Science in the Kitchen Part 14

STICKS.--Prepare, and knead the dough the same as for rolls. When ready to form, roll the dough much smaller; scarcely larger than one's little finger, and cut into three or four-inch lengths. Bake the same as rolls, for about twenty minutes.

CREAM GRAHAM RAILS.--To one half cup cold cream add one half cup of soft ice water. Make into a dough with three cups of Graham flour, sprinkling in slowly with the hands, beating at the same time, so as to incorporate as much air as possible, until the dough is too stiff to be stirred; then knead thoroughly, form into rolls, and bake.

CORN MUSH ROLLS.--Make a dough of one cup of corn meal mush, one half cup of cream, and two and one half cups of white flour; knead thoroughly, shape into rolls, and bake.

FRUIT ROLLS.--Prepare the rolls as directed in the recipe for Breakfast Rolls, and when well kneaded, work into the dough a half cupful of Zante currants which have been well washed, dried, and floured. Form the rolls in the usual manner, and bake.

CREAM MUSH ROLLS.--Into a cupful of cold Graham mush beat thoroughly three tablespoonfuls of thick, sweet cream. Add sufficient Graham flour to make a rather stiff dough, knead thoroughly, shape into roils, and bake. Corn meal, farina, and other mushes may be used in the place of the Graham mush, if preferred.

BEATEN BISCUIT.--Into a quart of whole-wheat flour mix a large cup of must be very stiff, and rendered soft and pliable by thorough kneading and afterward pounding with a mallet for at least half an hour in the following manner: Pound the dough oat flat, and until of the same thickness throughout; dredge lightly with flour; double the dough over evenly and pound quickly around the outside, to fasten the edges together and thus retain the air within the dough. When well worked, the dough will appear flaky and brittle, and pulling a piece off it quickly will cause a sharp, snapping sound. Mold into small biscuits, making an indenture in the center of each with the thumb, p.r.i.c.k well with a fork, and place on perforated sheets, with a s.p.a.ce between, and put at once into the oven. The oven should be of the same temperature as for rolls.

If they are "sad" inside when cold, they were not well baked, as they should be light and tender. If preferred, use one third white flour, instead of all whole-wheat. Excellent results are also obtained by chopping instead of pounding the dough.

CREAM CRISPS.--Make a dough of one cupful of thin cream, and a little more than three cups of Graham flour. Knead until smooth, then divide the dough into several pieces, and place in a dish on ice for an hour, or until ice cold. Roll each piece separately and quickly as thin as brown paper. Cut with a knife into squares, p.r.i.c.k with a fork, and bake on perforated tins, until lightly browned on both sides.

CREAM CRISPS NO. 2.--Into two and one half cups of cold cream or rich milk, sprinkle slowly with the hands, beating meanwhile to incorporate air, four cups of best Graham flour, sifted with one half cup of granulated sugar. Add flour to knead; about two and one fourth cups will be required. When well kneaded, divide into several portions, roll each as thin as a knife blade, cut into squares, p.r.i.c.k well with a fork, and bake.

GRAHAM CRISPS.--Into one half cupful of ice-cold soft water, stir slowly, so as to incorporate as much air as possible, enough Graham flour to make a dough stiff enough to knead. A tablespoonful of sugar may be added to the water before stirring in the flour, if desired.

After kneading fifteen minutes, divide the dough into six portions; roll each as thin as brown paper, p.r.i.c.k with a fork, and bake on perforated tins, turning often until both sides are a light, even brown.

Break into irregular pieces and serve.

OATMEAL CRISPS.--Make a dough with one cupful of oatmeal porridge and Graham flour. Knead thoroughly, roll very thin, and bake as directed for Graham Crisps. A tablespoonful of sugar may be added if desired.

GRAHAM CRACKERS.--Make a dough of one cup of cream and Graham flour sufficient to make a soft dough. Knead thoroughly, and place on ice for half an hour; then roll thin, cut into small cakes with a cookie-cutter, p.r.i.c.k with a fork, and bake on floured pans, in a brisk oven. A tablespoonful of sugar may be added if desired.

FRUIT CRACKERS.--Prepare a dough with one cup of cold sweet cream and three cups of Graham flour, knead well, and divide into two portions. Roll each quite thin. Spread one thickly with dates or figs seeded and chopped; place the other one on top and press together with the rolling pin. Cut into squares and bake. An additional one fourth of a cup of flour will doubtless be needed for dusting the board and kneading.

TABLE TOPICS.

Behind the nutty loaf is the mill wheel; behind the mill is the wheat field; on the wheat field rests the sunlight; above the sun is G.o.d.--_James Russell Lowell._

Bread forms one of the most important parts of the ration of the German soldier. In time of peace, the private soldier is supplied day by day with one pound and nine ounces of bread; when fighting for the Fatherland, every man is ent.i.tled to a free ration of over two pounds of bread, and field bakery trains and steam ovens for providing the large amount of bread required, form a recognized part of the equipment of the German army.

The wandering Arab lives almost entirely upon bread, with a few dates as a relish.

According to Count Rumford, the Bavarian wood-chopper, one of the most hardy and hard-working men in the world, receives for his weekly rations one large loaf of rye bread and a small quant.i.ty of roasted meal. Of the meal he makes an infusion, to which he adds a little salt, and with the mixture, which he calls burned soup, he eats his rye bread. No beer, no beef, no other food than that mentioned, and no drink but water; and yet he can do more work and enjoys a better digestion and possesses stronger muscles than the average American or Englishman, with their varied dietary.

The following truthful bit of Scandinavian history well ill.u.s.trates the influence of habits of frugality upon national character: "The Danes were approaching, and one of the Swedish bishops asked how many men the province of Dalarna could furnish.

"'At least twenty thousand,' was the reply; 'for the old men are just as strong and brave as the young ones.'

"'But what do they live upon?'

"'Upon bread and water. They take little account of hunger and thirst, and when corn is lacking, they make their bread out of tree bark.'

"'Nay,' said the bishop, 'a people who eat tree bark and drink water, the devil himself could not vanquish!' and neither were they vanquished. Their progress was one series of triumphs, till they placed Gustavus Vasa on the throne of Sweden."

The word _biscuit_ embodies the process by which this form of bread was made from time immemorial down to within the last century. _Bis_ (twice), and _coctus_ (cooked), show that they were twice baked.

Fragments of unfermented bread were discovered in the Swiss lake-dwellings, which belong to the Neolithic age.

Fermented bread is seldom seen in Northern Europe and Asia except among the rich or the n.o.bility. At one time, the captain of an English vessel requested a baker of Gottenburg to bake a large quant.i.ty of loaves of raised bread. The baker refused to undertake an order of such magnitude, saying it would be quite impossible to dispose of so much, until the captain agreed to take and pay for it all.

I made a study of the ancient and indispensable art of bread-making, consulting such authorities as offered, going back to the primitive days and first invention of the unleavened kind, and traveling gradually down in my studies through that accidental souring of the dough which it is supposed taught the leavening process, and through the various fermentations thereafter till I came to "good, sweet, wholesome bread,"--the staff of life. Leaven, which some deemed the soul of bread, the _spiritus_ which fills its cellular tissues, which is religiously preserved like the vestal fire,--some precious bottleful, I suppose, brought over in the Mayflower, did the business for America, and its influence is still rising, swelling, spreading in cerulean billows over the land,--this seed I regularly and faithfully procured from the village, until one morning I forgot the rules and scalded my yeast; by which accident I discovered that even this was not indispensable, and I have gladly omitted it ever since. Neither did I put any soda or other acid or alkali into my bread. It would seem that I made it according to the recipe which Marcus Porcius Cato gave about two centuries before Christ: "Make kneaded bread thus: Wash your hands and trough well. Put the meal into the trough, add water gradually, and knead it thoroughly. When you have needed it well, mold it, and bake it under a cover," that is in a baking kettle.--_Th.o.r.eau in Walden._

FRUITS

Of all the articles which enter the list of foods, none are more wholesome and pleasing than the fruits which nature so abundantly provides. Their delicate hues and perfect outlines appeal to our sense of beauty, while their delicious flavors gratify our appet.i.te. Our markets are supplied with an almost unlimited variety of both native and tropical fruits, and it might be supposed that they would always appear upon the daily bill of fare; yet in the majority of homes this is rarely the case. People are inclined to consider fruit, unless the product of their own gardens, a luxury too expensive for common use. Many who use a plentiful supply, never think of placing it upon their tables, unless cooked. Ripe fruit is a most healthful article of diet when partaken of at seasonable times; but to eat it, or any other food, between meals, is a gross breach of the requirements of good digestion.

Fruits contain from seventy-five to ninety-five per cent of water, and a meager proportion of nitrogenous matter; hence their value as nutrients, except in a few instances, is rather small; but they supply a variety of agreeable acids which refresh and give tone to the system, and their abundant and proper use does much to keep the vital machinery in good working order.

Aside from the skin and seeds, all fruits consist essentially of two parts,--the cellulose structure containing the juice, and the juice itself. The latter is water, with a small proportion of fruit sugar (from one to twenty per cent in different varieties), and vegetable acids. These acids are either free, or combined with potash and lime in the form of acid salts. They are mallic, citric, tartaric, and pectic acids. The last-named is the jelly-producing principle.

While the juice, as we commonly find it, is readily transformable for use in the system, the cellular structure of the fruit is not so easily digested. In some fruits, as the strawberry, grape, and banana, the cell walls are so delicate as to be easily broken up; but in watermelons, apples, and oranges, the cells are coa.r.s.er, and form a larger bulk of the fruit, hence are less easily digested. As a rule, other points being equal, the fruits which yield the richest and largest quant.i.ty of juices, and also possess a cellular framework the least perceptible on mastication, are the most readily digested. A certain amount of waste matter is an advantage, to give bulk to our food; but persons with weak stomachs, who cannot eat certain kinds of fruit, are often able to digest the juice when taken alone.

Unripe fruits differ from ripe fruits in that they contain, starch, which during ripening is changed into sugar, and generally some proportion of tannic acid, which gives them their astringency. The characteristic const.i.tuent of unripe fruit, however, is pectose, an element insoluble in water, but which, as maturation proceeds, is transformed into pectic and pectosic acids. These are soluble in boiling water, and upon cooling, yield gelatinous solutions. Their presence makes it possible to convert the juice of ripe fruits into jelly. Raw starch in any form is indigestible, hence unripe fruit should never be eaten uncooked. As fruit matures, the changes it undergoes are such as best fit for consumption and digestion. The following table shows the composition of the fruits in common use:--

a.n.a.lYSIS.

Water. Alb.u.men. Sugar. Free Acid. Pectose. Cellulose Mineral Matter.

Apples 83.0 0.4 6.8 1.0 5.2 3.2 0.4 Pears 84.0 0.3 7.0 0.1 4.6 3.7 0.3 Peaches 85.0 0.5 1.8 0.7 8.0 3.4 0.6 Grapes 80.0 0.7 Glucose. Tartaric. 3.1 2.0 0.4 13.0 0.8 Plums 82.0 0.2 3.6 0.5 5.7 ... 0.6 Gooseberries 86.0 0.4 7.0 1.5 1.9 2.7 0.5 Strawberries 87.6 0.5 4.5 1.3 0.1 ... 0.6 Raspberries 86.+ 0.5 4.7 1.3 1.7 ... 0.4 Currants 85.2 0.4 6.4 1.8 0.2 ... 0.5 Blackberries 86.4 0.5 4.4 1.1 1.4 ... 0.4 Cherries 75.0 0.9 13.1 0.3 2.2 ... 0.6 Apricots 85.0 .08 1.0 ... 5.9 ... 0.8 Oranges 86.0 [A] 8 to 10 ... ... ... ...

Dates 20.8 6.6 54.0 Fat. 12.3 5.5 1.6 0.2 Bananas 73.9 4.8 19.7[B] Fat. ... 0.2 0.8 0.6 Turkey Figs 17.5 6.1 57.5 Fat. 8.4[C] 7.3 2.3 0.9

[Table Note A: Small quant.i.ties of alb.u.men, citric acid, citrate of potash, cellulose, etc.]

[Table Note B: Sugar and pectose.]

[Table Note C: Starch, pectose, etc.]

There is a prevailing notion that the free use of fruits, especially in summer, excites derangement of the digestive organs. When such derangement occurs, it is far more likely to have been occasioned by the way in which the fruit was eaten than by the fruit itself. Perhaps it was taken as a surfeit dish at the end of a meal. It may have been eaten in combination with rich, oily foods, pastry, strong coffee, and other indigestible viands, which, in themselves, often excite an attack of indigestion. Possibly it was partaken of between meals, or late at night, with ice cream and other confections, or it was swallowed without sufficient mastication. Certainly, it is not marvelous that stomach and bowel disorders do result under such circ.u.mstances. The innocent fruit, like many other good things, being found in "bad company," is blamed accordingly. An excess of any food at meals or between meals, is likely to prove injurious, and fruits present no exception to this rule. Fruit taken at seasonable times and in suitable quant.i.ties, alone or in combination with proper foods, gives us one of the most agreeable and healthful articles of diet. Fruit, fats, and meats do not affiliate, and they are liable to create a disturbance whenever taken together.

Partially decayed, stale, and over-ripe, as well as unripe fruit, should never be eaten. According to M. Pasteur, the French scientist, all fruits and vegetables, when undergoing even incipient decay, contain numerous germs, which, introduced into the system, are liable to produce disturbances or disease. Perfectly fresh, ripe fruit, with proper limitations as to quant.i.ty and occasion, may be taken into a normal stomach with impunity at any season.

It is especially important that all fruits to be eaten should not only be sound in quality, but should be made perfectly clean by washing if necessary, since fruit grown near the ground is liable to be covered with dangerous bacteria (such as cause typhoid fever or diphtheria), which exist in the soil or in the material used in fertilizing it.

Most fruits, properly used, aid digestion either directly or indirectly.

The juicy ones act as dilutents, and their free use lessens the desire for alcohol and other stimulants. According to German a.n.a.lysts, the apple contains a larger percentage of phosphorus than any other fruit, or than any vegetable. In warm weather and in warm climates, when foods are not needed for a heat-producing purpose, the diet may well consist largely of fruits and succulent vegetables, eaten in combination with bread and grains. In case of liver and kidney affections, rheumatism, and gout, the use of fruit is considered very beneficial by many scientific authorities.

To serve its best purpose, raw fruit should be eaten without sugar or other condiments, or with the addition of as small a quant.i.ty as possible.