Essays; Political, Economical, and Philosophical Part 12

Introduction.

CHAPTER. I.

Great importance of the subject under consideration.

Probability that water acts a much more important part in nutrition than has. .h.i.therto been generally imagined.

Surprisingly small quant.i.ty of solid food necessary, when properly prepared, for all the purposes of nutrition.

Great importance of the art of cookery.

Barley remarkably nutritive when properly prepared.

The importance of culinary processes for preparing food shown from the known utility of a practice common in some parts of Germany of cooking for cattle.

Difficulty of introducing a charge of cookery into common use.

Means that may be employed for that purpose.

CHAPTER. II.

Of the pleasure of eating, and of the means that may be employed for increasing it.

CHAPTER. III.

Of the different kinds of food furnished to the poor in the house of industry at Munich, with an account of the cost of them.

Of the Expense of providing the same kinds of food in Great Britain, as well at the present high prices of provisions, as at the ordinary prices of them.

Of the various improvements of which these different kinds of cheap food are capable.

CHAPTER. IV.

Of the small expense at which the Bavarian soldiers are fed.

Details of their housekeeping, founded on actual experiment.

An account of the fuel expended by them in cooking.

CHAPTER. V.

Of the great importance of making soldiers eat together in regular messes.

The influence of such economical arrangements extends even to the moral character of those who are the objects of them.

Of the expence of feeding soldiers in messes.

Of the surprising smallness of the expence of feeding the poor at Munich.

Specific proposals respecting the feeding of the poor in Great Britain, with calculations of the expense, at the present prices of provisions.

CHAPTER. VI.

Of INDIAN CORN.

It affords the cheapest and most nourishing food known.

Proofs that it is more nourishing than rice.

Different ways of preparing or cooking it.

Computation of the expense of feeding a person with it, founded on experiment.

Approved Receipt for making an INDIAN PUDDING.

CHAPTER. VII.

Receipts for preparing various Kinds of cheap Food.

Of MACCARONI.

Of POTATOES.

Approved receipts for boiling potatoes.

Of potatoe puddings.

Of potatoe dumplings.

Of boiled potatoes with a sauce.

Of potatoe salad.

Of BARLEY Is much more nutritious than wheat.

Barley meal, a good subst.i.tute for pearl barley, for making soups.

General directions for preparing cheap soups.

Receipt for the cheapest soup that can be made.

Of SAMP Method of preparing it Is an excellent Subst.i.tute for Bread.

Of brown Soup.

Of RYE BREAD.

ESSAY III.

INTRODUCTION.

It is a common saying, that necessity is the mother of invention; and nothing is more strictly or more generally true.

It may even be shown, that most of the successive improvements in the affairs of men in a state of civil society, of which we have any authentic records, have been made under the pressure of necessity; and it is no small consolation, in times of general alarm, to reflect upon the probability that, upon such occasions, useful discoveries will result from the united exertions of those who, either from motives of fear, or sentiments of benevolence, labour to avert the impending evil.

The alarm in this country at the present period[1], on account of the high price of corn, and the danger of a scarcity, has turned the attention of the Public to a very important subject, THE INVESTIGATION OF THE SCIENCE OF NUTRITION;--a subject so curious in itself, and so highly interesting to mankind, that it seems truly astonishing it should have been so long neglected:-- but in the manner in which it is now taken up, both by the House of Commons, and the Board of Agriculture, there is great reason to hope that it will receive a thorough scientific examination; and if this should be the case, I will venture to predict, that the important discoveries, and improvements, which must result from these enquiries, will render the alarms which gave rise to them for ever famous in the annals of civil society.

CHAPTER. I.

Great importance of the subject under consideration.

Probability that water acts a much more important part in nutrition than has. .h.i.therto been generally imagined.

Surprisingly small quant.i.ty of solid food necessary, when properly prepared, for all the purposes of nutrition.

Great importance of the art of cookery.

Barley remarkably nutritive when properly prepared.

The importance of culinary processes for preparing food shown from the known utility of a practice common in some parts of Germany of cooking for cattle.

Difficulty of introducing a charge of cookery into common use.

Means that may be employed for that purpose.

There is, perhaps, no operation of Nature, which falls under the cognizance of our senses, more surprising, or more curious, than the nourishment and growth of plants, and animals; and there is certainly no subject of investigation more interesting to mankind.--As providing subsistence is, and ever must be, an object of the first concern in all countries, any discovery or improvement by which the procuring of good and wholesome food can be facilitated, must contribute very powerfully to increase the comforts, and promote the happiness of society.

That our knowledge in regard to the science of nutrition is still very imperfect, is certain; but, I think there is reason to believe, that we are upon the eve of some very important discoveries relative to that mysterious operation.

Since it has been known that Water is not a simple element, but a COMPOUND, and capable of being decomposed, much light has been thrown upon many operations of nature which formerly were wrapped up in obscurity. In vegetation, for instance, it has been rendered extremely probable, that water acts a much more important part than was formerly a.s.signed to it by philosophers.

--That it serves not merely as the VEHICLE of nourishment, but const.i.tutes at least one part, and probably an essential part, of the FOOD of plants.--That it is decomposed by them, and contributes MATERIALLY to their growth;--and that manures serve rather to prepare the water for decomposition, than to form of themselves--substantially, and directly--the nourishment of the vegetables.

Now, a very clear a.n.a.logy may be traced, between the vegetation and growth of plants, and the digestion and nourishment of animals; and as water is indispensably necessary in both processes, and as in one of them, (vegetation,) it appears evidently to serve as FOOD;--why should we not suppose it may serve as food in the other?--There is, in my opinion, abundant reason to suspect that this is really the case; and I shall now briefly state the grounds upon which this opinion is founded.-- Having been engaged for a considerable length of time in providing Food for the Poor at Munich, I was naturally led, as well by curiosity as motives of economy, to make a great variety of experiments upon that subject; and I had not proceeded far in my operations, before I began to perceive that they were very important;--even much more so than I had imagined.

The difference in the apparent goodness, of the palatableness, and apparent nutritiousness of the same kinds of Food, when prepared of cooked in different ways, struck me very forcibly; and I constantly found that the richness or QUALITY of a soup depended more upon a proper choice of the ingredients, and a proper management of the fire in the combination of those ingredients, than upon the quant.i.ty of solid nutritious matter employed;--much more upon the art and skill of the cook, than upon the amount of the sums laid out in the market.

I found likewise, that the nutritious of a soup, or its power of satisfying hunger, and affording nourishment, appeared always to be in proportion to its apparent richness or palatableness.

But what surprised me not a little, was the discovery of the very small quant.i.ty of SOLID FOOD, which, when properly prepared, will suffice to satisfy hunger, and support life and health; and the very trifling expence at which the stoutest, and most laborious man may, in any country, be fed.

After an experiment of more than five years in feeding the Poor at Munich during which time every experiment was made that could be devised, not only with regard to the choice of the articles used as Food, but also in respect to their different combinations and proportions; and to the various ways in which they could be prepared or cooked; it was found that the CHEAPEST, most SAVOURY, and most NOURISHING Food that could be provided, was a soup composed of PEARL BARLEY, PEASE, POTATOES, CUTTINGS OF FINE WHEATEN BREAD, vinegar--salt and water in certain proportions.

The method of preparing this soup is as follows; The water and the pearl barley are first put together into the boiler and made to boil; the pease are then added, and the boiling is continued over a gentle fire about two hours;--the potatoes are then added, (having been previously peeled with a knife, or having been boiled, in order to their being more easily deprived of their skins,) and the boiling is continued for about one hour more, during which time the contents of the boiler are frequently stirred about with a large wooden spoon, or ladle, in order to destroy the texture of the potatoes, and to reduce the soup to one uniform ma.s.s.--When this is done, the vinegar and the salt are added; and last of all, at the moment it is to be served up, the cuttings of bread.

The soup should never be suffered to boil, or even to stand long before it is served up after the cuttings of bread are put into it.

It will, indeed, for reasons which will hereafter be explained, be best never to put the cuttings of bread into the boiler at all, but, (as is always done at Munich,) to put them into the tubs in which the soup is carried from the kitchen into the dining-hall; pouring the soup hot from the boiler upon them; and stirring the whole well together with the iron ladles used for measuring out the soup to the Poor in the hall.