Science in the Kitchen Part 1

Science in the Kitchen.

by Mrs. E. E. Kellogg.

PREFACE.

The interest in scientific cookery, particularly in cookery as related to health, has manifestly increased in this country within the last decade as is evidenced by the success which has attended every intelligent effort for the establishment of schools for instruction in cookery in various parts of the United States. While those in charge of these schools have presented to their pupils excellent opportunities for the acquirement of dexterity in the preparation of toothsome and tempting viands, but little attention has been paid to the science of dietetics, or what might be termed the hygiene of cookery.

A little less than ten years ago the Sanitarium at Battle Creek Mich., established an experimental kitchen and a school of cookery under the supervision of Mrs. Dr. Kellogg, since which time, researches in the various lines of cookery and dietetics have been in constant progress in the experimental kitchen, and regular sessions of the school of cookery have been held. The school has gradually gained in popularity, and the demand for instruction has become so great that cla.s.ses are in session during almost the entire year.

During this time, Mrs. Kellogg has had constant oversight of the cuisine of both the Sanitarium and the Sanitarium Hospital, preparing bills of fare for the general and diet tables, and supplying constantly new methods and original recipes to meet the changing and growing demands of an inst.i.tution numbering always from 500 to 700 inmates.

These large opportunities for observation, research, and experience, have gradually developed a system of cookery, the leading features of which are so entirely novel and so much in advance of the methods heretofore in use, that it may be justly styled, _A New System of Cookery_. It is a singular and lamentable fact, the evil consequences of which are wide-spread, that the preparation of food, although involving both chemical and physical processes, has been less advanced by the results of modern researches and discoveries in chemistry and physics, than any other department of human industry. Iron mining, gla.s.s-making, even the homely art of brick-making, and many of the operations of the farm and the dairy, have been advantageously modified by the results of the fruitful labors of modern scientific investigators. But the art of cookery is at least a century behind in the march of scientific progress. The mistress of the kitchen is still groping her way amid the uncertainties of mediaeval methods, and daily bemoaning the sad results of the "rule of thumb." The chemistry of cookery is as little known to the average housewife as were the results of modern chemistry to the old alchemists; and the attempt to make wholesome, palatable, and nouris.h.i.+ng food by the methods commonly employed, is rarely more successful than that of those misguided alchemists in trans.m.u.ting lead and copper into silver and gold.

The new cookery brings order from out the confusion of mixtures and messes, often incongruence and incompatible, which surrounds the average cook, by the elucidation of the principles which govern the operations of the kitchen, with the same certainty with which the law of gravity rules the planets.

Those who have made themselves familiar with Mrs. Kellogg's system of cookery, invariably express themselves as trebly astonished: first, at the simplicity of the methods employed; secondly, at the marvelous results both as regards palatableness, wholesomeness, and attractiveness; thirdly, that it had never occurred to them "to do this way before."

This system does not consist simply of a rehash of what is found in every cook book, but of new methods, which are the result of the application of the scientific principles of chemistry and physics to the preparation of food in such a manner as to make it the most nouris.h.i.+ng, the most digestible, and the most inviting to the eye and to the palate.

Those who have tested the results of Mrs. Kellogg's system of cookery at the Sanitarium tables, or in their own homes through the instruction of her pupils, have been most enthusiastic in their expressions of satisfaction and commendation. Hundreds of original recipes which have appeared in her department in _Good Health_, "Science in the Household", have been copied into other journals, and are also quite largely represented in the pages of several cook books which have appeared within the last few years.

The great success which attended the cooking school in connection with the Bay View a.s.sembly (the Michigan Chautauqua), as well as the uniform success which has met the efforts of many of the graduates of the Sanitarium school of cookery who have undertaken to introduce the new system through the means of cooking cla.s.ses in various parts of the United States, has created a demand for a fuller knowledge of the system.

This volume is the outgrowth of the practical and experimental work, and the popular demand above referred to. Its preparation has occupied the entire leisure time of the author during the last five or six years. No pains or expense has been spared to render the work authoritative on all questions upon which it treats, and in presenting it to the public, the publishers feel the utmost confidence that the work will meet the highest expectations of those who have waited impatiently for its appearance during the months which have elapsed since its preparation was first announced. PUBLISHERS.

INTRODUCTION.

No one thing over which we have control exerts so marked an influence upon our physical prosperity as the food we eat; and it is no exaggeration to say that well-selected and scientifically prepared food renders the partaker whose digestion permits of its being well a.s.similated, superior to his fellow-mortals in those qualities which will enable him to cope most successfully with life's difficulties, and to fulfill the purpose of existence in the best and truest manner. The brain and other organs of the body are affected by the quality of the blood which nourishes them, and since the blood is made of the food eaten, it follows that the use of poor food will result in poor blood, poor muscles, poor brains, and poor bodies, incapable of first-cla.s.s work in any capacity. Very few persons, however, ever stop to inquire what particular foods are best adapted to the manufacture of good blood and the maintenance of perfect health; but whatever gratifies the palate or is most conveniently obtained, is cooked and eaten without regard to its dietetic value. Far too many meals partake of the characteristics of the one described in the story told of a clergyman who, when requested to ask a blessing upon a dinner consisting of bread, hot and tinged with saleratus, meat fried to a crisp, potatoes swimming in grease, mince pie, preserves, and pickles, demurred on the ground that the dinner was "not worth a blessing." He might with equal propriety have added, "and not worth eating."

The subject of diet and its relation to human welfare, is one deserving of the most careful consideration. It should be studied as a science, to enable us to choose such materials as are best adapted to our needs under the varying circ.u.mstances of climate growth, occupation, and the numerous changing conditions of the human system; as an art, that we may become so skilled in the preparation of the articles selected as to make them both appetizing and healthful. It is an unfortunate fact that even among experienced housekeepers the scientific principles which govern the proper preparation of food, are but little understood, and much unwholesome cookery is the result. The mechanical mixing of ingredients is not sufficient to secure good results; and many of the failures attributed to "poor material," "bad luck," and various other subterfuges to which cooks ignorance of scientific principles. The common method of blindly following recipes, with no knowledge of "the reason why," can hardly fail to be often productive of unsatisfactory results, which to the uninformed seem quite inexplicable.

Cookery, when based upon scientific principles, ceases to be the difficult problem it so often appears. Cause and effect follow each other as certainly in the preparation of food as in other things; and with a knowledge of the underlying principles, and faithfulness in carrying out the necessary details, failure becomes almost an impossibility. There is no department of human activity where applied science offers greater advantages than in that of cookery, and in our presentation of the subjects treated in the following pages, we have endeavored, so far as consistent with the scope of this work, to give special prominence to the scientific principles involved in the successful production of wholesome articles of food. We trust our readers will find these principles so plainly elucidated and the subject so interesting, that they will be stimulated to undertake for themselves further study and research in this most important branch of household science. We have aimed also to give special precedence of s.p.a.ce to those most important foods, the legumes, and grains and their products, which in the majority of cook books are given but little consideration or are even left out altogether, believing that our readers will be more interested in learning the many palatable ways in which these especially nutritious and inexpensive foods may be prepared, than in a reiteration of such dishes as usually make up the bulk of the average cook book.

For reasons stated elsewhere (in the chapter on Milk, Cream, and b.u.t.ter), we have in the preparation of all recipes made use of cream in place of other fats; but lest there be some who may suppose because cream occupies so frequent a place in the recipes, and because of their inability to obtain that article, the recipes are therefore not adapted to their use, we wish to state that a large proportion of the recipes in which it is mentioned as seasoning, or for dressing, will be found to be very palatable with the cream omitted, or by the use of its place of some one of the many subst.i.tutes recommended. We ought also to mention in this connection, that wherever cream is recommended, unless otherwise designated, the quality used in the preparation of the recipes is that of single or twelve hour cream sufficiently diluted with milk, so that one fourth of each quart of milk is reckoned as cream. If a richer quality than this be used, the quant.i.ty should be diminished in proportion; otherwise, by the excess of fat, a wholesome food may become a rich, unhealthful dish.

In conclusion, the author desires to state that no recipe has been admitted to this work which has not been thoroughly tested by repeated trials, by far the larger share of such being original, either in the combination of the materials used, the method employed, or both materials and method. Care has been taken not to c.u.mber the work with useless and indifferent recipes. It is believed that every recipe will be found valuable, and that the variety offered is sufficiently ample, so that under the most differing circ.u.mstances, all may be well served.

We trust therefore that those who undertake to use the work as a guide in their culinary practice, will not consider any given recipe a failure because success does not attend their first efforts. Perseverance and a careful study of the directions given, will a.s.suredly bring success to all who possess the natural or acquired qualities essential for the practice of that most useful of the arts,--"Healthful Cookery."

ELLA E. KELLOGG.

_Battle Creek, April 20, 1892._

Foods

The purposes of food are to promote growth, to supply force and heat, and to furnish material to repair the waste which is constantly taking place in the body. Every breath, every thought, every motion, wears out some portion of the delicate and wonderful house in which we live.

Various vital processes remove these worn and useless particles; and to keep the body in health, their loss must be made good by constantly renewed supplies of material properly adapted to replenish the worn and impaired tissues. This renovating material must be supplied through the medium of food and drink, and the best food is that by which the desired end may be most readily and perfectly attained. The great diversity in character of the several tissues of the body, makes it necessary that food should contain a variety of elements, in order that each part may be properly nourished and replenished.

THE FOOD ELEMENTS.--The various elements found in food are the following: Starch, sugar, fats, alb.u.men, mineral substances, indigestible substances.

The digestible food elements are often grouped, according to their chemical composition, into three cla.s.ses; _vis._, carbonaceous, nitrogenous, and inorganic. The carbonaceous cla.s.s includes starch, sugar, and fats; the nitrogenous, all alb.u.minous elements; and the inorganic comprises the mineral elements.

_Starch_ is only found in vegetable foods; all grains, most vegetables, and some fruits, contain starch in abundance. Several kinds of _sugar_ are made in nature's laboratory; _cane_, _grape_, _fruit_, and _milk_ sugar. The first is obtained from the sugar-cane, the sap of maple trees, and from the beet root. Grape and fruit sugars are found in most fruits and in honey. Milk sugar is one of the const.i.tuents of milk.

Glucose, an artificial sugar resembling grape sugar, is now largely manufactured by subjecting the starch of corn or potatoes to a chemical process; but it lacks the sweetness of natural sugars, and is by no means a proper subst.i.tute for them. _Alb.u.men_ is found in its purest, uncombined state in the white of an egg, which is almost wholly composed of alb.u.men. It exists, combined with other food elements, in many other foods, both animal and vegetable. It is found abundant in oatmeal, and to some extent in the other grains, and in the juices of vegetables. All natural foods contain elements which in many respects resemble _alb.u.men_, and are so closely allied to it that for convenience they are usually cla.s.sified under the general name of "alb.u.men." The chief of these is _gluten_, which is found in wheat, rye, and barley. _Casein_, found in peas, beans, and milk, and the _fibrin_ of flesh, are elements of this cla.s.s.

_Fats_ are found in both animal and vegetable foods. Of animal fats, b.u.t.ter and suet are common examples. In vegetable form, fat is abundant in nuts, peas, beans, in various of the grains, and in a few fruits, as the olive. As furnished by nature in nuts, legumes, grains, fruits, and milk, this element is always found in a state of fine subdivision, which condition is the one best adapted to its digestion. As most commonly used, in the form of free fats, as b.u.t.ter, lard, etc., it is not only difficult of digestion itself, but often interferes with the digestion of the other food elements which are mixed with it. It was doubtless never intended that fats should be so modified from their natural condition and separated from other food elements as to be used as a separate article of food. The same may be said of the other carbonaceous elements, sugar and starch, neither of which, when used alone, is capable of sustaining life, although when combined in a proper and natural manner with other food elements, they perform a most important part in the nutrition of the body. Most foods contain a percentage of the _mineral_ elements. Grains and milk furnish these elements in abundance. The cellulose, or woody tissue, of vegetables, and the bran of wheat, are examples of _indigestible_ elements, which although they cannot be converted into blood in tissue, serve an important purpose by giving bulk to the food.

With the exception of gluten, none of the food elements, when used alone, are capable of supporting life. A true food substance contains some of all the food elements, the amount of each varying in different foods.

USES OF THE FOOD ELEMENTS.--Concerning the purpose which these different elements serve, it has been demonstrated by the experiments of eminent physiologists that the carbonaceous elements, which in general comprise the greater bulk of the food, serve three purposes in the body;

1. They furnish material for the production of heat;

2. They are a source of force when taken in connection with other food elements;

3. They replenish the fatty tissues of the body. Of the carbonaceous elements,--starch, sugar, and fats,--fats produce the greatest amount of heat in proportion to quant.i.ty; that is, more heat is developed from a pound of fat than from an equal weight of sugar or starch; but this apparent advantage is more than counterbalanced by the fact that fats are much more difficult of digestion than are the other carbonaceous elements, and if relied upon to furnish adequate material for bodily heat, would be productive of much mischief in overtaxing and producing disease of the digestive organs. The fact that nature has made a much more ample provision of starch and sugars than of fats in man's natural diet, would seem to indicate that they were intended to be the chief source of carbonaceous food; nevertheless, fats, when taken in such proportion as nature supplies them, are necessary and important food elements.

The nitrogenous food elements especially nourish the brain, nerves, muscles, and all the more highly vitalized and active tissues of the body, and also serve as a stimulus to tissue change. Hence it may be said that a food deficient in these elements is a particularly poor food.

The inorganic elements, chief of which are the phosphates, in the carbonates of potash, soda, and lime, aid in furnis.h.i.+ng the requisite building material for bones and nerves.

PROPER COMBINATIONS OF FOODS.--While it is important that our food should contain some of all the various food elements, experiments upon both animals and human beings show it is necessary that these elements, especially the nitrogenous and carbonaceous, be used in certain definite proportions, as the system is only able to appropriate a certain amount of each; and all excess, especially of nitrogenous elements, is not only useless, but even injurious, since to rid the system of the surplus imposes an additional task upon the digestive and excretory organs. The relative proportion of these elements necessary to const.i.tute a food which perfectly meets the requirements of the system, is six of carbonaceous to one of nitrogenous. Scientists have devoted much careful study and experimentation to the determination of the quant.i.ties of each of the food elements required for the daily nourishment of individuals under the varying conditions of life, and it has come to be commonly accepted that of the nitrogenous material which should const.i.tute one sixth of the nutrients taken, about _three ounces_ is all that can be made use of in twenty-four hours, by a healthy adult of average weight, doing a moderate amount of work. Many articles of food are, however, deficient in one or the other of these elements, and need to be supplemented by other articles containing the deficient element in superabundance, since to employ a dietary in which any one of the nutritive elements is lacking, although in bulk it may be all the digestive organs can manage, is really starvation, and will in time occasion serious results.

It is thus apparent that much care should be exercised in the selection and combination of food materials. The table on page 484, showing the nutritive values of various foods, should be carefully studied. Such knowledge is of first importance in the education of cooks and housekeepers, since to them falls the selection of the food for the daily needs of the household; and they should not only understand what foods are best suited to supply these needs, but how to combine them in accordance with physiological laws.

CONDIMENTS.--By condiments are commonly meant such substances as are added to season food, to give it "a relish" or to stimulate appet.i.te, but which in themselves possess no real food value. To this category belong mustard, ginger, pepper, pepper sauce, Worcesters.h.i.+re sauce, cloves, spices, and other similar substances. That anything is needed to disguise or improve the natural flavor of food, would seem to imply either that the article used was not a proper alimentary substance, or that it did not answer the purpose for which the Creator designed it. True condiments, such as pepper, pepper sauce, ginger, spice, mustard, cinnamon, cloves, etc., are all strong irritants. This may be readily demonstrated by their application to a raw surface. The intense smarting and burning occasioned are ample evidence of the irritating character. Pepper and mustard are capable of producing powerfully irritating effects, even when applied to the healthy skin where wholly intact. It is surprising that it does not occur to the mother who applies a mustard plaster to the feet of her child, to relieve congestion of the brain, that an article which is capable of producing a blister upon the external covering of the body, is quite as capable of producing similar effects when applied to the more sensitive tissues within the body. The irritating effects of these substances upon the stomach are not readily recognized, simply because the stomach is supplied with very few nerves of sensation. That condiments induce an intense degree of irritation of the mucous membrane of the stomach, was abundantly demonstrated by the experiments of Dr. Beaumont upon the unfortunate Alexis St. Martin. Dr. Beaumont records that when St. Martin took mustard, pepper, and similar condiments with his food, the mucous membrane of his stomach became intensely red and congested, appearing very much like an inflamed eye. It is this irritating effect of condiments which gives occasion for their extended use. They create an artificial appet.i.te, similar to the incessant craving of the chronic dyspeptic, whose irritable stomach is seldom satisfied. This fact with regard to condiments is a sufficient argument against their use, being one of the greatest causes of gluttony, since they remove the sense of satiety by which Nature says, "Enough."

To a thoroughly normal and unperverted taste, irritating condiments of all sorts are very obnoxious. It is true that Nature accommodates herself to their use with food to such a degree that they may be employed for years without apparently producing very grave results; but this very condition is a source of injury, since it is nothing more nor less than the going to sleep of the sentinels which nature has posted at the portal of the body, for the purpose of giving warning of danger. The nerves of sensibility have become benumbed to such a degree that they no longer offer remonstrance against irritating substances, and allow the enemy to enter into the citadel of life. The mischievous work is thus insidiously carried on year after year until by and by the individual breaks down with some chronic disorder of the liver, kidneys, or some other important internal organ. Physicians have long observed that in tropical countries where curry powder and other condiments are very extensively used, diseases of the liver, especially acute congestion and inflammation, are exceedingly common, much more so that in countries and among nations where condiments are less freely used. A traveler in Mexico, some time ago, described a favorite Mexican dish as composed of layers of the following ingredients: "Pepper, mustard, ginger, pepper, potato, ginger; mustard, pepper, potato, mustard, ginger, pepper." The common use of such a dish is sufficient cause for the great frequency of diseases of the liver among the Mexicans, noted by physicians traveling in that country. That the use of condiments is wholly a matter of habit is evident from the fact that different nations employ as condiments articles which would be in the highest degree obnoxious to people of other countries. For example, the garlic so freely used in Russian cookery, would be considered by Americans no addition to the natural flavors of food; and still more distasteful would be the asafetida frequently used as a seasoning in the cuisine of Persia and other Asiatic countries.

The use of condiments is unquestionably a strong auxiliary to the formation of a habit of using intoxicating drinks. Persons addicted to the use of intoxicating liquors are, as a rule, fond of stimulating and highly seasoned foods; and although the converse is not always true, yet it is apparent to every thoughtful person, that the use of a diet composed of highly seasoned and irritating food, inst.i.tutes the conditions necessary for the acquirement of a taste for intoxicating liquors. The false appet.i.te aroused by the use of food that "burns and stings," craves something less insipid than pure cold water to keep up the fever the food has excited. Again, condiments, like all other stimulants, must be continually increased in quant.i.ty, or their effect becomes diminished; and this leads directly to a demand for stronger stimulants, both in eating and drinking, until the probable tendency is toward the dram-shop.

A more serious reason why high seasonings leads to intemperance, is in the perversion of the use of the sense of taste. Certain senses are given us to add to our pleasure as well as for the practical, almost indispensable, use they are to us. For instance, the sense of sight is not only useful, but enables us to drink in beauty, if among beautiful surroundings, without doing us any harm. The same of music and other harmonics which may come to us through the sense of hearing. But the sense of taste and was given us to distinguish between wholesome and unwholesome foods, and cannot be used for merely sensuous gratification, without debasing and making of it a gross thing. An education which demands special enjoyment or pleasure through the sense of taste, is wholly artificial; it is coming down to the animal plane, or below it rather; for the instinct of the brute creation teaches it merely to eat to live.

Yet how wide-spread is this habit of sensuous gratification through the sense of taste! If one calls upon a neighbor, he is at once offered refreshments of some kind, as though the greatest blessing of life came from indulging the appet.i.te. This evil is largely due to wrong education, which begins with childhood. When Johnnie sits down to the table, the mother says, "Johnnie, what would you like?" instead of putting plain, wholesome food before the child, and taking it as a matter of course that he will eat it and be satisfied. The child grows to think that he must have what he likes, whether it is good for him or not. It is not strange that an appet.i.te thus pampered in childhood becomes uncontrollable at maturity; for the step from gormandizing to intoxication is much shorter than most people imagine. The natural, unperverted taste of a child will lead him to eat that which is good for him. But how can we expect the children to reform when the parents continually set them bad examples in the matter of eating and drinking?

The cultivation of a taste for spices is a degradation of the sense of taste. Nature never designed that pleasure should be divorced from use.

The effects of gratifying the sense of taste differ materially from those of gratifying the higher senses of sight and hearing. What we see is gone; nothing remains but the memory, and the same is true of the sweetest sounds which may reach us through the ears. But what we taste is taken into the stomach and what has thus given us brief pleasure through the gratification of the palate, must make work in the alimentary ca.n.a.l for fourteen hours before it is disposed of.

VARIETY IN FOOD.--Simplicity of diet should be a point of first consideration with all persons upon whom falls the responsibility of providing the family bills of fare, since the simplest foods are, as a rule, the most healthful. Variety is needed; that is, a judicious mingling of fruits, grains, and vegetables; but the general tendency is to supply our tables with too many kinds and to prepare each dish in the most elaborate manner, until, in many households, the cooking of food has come to be almost the chief end of life. While the preparation of food should be looked upon as of so much importance as to demand the most careful consideration and thought as to its suitability, wholesomeness, nutritive qualities, and digestibility, it should by no means be made to usurp the larger share of one's time, when simpler foods and less labor would afford the partakers equal nourishment and strength.

A great variety of foods at one meal exerts a potent influence in creating a love of eating, and is likewise a constant temptation to overeat. Let us have well-cooked, nutritious, and palatable food, and plenty of it; variety from day to day, but not too great a variety at each meal.