FOOD AND ITS PREPARATION.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 209, 11 September 1873, Page 2

FOOD AND ITS PREPARATION.

(Scientific Ambbican). Leavened or fermented bread is m old as the time of Moses, and its value have heen fairly tested. Whatever be the precise action of the leaven, it transform! grain by paitial decomposition of its original elements, and leaves as its resultant what men in all ages have approved. Modern substitutes impair the flavur, diminish the nutritivf> property, a.nd break the staff of life. Bafeera' bread ia almost universally composed of flour with extraneous substances, a.lum and carbonate of ammonia being most employed, bread hastily made in families is mixed in a variety of vwy* with carbonates of soda or potash, combined with phosphate of lime, with cream of tartar or with spur mUV, and is generally imperfectly cooked. Very ofteq the elements pf wheat and fat which the body demands are furnished in underdone pastry, made of flour and hogs' lard ; the first legitimate effect of such food as this with people of average condition is indigestion or dyspepsia ; the second is that train of ailments caused by imperfect nutrition. Good bread should be made from a mixture of flour such as is generally used in our markets, water, salt and yeast, and nothing else. The yeast is composed of malt, potatoes, and hops, and the dough kneaded for from one and a half; to two hours, is then thoroughly baked. Experience, has proved that, for somo reason unknowp to science, variety is essential to health after reaching the ! age when we are free to choose our food. The perpetual recurrence of the snm,e edibles, even thoi\gh their number be considerable, becomes in all periods of life except infancy not only wearisome but positively injurious The lack of variety in many cases is due to the poverty of poorer classes, and the difllculty of buying fresh provisions in places remote from market. Salt pork, salt fish, and, potatoes, with pies, poor bread, and Japan tea are the staple food of thousands of families during our long winters. It should be understood how needful a change of diet is from time to time. Fresh vegetables, particularly in the country, are readily obtained and preserved, The edihje. *oots, as turnips, carrots, onions, and beets, are as well wflrth preservation as the omnipresent potato. All these vegetables need thorough boiling, and more than they generally get. frying meat, a common habit in American cookery, is most unprofitable to the eater. It robs the meat of its juices and hardens its texture. The extreme heat of tho fat not only burns the outer layers of the meal, so as to injure their value for nutritive purposes, but also changes the chemical condition of tho fatty acids, giving rise to products which obstruct the breathing and cause tingling of the nose and eyes of the cook, and which are more or less harmful to the eater. The peculiar flavour of tho meat is in a great measure lost by frying, and for it is substituted the flavour of the fat in which \t is cooked. This fiit permeates the fibres of the meat in iuoh a way as to render them leas soluble in the watery fluids of the mouth and stomach, and thus causes difficult digestion. Broiling qn a gridiron over a quick fire costs a little more time and trouble, and very likely fuel also; but by this proceaa the juices of the meat are sealed up (to a certain extent) instead of being evaporated, and tho-nutri-tive value is thereby much menaced. Pastry. — In the New England States pies are the most constantly recurring form of food, and country bakers often distribute more of them than they do loaves of bread. The average pie is made of flour, water, salt,, and generally butter of the lowest grade, together with carbonate of soda. This pie incloses chopped meat seasoned with lard and spipes, or fru.it squash or custard. The fact that such pastry is ill borne hy a feeble stomach require! little explanation. The close incorporation of the gluten with the fat in the process of rolling pastry, needful to make it light by inclosing the materials which will distend it when heat ii applied, renders the action of the gastric juice upon the ma, s extremely difficult. It must, so to speak, pick out from the close union the parts which it is fitted to reduce to a form ready for absorption, and let the remainder pass on. Time devoted to meals.—^Dr Derby states that the average tima occupied in the process of taking food by the people of Massachusetts does not exceed from twelve to fifteen minutei for each meal. Such haste is injurious to health for ma.n.y reasons. The process of digestion begins in the mouth with the action of the teeth, aiad through excitement of the salivary glands by the presence of food. Unless saliva is abundantly mingled with the latter, the first act of digestion is obstructed and Nature's plaji is. changed. This fluid not only lubricates but acU chemically in the mouth, if, a reasonable time be given it, upon all tho starchy elements which make up the great bulk of what we eat. Eating in hnste, a great deal of air is swallowed. Air is to a certain extent always entangled in, the saliva and assists digestion., but when " wads " of food succeed each other very rapidly, they seem to act like pistons in, the tube leading from, the back of the throat, and drive before a,nd between them into t\ip stomach such amounts of air ejs to distend that organ a,nd. impede ifa functions. Another effect of eating in this way is that the masses of food, imperfectly mixed with saliva, Vecome impacted in the oesophagus, checking its muscular action which is obviously intended to propel only one piece at a, time. This embarrassment is overcome by taking at 000 gulph as. much fluid at the mouth will hold, thus distending the elastic tube and washing the obstructed food into the. stomach. AY this ia unnatural apd can hardly fail to work mischief. Both tea and collee have properties which are universally recognised as valuable. Without being nutritive, they sustain nutrition by limiting th» body'swaste and by promoting the absorption of animal food. Their healthfulness depends on the, amount taken and t,hf> times when taken. They enliven a,vd. inspirit the wearied body, and supplement, as it were, nutritious food. There is nothing simpler than to, make good tea or coffee, but nine persons out of ten are unable to do it. Neither ihould under any circumstances be boiled. Tea should be prepared by placing the leaves i« a well warmed (scalded out) tea pot, pouring fiercely, boiling water directly upon them and drinking the fresh infusion almost immediately. If left stewing on a fire, the aromatic qualities are boiled away, and there remains a concentrated decoction, of theme and the astringent matter* with which it n combined. §u,ch tea is intoxicating, produces nervousness and fretfu.l temper, and, as the author remarks, often underlies much domestic unhappiness. Coffee may be prepared either by beating up the ground fresh roasted berries with the white of an, egg, adding boiling water and standing back of the range for a short time where it cannot boil, or on the French plan, which is hetter, by simply pouring the water through the very finely ground beans onco or twice. Coffee boiled to death loses all its aroma and is deprived of its aromatic and healthful principle, the caffeine ; a strong decoction of tannin is principally the result, winch is both indigestible and harmful. Beef tea. ! --I)r Derby considers is better than either tea or coffee, the pure meat being hotter for the purpose than any of the extra ets> gold.