change in both the taste and the appearance of the food
as it comes to the table.
Serve some raw food daily, as in these the mineral and vitamine
constituents are preserved unchanged by heating; and avoid, so
far as possible, white breads, white rice, package breakfast foods,
and so-called refined foods, which have been robbed of their life-
giving elements, and thus cannot sustain the body in a healthy
condition.
BACKBONE OF THE MEAL
Page 47
Presented as published in 1921. 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
In seeking to balance the food elements in a meal, we should think of foods classified in the following four groups, and choose some article of food from each group at least once a day; then the daily ration is not likely to want for any necessary element. There is nothing mysterious about the planning of most palatable, nutri-
tious, and inexpensive meals. By a study of these groups, one may learn how to substitute one food for another in accordance with palatability and price, and when laying in supplies of food, to consider the question in terms of these groups.
TABLE OF FOOD CLASSIFICATION
i. FOODS RICH IN PROTEIN:
2. CARBOHYDRATE FOODS:
3. FOODS RICH IN FATS :
4. FOODS DEPENDED ON FOR
MINERAL MATTERS AND BODY- REGULATING SUB- STANCES :
Milk, skimmed milk, cottage cheese, eggs, nuts, nut foods, dried beans, dried peas, lentils, macaroni, entire wheat, oatmeal.
All cereals, breads, crackers, macaroni, breakfast foods, sugar, honey, sirups, fruit, especially dried fruits, potato, other vegetables.
Olives, nuts, cream, butter, vegetable oils, solid vegetable fats.
Whole cereals, fruits, whole meal cereal products, entire wheat breads, greens, fresh vegetables, melons, salads (raw green stuff).
Fresh vegetables, especially the coarser kinds, contain a large proportion of water in their composition, and if served by themselves, would fail of supplying proper nutrition to the body. However, when they are served with one of the more solid foods, as grains, nuts, legumes, etc., they furnish a needed bulk to the food, and are rich in mineral and vitamines.
As examples of simple foods that combine well in the making of well balanced meals, take potato, consisting largely of starch, and eggs, which are largely albumen and fat. These balance each other in about the right proportion. Rice, being nearly all starch, and beans, heavy in protein, when taken at the same meal, make an excellent combination. Nuts, being rich in protein and fat, when eaten with fruits, containing sugar and acid, make an excellent balance. If the meal be composed principally of potato or rice (both consisting largely of starch), a few nuts, with ripe olives or a little cream, will supply the needed protein and fat.
In seeking1 to provide foods that will give proper nourishment to the body, we should avoid the extremes in either of two directions : on the one hand, that which tends toward an impoverished diet ; on the other hand, that which brings into one meal too many heavy, highly concentrated foods.
Avoid having the meals one-sided, by serving the more watery foods, such as fruits or vegetables, with one of the heavier foods, as grains, legumes, nuts, etc. Vary the meals from day to day, making a change in both the taste and the appearance of the food as it comes to the table.
Serve some raw food daily, as in these the mineral and vitamine constituents are preserved unchanged by heating; and avoid, so far as possible, white breads, white rice, package breakfast foods, and so-called refined foods, which have been robbed of their lifegiving elements, and thus cannot sustain the body in a healthy condition.
BACKBONE OF THE MEAL