The Story of Crisco Part 1

The Story of Crisco.

by Marion Harris Neil.

_INTRODUCTION_

The word "fat" is one of the most interesting in food chemistry. It is the great energy producer. John C. Olsen, A.M., Ph.D., in his book, "Pure Food," states that fats furnish half the total energy obtained by human beings from their food. The three _primary_, solid cooking fats today are:

[Ill.u.s.tration: _b.u.t.ter Lard Crisco_]

There are numbers of subst.i.tutes for these, such as b.u.t.terine, oleomargarine and "lard compounds."

The following pages contain a story of unusual interest to _you_. For you _eat_.

See Page 233

_The Story of Crisco_

The culinary world is revising its entire cook book on account of the advent of Crisco, a new and altogether different cooking fat.

Many wonder that any product could gain the favor of cooking experts so quickly. A few months after the first package was marketed, practically every grocer of the better cla.s.s in the United States was supplying women with the new product.

This was largely because four cla.s.ses of people--housewives--chefs--doctors--diet.i.tians--were glad to be shown a product which at once would make for more _digestible_ foods, more _economical_ foods, and better _tasting_ foods.

Cooking and History

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Cooking methods have undergone a marked change during the past few years. The nation's food is becoming more and more wholesome as a result of different discoveries, new sources of supply, and the intelligent weighing of values. Domestic Science is better understood and more appreciated.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

People of the present century are fairer to their stomachs, realizing that their health largely depends upon this faithful and long-suffering servant. Digestion and disposition sound much the same, but a good disposition often is wrecked by a poor digestion.

America has been termed a country of dyspeptics. It is being changed to a land of healthy eaters, consequently happier individuals. Every agent responsible for this national digestive improvement must be gratefully recognized.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

It seems strange to many that there can be anything _better_ than b.u.t.ter for cooking, or of greater utility than lard, and the advent of Crisco has been a shock to the older generation, born in an age less progressive than our own, and p.r.o.ne to contend that the old fashioned things are good enough.

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But these good folk, when convinced, are the greatest enthusiasts.

Grandmother was glad to give up the fatiguing spinning wheel. So the modern woman is glad to stop cooking with expensive b.u.t.ter, animal lard and their inadequate subst.i.tutes.

And so, the nation's cook book has been hauled out and is being revised. Upon thousands of pages, the words "lard" and "b.u.t.ter" have been crossed out and the word "Crisco" written in their place.

A Need Antic.i.p.ated

Great foresight was shown in the making of Crisco.

The quality, as well as the quant.i.ty, of lard was diminishing steadily in the face of a growing population. Prices were rising. "The high-cost-of-living" was an oft-repeated phrase. Also, our country was outgrowing its supply of b.u.t.ter. What was needed, therefore, was not a _subst.i.tute_, but something _better_ than these fats, some product which not only would accomplish as much in cookery, but _a great deal more_.

When, therefore, Crisco was perfected, and it was shown that here finally was an altogether _new_ and _better_ fat, cookery experts were quick to show their appreciation.

In reading the following pages, think of Crisco as a _primary_ cooking fat or shortening with even more individuality (because it does greater things), than all others.

Man's Most Important Food, Fat

No other food supplies our bodies with the _drive_, the vigor, which fat gives. No other food has been given so little study in proportion to its importance.

Here are interesting facts, yet few housewives are acquainted with them:

Fat contains more than twice the amount of energy-yielding power or calorific value of proteids or carbohydrates. One half our physical energy is from the fat we eat in different forms. The excellent book, "Food and Cookery for the Sick and Convalescent," by Fannie Merritt Farmer, states, "In the diet of children at least, a deficiency of fat cannot be replaced by an excess of carbohydrates; and that fat seems to play some part in the formation of young tissues which cannot be undertaken by _any other const.i.tuent of food_...."

The book ent.i.tled "The Chemistry of Cooking and Cleaning," by the two authorities, Ellen H. Richards and S. Maria Elliott, states that the diet of school children should be regulated carefully with the fat supply in view. Girls, especially, show at times a dislike for fat.

It therefore is necessary that the fat which supplies their growing bodies with energy should be in the purest and most inviting form and should be one that their digestions _welcome_, rather than repel.

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The first step in the digestion of fat is its melting. Crisco melts at a lower degree of heat than body temperature. Because of its low melting point, thus allowing the digestive juices to mix with it, and because of its vegetable origin and its purity, Crisco is the easiest of all cooking fats to digest.

When a fat smokes in frying, it "breaks down," that is, its chemical composition is changed; part of its altered composition becomes a non-digestible and irritating substance. The best fat for digestion is one which does _not_ decompose or break down at frying temperature.

Crisco does not break down until a degree of heat is reached _above_ the frying point. In other words, Crisco does not break down at all in normal frying, because it is not necessary to have it "smoking hot"

for frying. No part of it, therefore, has been transformed in cooking into an irritant. That is one reason why the stomach welcomes Crisco and carries forward its digestion with ease.

Working Towards an Ideal

A part of the preliminary work done in connection with the development of Crisco, described in these pages, consisted of the study of the older cooking fats. The objectionable features of each were considered. The good was weighed against the bad. The strength and weakness of each was determined. Thus was found what the ideal fat should possess, and what it should _not_ possess. It must have every good quality and no bad one.

After years of study, a process was discovered which made possible the ideal fat.

The process involved the changing of the composition of vegetable food oils and the making of the richest fat or solid _cream_.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The Crisco Process at the first stage of its development gave, at least, the basis of the ideal fat; namely, a purely _vegetable_ product, differing from all others in that absolutely no animal fat had to be added to the vegetable oil to produce the proper stiffness.

This was but one of the many distinctive advantages sought and found.

Not Marketed Until Perfect