CHAPTER IX

EGGS, MILK, AND CHEESE

Eggs are a specially interesting food because they contain all the elements necessary to the development of the young chick within the shell. The structure of the egg is familiar, with its division into the yolk and white, and it is interesting to note the details of this structure.

Break a fresh egg carefully into a saucer. The shell is porous, allowing water to evaporate from the egg and air to enter. To this porosity is due the fact that other substances may enter the egg, giving it an unnatural flavor and even hastening its deterioration. Within the shell is a fine membrane which protects the white. The yolk is also divided from the white by a more delicate membrane which enables one to separate the yolk from the white of a fresh egg. A careful examination reveals at each end of the yolk a continuation of this membrane in the form of small cords which are fastened at each end of the shell, holding the yolk evenly suspended in the center of the shell. Rough handling or jolting breaks this membrane, and the yolk drops to one side.

Lift the white carefully with a fork, and notice its elasticity. This cohesive property makes it possible to beat air into the white until the whole mass become porous. The yolk is creamy rather than light when beaten, and a bit of the yolk mixed with the white prevents the latter from becoming light and dry.

=Composition of the egg.=——Figure 40 gives the composition of the yolk and white taken together, and of the yolk and white separated. The protein content is high, and the fat content as well, the yolk containing a higher percentage of these two foodstuffs than the white. The mineral matter is of high value, iron and phosphorus being found in ideal forms in the yolk. In using the egg as food we are availing ourselves of one of nature’s richest storehouses. A single egg of average size yields about 75 calories, of which 60 come from the yolk and 15 from the white. A _very_ large egg, weighing two and two thirds ounces, will yield 100 calories.

=Fresh eggs and cold storage eggs.=——The fresh-laid egg is always desired for its delicious flavor, and this flavor changes but little in a week or two if the egg is kept cool. It is desirable to preserve eggs, however, for future use at the season when they are most abundant and cheap. Many methods have been tried, such as laying them away in sawdust, sinking them in water-glass solution, or coating the shell with paraffin or some other substance to prevent evaporation and the entrance of air. The introduction of cold storage on a large scale promises a solution of the problem. If eggs are fresh when placed in storage, it is possible to keep them just above the freezing temperature for months without appreciable deterioration.

Eggs too long in storage may be detected by the musty odor and flavor, the running of the yolk into the white, and the thin quality of the white which prevents beating stiff. Some states have already passed stringent laws in regard to the sale of cold storage eggs.

=The cost of eggs and how to buy.=——The demand for fresh eggs is great, and so many eggs are exported, that the price is high, even in the summer. Twenty-five cents a dozen is a reasonable price, but this is below the average at the present date. The thirty-five or forty-cent daily allowance for food will permit the moderate use of eggs at thirty-five cents a dozen, but not a liberal use in cakes and desserts. They should be used at such a price and with that allowance as the main dish for breakfast or luncheon at times, and not in sweet dishes calling for three or four eggs. If a recipe for soft custard calls for three eggs to a pint of milk, leave out one egg or even two, and use one or two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch instead. Select eggs with a hard shell, and yolk of rich yellow. If the shell is soft and the yolk pale, these deficiencies should be reported, as they can be corrected by the poultryman. The difference in color of the shells, whether white or brown, is not of great consequence. If you can buy eggs by the crate direct from the poultryman, this is a saving, provided the eggs can be used before they deteriorate. A small crate holds fifteen dozen; the usual size thirty dozen. Some express companies have a special rate for eggs, and parcel post should aid in this method of buying.

=Relative digestibility of soft and hard-cooked eggs.=——The fact must be recalled that to digest is to dissolve, and that the digestion of food means a dissolving by the digestive juices, aided by water. When we speak of the digestibility of food we may mean the ease and comfort of digestion, or the length of time taken by the process, or the completeness of the process. If we take the third of these meanings, hard-cooked egg is as digestible as the soft-cooked or the raw egg, because it is completely dissolved in digestion in the course of time. If the second meaning of digestion is taken, the hard-cooked egg may be slightly less digestible, for a slightly longer time is consumed in the process. The latest researches, however, show that the digestive process is longer with any food than was formerly supposed, and the difference in this case is not especially important. Indeed, we must accept the conclusions of the scientist and frankly admit that the differences of temperature in cooking of egg do not have any great effect upon its digestibility.

Why then the popular idea that a hard-boiled egg is “absolutely indigestible”? A hard-boiled egg, or more than one, eaten rapidly, without mastication, at a picnic, and with much sweet food at an unusual hour, may interfere with the “ease and comfort in digestion” resulting from such a meal. But if the whites of the hard-boiled eggs are chopped fine, the yolk mashed, and the two served upon toast, thus insuring mastication, a dish is produced that is of average digestibility and that may be used for breakfast or luncheon without hesitation.

If a tender, jellylike consistency is wanted, cook the egg below the boiling point of water. If, however, a firmer egg is preferred, use the old-time method, and cook the egg three or four minutes in boiling water. It is the easier and quicker method.

Moreover, do not hesitate to use an egg “boiled” half an hour, provided it is chopped fine or sliced.

GENERAL METHODS AND RECIPES

=1. Eggs used raw.=——An egg, swallowed whole, followed by a cracker, is a “quick lunch” that is not harmful, and it is sometimes convenient to be able to take an egg in this way. A sprinkling of salt upon it makes it more agreeable.

=2. Beaten eggs.=——Beat the yolk and white separately. Add to the yolk a teaspoonful of sugar, a shake of salt, some flavoring, and 3/4 of a cup of milk. Beat the white gently into this mixture and serve in a glass. The flavoring may be a quarter of a teaspoonful of vanilla, or a tablespoonful of orange juice. This is sometimes served to an invalid who can take milk, and is an agreeable luncheon for any one. If milk does not agree with one, a larger amount of fruit juice may be used with the addition of some water, possibly carbonated. The white alone is given in cases of severe illness, mixed with a small amount of water, and fruit juice if the physician permits the latter. This is sometimes the only food that can be retained by an invalid.

=Principles of egg cookery.=——Protein in the form of an egg-albumin is the foodstuff to consider in the cooking of eggs. Heat produces in the egg a change in color and in texture or firmness, the firmness or hardness depending upon the degree of heat and the length of time given to the cooking. Coagulation is the term used for this change in the egg-albumin.

1. The white of egg begins to coagulate and to show an opaque white at about 180° F.

2. A temperature somewhat below the boiling point of water for about ten minutes will give the white a jellylike, tender consistency, and slightly cook the yolk. Continued for an hour, the white becomes solid and adheres to the shell.

3. The boiling point of water gives a firmer consistency than a temperature below this point. The white is free from the shell.

4. A high temperature, that of a hot pan, will produce a leathery consistency if long continued.

_A. An experiment with the egg._

Apparatus and materials.——A ring stand, wire net, Bunsen burner, glass beaker, test tube, chemical thermometer, white of egg.

_Method._——Put the beaker two thirds full of water on the wire net over the flame. Put enough white of egg into the test tube to cover the bulb of the thermometer when this is put into the tube. Clamp the test tube so that it rests in the water in the beaker. The surface of the water should stand above the top of the white of egg. Clamp the thermometer so that it is held in the white of egg in the test tube. The white should be stirred with a fork before it is put into the test tube, and only a small quantity used.

Note:

1. The temperature when the first visible change occurs.

2. The temperature when the whole mass becomes of a jellylike consistency.

3. The temperature when the water reaches the boiling point. Remove; note the consistency.

=3. Jellied or coddled eggs.=——See that the shells are whole and clean. If the eggs are just taken from the refrigerator, lay them in warm water a few minutes. Make ready a double boiler, the lower part half full of boiling water. Put the required number of eggs into the inner boiler, cover with water that has just stopped boiling, put on the boiler cover, and stand the boiler where the water below will no longer boil. The eggs will be done in from six to eight minutes.

Having performed the preceding experiment, you should be able to invent another way of accomplishing this result.

=4. Boiled eggs.=

Put one egg at a time from a tablespoon into boiling water. Allow the water to boil for three or four minutes, depending upon the preference of those served. Remove the eggs, and serve at once.

The _hard-boiled egg_ should remain in the boiling water half an hour.

Bearing in mind the fact that hard-boiled eggs must be chopped or sliced, cannot you invent a way of using them in a luncheon dish?

=5. Poached eggs.=——Make ready a frying pan by setting muffin rings in it, and filling it about half full of gently simmering water, with a teaspoonful of salt dissolved in it. Break the eggs one at a time into a saucer, and slip each egg carefully into a muffin ring. See that the pan stands where the water is just below the boiling point, for rapidly bubbling water breaks the eggs. When the white begins to set, pour the hot water gently over the tops of the eggs from a spoon. Cook until the white is firm. Slip a griddle cake turner under the egg, lift it gently, and place it upon a piece of buttered toast which you have ready on a hot plate, or platter, and remove the ring.

An easier method resembling the poached egg is to break the egg raw into a small buttered cup or “patty,” standing the cups in a pan of water just below the boiling point, the pan being on the top of the stove or in the oven. Each egg should have a sprinkling of salt, and may have a bit of butter, and a shake of pepper. Cover the pan. This process is longer than the other, and the eggs must be watched to see when the process is complete.

=6. Scrambled eggs.=

As the name denotes, this is a process needing a quick motion. Allow an egg to each person. Have ready a frying pan heated, a broad bladed knife, and a tablespoonful of butter, or butter substitute, ready to melt in the pan.

(1) Melt the butter, break the eggs into the pan, without beating them, and begin to scrape them from the bottom of the pan with the knife, as fast as you can move your hand. This is an old-time method, and gives a mixture of white and yellow color. Stop the process when the eggs are softer than you wish them for serving, as they will stiffen after they are removed from the fire. Sprinkle in salt, before you give the last scramble, and serve at once.

(2) Beat the eggs, adding a tablespoonful of water for each egg, and a shake of salt for each, and proceed as in (1).

=7. The omelet.=

The novice should see an omelet made, as there is a “knack” in the motion not to be conveyed by words. The omelet is a French dish, and is made to perfection by the French cook. A perfect omelet is rolled or folded over, and is creamy within and a golden brown without. “Omelet pans” are made for the purpose, but a small frying pan may be used. The pan should be perfectly smooth. Do not attempt to make an omelet with more than two eggs until you become expert. This is one method, and others are used by different French cooks. The first stage makes the whole mass creamy, the second browns one surface.

(1) Have the pan _warm_ enough to melt two teaspoonfuls of butter, but not hot. Beat two eggs with a fork until they are creamy but not foamy, and add two teaspoonfuls of water, with two shakes of salt.

Put the mixture into the pan, standing the pan where it has a medium heat. If over gas, the flame should be low, and covered with asbestos. Proceed as with the scrambled egg, with great rapidity, and when the mass is creamy, lift the pan, tip it slightly, and push the whole mass toward the handle end of the pan. Put two teaspoonfuls more of butter in the pan, and set it where the heat is intense. Smooth the mass of egg over the whole surface of the pan that the omelet may become brown underneath. Shake the pan gently back and forth, lift the omelet at the edge with a knife to see if the browning is accomplished, take the pan from the fire, fold or roll the omelet from the handle end of the pan to the front, and turn it out upon a hot plate.

A method easier for the novice is to accomplish the first stage in a bowl set into a teakettle, beating into the mass as it thickens a teaspoonful of butter, or a tablespoonful of cream. When the mixture is evenly creamy, turn it into the hot buttered pan and proceed as with (1).

(2) _Light omelet._——This is not a true omelet, but in reality a soufflé cooked in a frying pan. It is somewhat insipid in flavor and is not easier to make _well_ than the French omelet. As commonly served it is apt to be underdone or tough.

With the light omelet, the eggs and whites are separated and the whites beaten until light and dry. Beat the yolks until creamy, adding water and salt as in (1). Pour this mixture over the white, and cut and fold the mass. See page 63. Pour this into a buttered baking dish and set in a _moderate_ oven. The oven should not be more than 300° F. Serve in the pan.

When gas is used, the soufflé may be set in the oven with the flame low, and browned for a moment under the flame turned high.

Both of these omelets may be varied by the addition of chopped parsley or chopped ham, or grated cheese.

_Laboratory management._ When the price of eggs is high, some of the experiments can be demonstrated by the teacher. Eggs should be used when the price is at its lowest, even if this interferes with the logical sequence of lessons.

MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS

Milk is the natural food of the young mammal, and contains all the foodstuffs in a form easily assimilable. Starch is not present, the carbohydrate being found in the form of lactose, or milk sugar, a sugar differing somewhat from the sugars found in vegetables and fruit (see