_Cream_ is one of the most delicious fatty food materials, and is digestible, but ranks with b.u.t.ter and bacon as to cost. While it is not a cheap food, it is not such an extravagance when moderately used as some people suppose, who have not worked out the problem. Usually the most economical source of cream is to take it from the top of the bottle of milk. The remaining partially skimmed milk may be used at table or in cooking or for making cottage cheese.
_b.u.t.ter_ is a digestible fat, ranking at present among the more expensive food materials.
Watchfulness is necessary with both cream and milk that cleanliness and quality may be insured.
_b.u.t.ter subst.i.tutes._--These are made from beef fat and other edible fats and oils, and are much less expensive than b.u.t.ter. They may be used in cooking with good result. The usual trade names are b.u.t.terine, or oleomargarine, or some word similar to these. Oleomargarine has the same food value as b.u.t.ter at lower cost, but lacks fine flavor.
_Olive or sweet oil._--The fat content of olive oil is one hundred per cent, its fuel value being equal to that of lard. See Fig. 46. It is made in Italy, France, Spain, and California, the oils from the different countries differing somewhat in flavor. The cheaper grades are sometimes adulterated with corn oil or cottonseed oil, which have the same food value but should, of course, be sold under their own names and not at olive oil prices. An American firm is now manufacturing olive oil in Spain; this and the California olive oil are of high grade. Italian oil by the gallon is of good quality, and usually somewhat less expensive than the French. It is a costly food material, but valuable in the dietary.
Never buy it in small bottles, as this adds greatly to the cost. The most economical method is to purchase by the gallon in a tin can. If kept cool, it will not deteriorate except very slowly. Always wipe off the mouth of the bottle or can before pouring out the oil.
=Fat as a cooking medium.=--Fat is necessary for the saute, and for deep fat frying. For deep fat frying several preparations are made from cottonseed oil that are agreeable to use and of moderate price.
_Lard_ has been the most commonly used, but many people object to the flavor. _Beef drippings_ should be saved and kept cool in covered jelly gla.s.ses. These drippings are useful for browning vegetables, meatb.a.l.l.s, and in pan-broiling if a small amount of additional fat is necessary.
When deep fat frying is used, great pains must be taken to see that the fat is sufficiently hot in order that the food material may not soak fat, and the cooked food must be kept hot when the fat is draining off on absorptive paper. The best fats for this purpose are the vegetable oils.
The refined cottonseed oils now on the market are excellent. For details of use see page 120. Keep a box of sand to pour into it, if the kettle of fat takes fire. Never pour water into blazing fat.
GENERAL METHODS AND RECIPES
=Principles of cooking.=
Fat melts at a low temperature.
At about 350 F. it begins to smoke.
At a higher temperature, a chemical change takes place, and the fat finally "burns," as the hydrogen and oxygen pa.s.s off.
It is emulsified by mixing with a substance like egg.
=1. To whip cream.=--Chill the cream, and set it in a bowl of ice water, or chipped ice. If the cream is warm, the beating will churn the cream to b.u.t.ter.
(1) For a fine, close-whipped cream use a Dover egg beater.
(2) For a lighter whipped cream, use a wire beater.
=2. To mold b.u.t.ter.=--A pair of wooden b.u.t.ter pats is necessary for this. Dip these first into hot water, then into cold. Cut off a square piece of b.u.t.ter, enough for one person, make it flat or round with two knives, and then roll it into shape between the b.u.t.ter pats.
Chill, and serve in a dish on ice; or give one to each person on a b.u.t.ter plate, just at the last moment before serving the meal. Never serve soft b.u.t.ter.
=3. To cook bacon.=--Bacon has alternate layers of fat and lean, but it is the fat that has chief consideration in the cooking process.
The aim is to brown and crisp the fat without burning it and without causing a volume of smoke in the kitchen. Make ready a frying pan, and have at hand a jar for holding fat standing on a plate. Cut the bacon in thin slices with a sharp knife. Heat the pan, and put in the bacon. The fat will begin to "try out" at the melting point. Pour this melted fat into the jar. Turn the pieces of bacon with a fork.
If the smoke is rising in volumes the pan is too hot. The novice should not try this experiment for the first time by herself. The fat may even burst into flame if the pan is too hot. When the bacon is sufficiently cooked to become crisp on cooling, it is ready to serve, by itself, with toast, or with eggs.
=The making of sauces and gravies.=--Many sauces and gravies are made from a fat, mixed with a starchy substance, the two mingled with a liquid. The fat gives flavor and nutriment, the starch is used for thickening, the liquid also gives flavor. You are now familiar with the cooking of fat and starch, and can readily understand that the combination of all these ingredients is not an easy matter. The fat will float upon the top of the liquid unless the right amount of starch or flour is used, and the flour will have a tendency to lump. There are several good methods in use. The method given for your experiment is one of the simplest, because it uses only a few utensils, and gives uniformly good results. It requires no more watchfulness than the other methods.
These sauces and gravies are not foods for little children and invalids.
=4. Foundation recipe for sauces.=
_Proportions._
(1) Thin sauce (for milk toast) 1 tablespoonful of fat, 1 of flour, 1/2 pint liquid.
_or_ (2) Medium sauce (for vegetables).
2 tablespoonfuls of fat, 2 of flour, 1/2 pint liquid.
_or_ (3) Thicker sauce, also for vegetables, meats, fish, and macaroni.
3 tablespoonfuls of fat, 3 of flour, 1/2 pint liquid.
Salt is used to taste.
_Method._--Melt the fat in a saucepan. Pour in the flour, all at once, and stir the flour and fat together, until the ma.s.s thickens slightly. Pour in all the liquid at once, cold. Set the saucepan where the heat is moderate.
Stir steadily with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens.
=5. A white sauce= is made with b.u.t.ter, and milk the liquid. Stop the cooking just short of the boiling point.
=6. A tomato sauce= is made with b.u.t.ter or beef fat, strained tomato juice the liquid. Cook a piece of onion, a sprig of parsley, or a small portion of dried herbs, and a clove with the tomato before straining, if these flavors are liked.
=7. A brown sauce= or _meat gravy_ may be made in the same way, using beef fat, and (as the liquid) water that has been poured into the pan in which the meat is cooked. When you are familiar with cooking there is an easier way for thickened meat gravies, as follows:
Pour off some of the fat from the meat pan. Set the pan upon the stove and stir in the flour,--about two tablespoonfuls for the ordinary roasting pan. When the flour is thoroughly mixed in, add about a pint of water, cold or warm, and stir again. Pour this mixture through a strainer. With practice you can make an excellent gravy in this way. It requires judgment to proportion the flour and liquid to the material in the pan.
THE SUGARS
Sugars are of common occurrence in the vegetable world in the fruits and juices of many plants. Pure grape juice may contain as high as 25 per cent of glucose though usually it is not so concentrated. Glucose is also found in considerable amount in sweet corn and onions. It is not so sweet as cane sugar (sucrose). Fructose is one of the sweetest of sugars, and helps to give honey its great sweetness.
_Lactose_ or milk sugar is found chiefly in milk. It is the least sweet of all the sugars. If there were as much cane sugar in milk, we should soon grow tired of it because it would be too sweet. It is sometimes added to milk to make its fuel value higher, especially in case the milk has been diluted, as in the diet of babies and invalids.
_Maltose_ or malt sugar is formed from starch in germinating seeds.
_Sucrose_ or cane sugar is most commonly manufactured from sugar cane and sugar beets. To a much smaller extent it is made commercially from the sugar maple, sorghum cane, and sugar palm, and it is found in considerable amount in some common fruits and vegetables.
Its manufacture forms a great industry, and its consumption is enormous, some ten million tons coming into commerce annually, and this does not represent the total consumption.
Figure 48 shows the composition of several common sugars. Notice that the granulated sugar is a pure foodstuff, being 100 per cent carbohydrate, while all the others contain traces of protein, ash, and water. Sugar is a fuel food, exclusively, like olive oil and other pure fats.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 48.--Composition of sugars.]
Sugar is a valuable food material, but should not be used in excess; the tendency in the United States is rather toward an excessive use of sugar.
It is liable to cause an acid fermentation in digestion, when taken in large amounts, and is sure to irritate the stomach. It should be well diluted by other foods. The amount that may be eaten daily varies for most people from two ounces for young children to four ounces for adults, but many people cannot eat these amounts without more or less irritation of the stomach. It is a common practice to oversweeten cakes and desserts, the sweetness of the sugar often disguising other agreeable flavors. The liking for sweets should be well under control, for the eating of too much sugar is a habit easy to form, and one which crowds out other valuable foods.
_Cane Sugar_ is sold both brown and white, and is manufactured in powdered, granulated, and solid form, the latter usually cut in cubes or dominoes.
The canes are first crushed, the juices pa.s.sing from the machine being of a rather dark greenish color. This juice is first clarified and filtered, and then boiled down in order to crystallize the sugar, the liquid sirup forming mola.s.ses. In the older methods the sirup was boiled in open pans, and the crystals filtered from the mola.s.ses by a slow process. In the modern process the sirup is boiled at a low temperature in vacuum pans, and the sugar is separated from the mola.s.ses by a centrifugal machine, built on the same principle as a cream separator. The principles of beet sugar manufacture are essentially the same, with some differences in detail.
The _mola.s.ses_ manufactured in the older method is richer in cane sugar and is a better table mola.s.ses than the new process mola.s.ses, the latter being used chiefly for the manufacture of alcohol. Mola.s.ses is either dark or light, the darker having a stronger flavor especially suited to gingerbread and Indian meal pudding. Mola.s.ses comes in the bulk, and may be slightly acid; or in cans, in which case no acid fermentation should have taken place. Where canned mola.s.ses is used in a batter, it is sometimes necessary to use baking powder instead of soda. "New Orleans" is a light-colored mola.s.ses, "Porto Rico" dark.
Brown sugar has not pa.s.sed through the refining processes necessary to the whitening of the sugar. It is softer than the granulated white, has a decided brownish color and a rich flavor.