Chapter 11

IMPORTANCE OF GOOD COOKING

Reference has already been made to certain misconceptions concerning cooking diligently circulated in recent years by various quacks. The victim is advised that he must take large quantities of raw eggs and milk, and at the same time is instructed to eat a number of other specially prepared articles furnished at a stiff price and certified as being raw by the "medical company" furnishing the "treatment." Since it is quickly discovered by those who are entrapped by charlatans of this kind that the only raw foods that they can take with comfort and without disgust are milk and eggs, they naturally practically live on these alone, and as these foods are extremely digestible and nutritious, improvement in the patient's condition not uncommonly results.

Nevertheless, it is unquestionably true that the vast majority of foods are greatly improved in digestibility, and are rendered much more palatable by thorough cooking. After being properly cooked there develop in foods certain flavors and odors that are highly appetizing, and unquestionably aid in the subsequent digestion of the same. With but few exceptions, foods are so altered by heat that their proper mastication becomes much easier, and cooking, therefore, materially aids in reducing them to a state in which they are much more readily acted upon by the digestive juices. It should never be forgotten, also, that cooking is of the utmost importance from the standpoint of killing bacteria and animal parasites that may be present in food. If we were to adopt universally the habit of eating everything raw, the general mortality would certainly be considerably increased.

_Cooking of Starchy Foods._--Nothing in the whole art and science of preparing food for the human being is of so much importance as the proper cooking of starches. As a result of the heat employed, certain chemical changes are induced in the starch-granules, as a consequence of which they are rendered digestible. It is of fundamental importance that at all times and under all circumstances the cooking of this class of foods should be as thorough as is possible, for when this is not done digestive disturbances are sure to follow, and much of the food is actually wasted. There are but few cardinal principles in the ordinary hygiene of life that are so commonly neglected as this, since it is the habit of a large proportion of the American people to consume three times a day masses of tenacious starch which has not been acted upon by heat sufficiently to render it digestible.

Of all the different methods of cooking starches, by far the most common, and, therefore, the most important, is the process called baking. While it is not possible in this volume to go into the subject with the thoroughness that it deserves, the principal points deserve some mention. They may be briefly stated as follows:

(1) The flour must be made into a dough in which are incorporated substances that produce a gas called carbon dioxide, which, forming in innumerable small bubbles throughout the mass, cause the whole to swell; when this is completed the bread is said to have "risen." Of course the object of this is to produce a thorough breaking up of the sticky dough--with the result that when the bread is finally cooked it is light and fluffy, and can be readily masticated.

(2) After the process just described has been completed the bread should be thoroughly cooked, for reasons which have already been explained.

(3) After cooking has been accomplished the bread should be thoroughly dried, either by keeping it hot until this occurs, or, what is better, permitting it to remain warm for a time and then allowing the process to be completed in a natural way by putting the bread aside for several days. It is necessary for bread to be dried in order that it may be thoroughly soaked in saliva during the process of chewing.

If the principles above enunciated be properly followed out, good wholesome bread will result. There are, of course, many details connected with the preparation of food known to expert cooks into which it will not be possible for us to go here, and for which the reader is referred to any good cook-book.

Some starchy foods such as rice and potatoes, do not lend themselves readily to the production of breads, and are consequently usually cooked in some other manner. It cannot be too strongly insisted upon that they should be rather _steamed_ than boiled,--the process being usually carried out by placing a small amount of water with them and allowing it to boil away; we should remember also that the principles just insisted upon in connection with making bread apply here with equal force--we should cook thoroughly and serve both as dry as is possible.

_Cooking of Meats._--Here again it is necessary to insist upon the necessity of thorough cooking. The error has long prevailed that raw meats are wholesome, but within recent years it has been clearly demonstrated that this old view is erroneous. The muscle-fibers that constitute the bulk of the nourishment of meats are separated from each other by a substance which cannot be acted upon by the juices of the stomach until it has been heated to a temperature which results in the cooking of the entire mass. It is true that the muscular substance proper may be digested without heat--resembling in this way the white of the egg, to which it is chemically closely related; by scraping meat with some dull instrument the muscle fibers may be separated in a more or less pure state--leaving the substance that requires heat in order to become digestible behind--and after having been removed in this way, of course, may be eaten in a raw or semi-cooked condition without ill effects. In preparing meat it is not absolutely essential that it be cooked until thoroughly "done"--a slight tinge of red being allowable.

_Healthful Recipes._--In an Appendix to this volume will be found a series of recipes for the preparation of common foods, for which the author is indebted to Dr. Mary E. Lapham, of Highlands, N. C. They will be found extremely practicable for making not only very palatable but thoroughly wholesome dishes; and are earnestly recommended to young housewives, who err through ignorance, as a rule, rather than because of carelessness or of lack of good materials. It has often been said that the road to a man's heart lies through his stomach. It would not be surprising to learn that this aphorism fell first from the lips of some wise woman who had observed that in a great number of cases unhappiness in home-life had resulted primarily from lack of home-comfort, and chiefly from unvaried, unappetizing meals and table-service. Another point is well worth remembering, especially by young married women: a man whose home is pleasant and comfortable is likely to spend as much of his time there as he can--if it is otherwise, he will seek some place that has these desirable qualities, such as his club, or an arm-chair in some corner saloon. Furthermore, a man who is not only abundantly, but _nicely_ fed, has far less desire for the stimulants which lead to drunkenness, than the man who is denied at home the properly cooked and seasonably varied food which his system craves. No better work in the "Temperance cause" can be done than to make an attractive home.

These are facts which many a young housewife needs to learn and keep in mind; and it is for her benefit that Dr. Lapham has prepared her simple but excellent cooking directions presented in the Appendix.