Food and feeding : with and appendix

Preface To The Twelfth Edition

ENLARGED AND REVISED

For years past many large editions of this book have been called for, and much new matter has been added to several of them.

In this, my final edition, I propose to give my last words respecting food and feeding. Scientific research, never ceasing to progress, naturally adds something to our knowledge of the digestive processes, as well as of the value to man of certain food-principles from which his body derives nutrition.

The art of cooking also has, like other arts, been sedulously cultivated by a few, leading to improvements in appliances and in the methods to be adopted for the preparation of a wholesome and agreeable diet. Moreover, the selection of food and the preparation of it for the table are far more widely understood and appreciated now than they were when the earlier editions of the volume first appeared.

In the present much enlarged edition I have attempted to classify the various processes employed in cookery and its staple products in a more complete and natural order than heretofore, and to explain

6 Preface.

more fully the principles on which they are employed, the objects aimed at, and the rationale of each procedure.

The subject of “slow cookery” is one which I have long practically studied with much interest, and I have recorded the result of various experiments. I am satisfied that in cooking food derived from the animal kingdom the longer application of low temperatures will render it more easily digestible and nutritious, as well as more agreeable than the old methods. By these latter I mean the long-established custom of cooking “joints” by the highest temperature obtainable through boiling water, or by radiation from a fire in the course of two or three hours, viz. the familiar processes of “boiling” and “roasting” respectively.

I append to this edition a brief reference to that great man whom France produced in the eighteenth century — at once Philosopher and Gourmet of cultivated taste — and the famous twenty aphorisms with which he prefaced his work, and which he regarded as embodying the principles to be carried out in the large volume devoted to his subject.

35, Wimfole Street.

Chapter I. Page

Importance of proper selection and preparation of food — Improper feeding common among all classes, and at all periods of life — The purpose and the elements of food — To repair the waste of the body, to maintain the animal heat, and provide a store of energy for activity — i. The proteids, or nitrogenous elements — 2. The hydro-carbons, or fats — 3. Carbo-hydrates — 4. Inorganic elements : water, various salts — All these obtainable from animal and vegetable kingdoms — Comparison between elements derived from the two sources — Difference between digestive organs in animals eating only vegetables and those consuming animal food also — Man accustomed to “ a mixed diet ” — In some regions can live only on animal food — Climate decides proportion of animal food necessary — Few persons can live solely on vegetables in temperate zone — Mixed diet of monkey tribes — Personal peculiarities in diet — Desirable to utilize all sources of food from both kingdoms 13

CHAPTER IT.

Materials at man’s command for food from the vegetable kingdom — Seeds cultivated becoming grain, or cereal foods, as wheat and its derivatives, flour, wheaten bread — Oats and oatmeal — Maize and Indian corn meal, polenta — Rice — Legumes: haricots and lentils, etc. — Potato — Roots, the carrot, etc., arrowroot — Fatty matters from seeds, nuts, etc. — Green vegetables — Gourds — Fungi — Fruits and bananas — Analyses of their composition, showing comparative amounts of proteids, carbo-hydrates, fats, salts, and waters Sugar — Tea, coffee,

Contents.

FAGS

and cacao — Common salt — Importance of perfect mastication of food by the teeth in relation to digestion explained and insisted upon 2

Chapter III

Foods from the animal kingdom — Domestic animals and their derivatives, milk, butter, and cheese — Deer and its varieties — Ground game — Large foreign game — Birds, domestic and other — Fish in great variety — “ Shell-fish ” — Reptiles — Man omnivorous ; nature of food largely determined by circumstances ; prone to consume too much animal food, or to be careless in regard to selection of diet — Table showing the proportion of food-principles necessary to the daily dietary of an average adult, taking a moderate amount of exercise, in a temperate climate 51

Chapter IV

Food of the English peasant — Food of the middle class generally too solid or stimulating — Tending to corpulence as age advances — The cause of chronic complaints in later years — The produce of land in grain with pigs and poultry larger than when devoted solely to grazing — Value of fish as an article of diet — Supply ought to be more abundant and cheaper — Regimen suited to the sedentary and those who are chiefly brain-workers — Elementary principles in selecting, combining, and cooking different forms of food — That of the agricultural labourer and other hard workers — The legumes : haricots, lentils — Various modes of cooking them — Also hints for their use at middle-class tables — Bread made of whole wheat-meal and its use — Receipts for making it — Combination of elements to produce a complete food — Cheese as diet for the working man : its use by the Swiss guides — Rice, and the necessary additions to make with it palatable, nutritious dishes — The potato, and similar combinations 61

Chapter V

Food of the middle-class Englishman, and its routine — Cookery, the process of rendering food digestible and nutritious by heat —First, heat applied through water— (a) Boiling— The process

Contents.

PAGE

described —The effect of temperature in coagulating albumen — Treatment of meat in cooking depends solely on this action — Temperatures observed by thermometer during process of boiling and roasting — System of slow cooking at low temperatures— The “ Bain Marie ” — Captain Warren’s pot — The Norwegian cooker — Boiling of vegetables — ( b ) Steaming — (c) Stewing and braising — The distinction between them — Slow cooking at low temperatures and its value — Receipt for cooking a ham thus in thirty-six hours — Advantages of slow cooking in summer 9°

Chapter VI

Secondly, cooking by dry heat in hot air — (a) Baking — In dry compartments heated by steam — Becker’s process and others — Atkinson’s American oven — The English kitchener — (i) Roasting — The “ taste of the fire ” — Its attractive peculiarity — (<r) Broiling, another illustration of this — Pastry, the greatest discovery of the modern kitchen — Various kinds of paste —

The third method, cooking by high temperature in heated oil or frying — The omelette — Opposite principles in French and English cookery considered — Superiority of each in certain particulars 117

Chapter VII

Soups — Not sufficiently esteemed — Better understood in France — Pot-au-feu — The “stock-pot ” — Bouillon — Consommi — Endless varieties produced from these — Three distinct classes of soup —

1. The clear : of meat, fowl, and game ; and vegetables or maigre — 2. The thick or pur its: of the same — Various illustrations of these — 3. More substantial soups : turtle, ox- tail, and other examples — Bouillabaisse — Soups, gras and maigre — Receipts for vegetable soup — Practical hints in making the above 144

Chapter VIII

Sauces — The two chief foundation sauces, the brown or Espagnole, the white or Velouti — Their derivatives — English melted butter — Matlre cT Hotel — Ravigotte , etc. — Author’s receipt for Bigarade sauce — Garnishes — Their variety and use in

IO

Contents .

PAGE

supplementing dishes — Cookery of vegetables h F Anglais e and d la Franfaise — The tomato — Macaroni — Best modes for preparing for the table — Rice : various ways of preparing — The value of mincing in preparing flesh for food — Cold meats, the service of — Aspic jelly — Salads, in variety . . . .158

Chapter IX

Fish, and its value as food — The various constituents of flesh, of wheaten bread, and of fish compared — Analytic table, showing the same — Fish is desirable food for many persons — Ought to be less costly than it is — Varieties of fish, and their distinctive characters as food — Some contain large proportion of fat — The conger and the sturgeon — Preparation of fish for the table — Value of head, bones, and fins for sauce making — Fish sauces — Salmon in perfection — Crimping of ditto — Mode of cooking it — Baking of fish — Roasting and broiling — Boiling and steaming— Fish soups and stews, excellent — Receipts — Bouillabaisse — A working man’s stew 1S6

Chapter X

Milk, an example of a natural “ complete ” food — That of the cow is its type — Its use as food almost universal — Essentially an animal food — Most important that it should be pure and uncontaminated— Being very susceptible of injury, in distribution and otherwise, thus becomes a fertile source of disease — Many epidemics of fever, etc., caused by the milk trade — Tuberculous milk — Analysis, and nutritive value — Milk essentially food for the young growing animal— Whey — Koumiss — Strict sanitary measures employed to ensure the purity and wholesomeness of milk — Prudence requires it to be generally regarded as a raw product, to be taken only after boiling, especially by travellers abroad ....

Chapter XI

The combination of dishes to form a meal — Three typical systems of arranging daily meals — The French or Continental The provincial (Great Britain)— That of town life (London)—

Contents.

rAGE

Characteristics of each meal — Breakfast — Lunch — Dinner, of two kinds : the family meals, the dinner of invitation — The rationale of the initial soup — Plan of dishes to follow discussed— Hors-cT oeuvres — More in vogue on the Continent than in this country — Most of all in Russia — As a dietetic habit it is undesirable — Oysters and typhoid 222

Chapter XII

Dinners of invitation — Two kinds : small and select ; large but complete — The old pretentious style described — Scheme of a rational dinner-party — Priority in the service of various courses or dishes discussed Dessert — The quart (Theure after dinner Turtle and fish dinners — Curry — Sketch for a small dinner. 2 33

Chapter XIII

The question of wine with dinner — Remarks on the habitual use of alcoholic drinks of any kind— Wine should be taken chiefly during dinner, never before, not much, if any, after— Should be sound and pure, and without pretence — How to attain this— Relation of various wines with certain dishes— Cigarettes after dinner— Tobacco suggests coffee, and is incompatible with fine wine— The supply of water at dinner— Aerated waters— Foreign mineral waters— Their use at home and abroad Sweet drinks at dinner objectionable

Chapter XIV

In order to arrange a dinner some practical acquaintance with food is necessary— Also of the season at which various kinds are in perfection— The art of menu writing— The scheme or elementary outline of a dinner— Menus should be written m rench Examples of simple menus for each month in the

y^ar~S°rme ’n English’ chiefly in French, for comparison- Menus of higher character-Further remarks on the order in which dishes should be presented— And on other matters arising out of the subject ....

Contents .

CHAPTER XV. PAr.i

The public dinner — Its undue length — Toasts too numerous — Suggestions for shortening the proceedings — Good cookery independent of pedantic and complicated receipts — Schools of cookery — Elementary scientific teaching wanted to make cookery interesting and a progressive art — Better food, in better condition, and in more abundant supply, a pressing want for London — Conclusion 280

Epilogue

Brillat Savarin and his famous Aphorisms 292

Appendix

On the Pot-au-Feu, Soups, etc.

Fot-au-feu : Jules Gouffe’s instructions for making it — Gouffe’s instructions for braising — Boeuf h la mode — Vegetable Soup — Author’s directions for beef- tea — Table of French equivalents for the English words denoting fish, as a guide in writing menus — Table showing when fish is in season — Children’s dinner tables — Author’s receipt for cheap, nutritious soup —

The dinner of the working man, and Mr. Atkinson’s suggestions respecting it 297

. • 3"

Chapter I

Importance of proper selection and preparation of food — Improper feeding common among all classes, and at all periods of life — The purpose and the elements of food — To repair the waste of the body, to maintain the animal heat, and provide a store of energy for activity — I. The proteids, or nitrogenous elements — 2. The hydro-carbons, or fats — 3. Carbo-hydrates — 4. Inorganic elements : water, various salts — All these obtainable from animal and vegetable kingdoms — Comparison between elements derived from the two sources — Difference between digestive organs in animals eating only vegetables and those consuming animal food also — Man accustomed to “ a mixed diet ” — In some regions can live only on animal food — Climate decides proportion of animal food necessary — Few persons can live solely on vegetables in temperate zone — Mixed diet of monkey tribes — Personal peculiarities in diet — Desirable to utilize all sources of food from both kingdoms.

I THINK I shall not be far wrong if I say that there are few subjects which deserve more choice of careful study by man than the selection fmportant and preparation of his food. Our fore- study, fathers in their wisdom have provided, by ample and generously endowed organizations, for the dissemination of moral precepts in relation to human conduct,

H

Food and Feeding.

and for the constant supply of sustenance to meet the cravings of religious emotions common to all sorts and conditions of men. In these provisions no student of human nature can fail to recognize the spirit of wisdom and a lofty purpose. But it is not a sign of ancestral wisdom that so little thought has been bestowed on the teaching of what we should eat and drink ; or on the relations necessarily existing not only between food and a healthy population, but between food and a virtuous life.

Indeed, the process of digestion and the influence it exerts on the sources of mental and moral power, have received little attention in any scheme for fitting men and women for the practical duties of life. No doubt the truth has long been accepted, at all events by intelligent persons, that a man’s temper, and consequently the character of his actions, often depend on the contingency whether what he eats has been properly converted into healthy material, suitable for the ceaseless work of building up muscle The relation and brain. But the truth of that fact character. extent at all comparable with its exceeding importance. It produces no practical result on the habits of men in the least degree commensurate with the claim it has to be believed and acted upon. For it is certain that an adequate practical recognition of the value of proper food to the individual in maintaining a high standard of health, in prolonging healthy life (the prolongation of between food and has never been generally admitted to an i5

Its Influence in Childhood.

unhealthy life being small gain either to the individual or to the community), and thus largely promoting cheerful temper, prevalent good nature, and improved moral tone, would achieve almost a revolution in the habits of a large part of the community.

The general outlines of a man’s mental character and physical tendencies are doubtless influence of largely determined by the impress of racerace and family. That is to say, the scheme of the building, its characteristics and dimensions, are inherited ; but to a very large extent the materials and filling in of the individual’s framework depend, in regard to their quality, upon his food Influence

and training. By the latter term may of food and , , , ,, , , , training,

be understood all that relates to mental

and moral and even to physical education, assumed to be fairly provided for, and not to be considered here. No matter, then, how consummate the scheme of the architect, nor how vast the design, more or less of failure to rear the edifice results when the materials are ill chosen or for the most part unworthy to be used. Other sources of failure there may be which it is no part of my business to note ; but the influence of food is not only itself cardinal in rank, but, by priority of action, is the source of various forces, injurious or the reverse, as the case may be.

A very slight sketch of the course of development observed in the most ordinary types of human life will suffice to illustrate this truth.

To commence, then, I fear it must be admitted that

_ . the majority of British infants are reared

Errors in J

feeding in- on imperfect milk by weak or ill-fed feints

mothers. And thus it follows that ihe signs of feeble vitality, of fretful disposition or of disease, may be observed at a very early age, and are apparent in symptoms of indigestion or in the cravings of want manifested by the “ peevish ” and sleepless child. In circumstances where there is no want of appropriate nutriment, over-feeding or complicated forms of food, suitable only for older persons, produce for another infant troubles which are no less grave than those of the class whose supply is impure or deficient.

In the next stage of life, when infancy has been Children passed and childhood is attained, among often ill-fed, the pOQr> the little one takes his place at the parents’ table, where lack of means, as well as of knowledge, deprives him of food more suitable than the rough fare of the adult, and moreover obtains for him, perchance, his little share of tea, or even of beer or gin. On the whole, perhaps he is not much worse off than the child of the wellto-do, who becomes a pet, and is already familiarized with complex and too solid forms of food, as well as with stimulating drinks, which custom and self-

indulgence have placed on the daily means , ,

frequent in- table. And soon afterwards commence

disposition ; conseqUence — and entirely in conse-

quence, a fact it is impossible too much to emphasize

During Period of Growth. 17

—the “ sick headaches ” and “ bilious attacks,” which

pursue their victim through half a lifetime, to be

exchanged for gout or worse at or before the

grand climacteric. And so common are these evils

that they are regarded by people in general as a

necessary appanage of “poor humanity,” and together

with measles or hooping cough, to be part of the

natural and necessary development of the full-grown

and complete man ! No notion can be

. . most corn-

more erroneous, since it is absolutely true plaints so

that the complaints referred to are selfengendered, form no necessary part of our physical nature, and for their existence are dependent almost entirely on our habits in relation to food and drink. I except, of course, those cases in which hereditary tendency is so strong as to produce certain evils, some special care notwithstanding, exercised on behalf of the unfortunate victim of an ancestor’s self-indulgence. Equally, however, on the part of that little-to-be-revered progenitor were ill-chosen food and drink, or more probably an excessive indulgence in the quantity thereof, the cause of his disease, and not the physical nature of man.

The next stage of boyhood transfers the child just spoken of to a public school, where too

Improper

often insufficient or inappropriate diet, food at at the most critical period of growth, has sch°o1- led to the habit of supplementing the supply from other sources. It is almost unnecessary to say that chief among them are those unsuitable purveyors, the

B i8

Food and Feeding.

pastrycook and the vendor of portable provisions, with their wares of questionable character consumed not at meal times, but at irregular hours. Many an unhappy dyspeptic owes his complaint to a confirmed habit of taking such, or indeed any food in the intervals between regular meals, when the stomach ought to be at rest.

After this period arise the temptations to drink, family, by the father’s example and by the mother’s precept, that wine, beer, and spirits are useful, nay, necessary to health, even for young persons, and that they augment or sustain the strength. And the lessons thus inculcated and too well learned have proved to be the steps which lead to wider experience in the pursuit of health and strength by larger use of the same means. Under such circumstances it often happens, as the youth grows up, that a flagging appetite or a failing digestion habitually demands a dram before or between meals, and that these latter are regarded rather as occasions to indulge in variety of liquor than as repasts for nourishing the body. It is not surprising, with such training, that the true object of both eating and drinking is entirely lost sight of. The gratification of acquired tastes usurps the function of that zest which healthy appetite produces ; and the intention that food should be adapted to the physical needs of the body and the healthy

Early habits of drinking.

among the youth of all classes, whether at beerhouse, tavern, or club. For it has been taught in the bosom of the

Evil of Drinking Habits. 19

action of the mind is forgotten altogether. So it

often comes to pass that at middle age, Evils of

when man finds himself in the full early indigestion thus,

current of life’s occupations, struggling for pre-eminence with his fellows, indigestion has become persistent in some of its numerous forms, shortens his “staying power,” or impairs his judgment or temper. And, besides all this, how apparent it is that few causes are more potent than an incompetent stomach to engender habits of selfishness and egotism. A constant care to provide little personal wants of various kinds, thus rendered necessary, develops the growth of these sentiments, and they influence the man’s whole character in consequence. On the other hand, the poor man, ad- and 0thervancing in years, shows signs of damage wise causedto his constitution from continuous toil with inadequate food, the supply of which is often diminished by his expenditure for beer, which, although mostly noxious, he regards as the elixir of life. Many of this class are prematurely crippled by articular disease, etc., and become permanent inmates of the workhouse.

But abstention from alcohol in all its forms has been of great service, and might be far more largely extended, with incalculable advantage to the community, for the practice is clear and defined. The “total abstainer” means what he says, and does not take his daily or occasional glass of wine or beer unless strongly advised by his doctor, and by no means always then.

Food and Feeding.

But it is necessary to say here, and I desire to “Taste” in say it: emPhatically> that this question of food to be cultivated.

food need not, even with the views just enunciated, be treated in an ascetic spirit. The selection of food is to be considered in relation to a principle, in which we may certainly believe,

An interest- namely> ^at aliments most adapted to

ing- subject develop the individual, sound in body thus studied. J

and mind, shall not only be acceptable

to the palate, but that they may be selected and prepared so as to afford scope for the exercise of a refined taste, and produce a fair degree of an innocent pleasure naturally associated with the act of eating, and derived from a study of the table. For it is certain that most of the results of culinary taste met with in English society until late years, has often been the result of faith without knowledge ; and no more a source of gratification to the eater’s gustatory sense than of digestible sustenance to his body. Food must first be regarded in relation to its value as material to be used for building up and sustaining the activity of that composite structure, the human body, under the varied conditions in which it may be placed. Secondly, the selection of food, and the best modes

2. Modes of of PreParinS ^suiting in the produc-

preparing- tion of “the dish,” a subject of great “a dish.”

extent and importance, must be dealt with so far as the limits of my design will permit. Lastly, the exercise of taste in relation to the i. Uses of food to the body.

Uses of Food. The Proteids.

combining dishes for “ a meal.”

serving of food and drink, or the art of combining dishes to form “ a meal,” must also 3. Art of be considered in relation to various purposes.

We have to consider, first, what constitutes food for man. Its objects are threefold — to repair the daily waste of the body itself, a necessary consequence of life and its activity ; to maintain the natural heat of the body, which, in our climate, must be kept at a temperature many degrees above that of the surrounding media, whether earth, air, or water ; lastly, to provide the means of supplying energy to support an active existence.

For this purpose, fresh elements similar to those of which the body is composed, must be furnished to it in such form and proportions as to repair the loss. Additional elements must be supplied, by the oxidation of which more heat and energy are produced in proportion to the existing demand. All these are only to be obtained through digestion, and must be acquired in response to the instinctive demands of hunger and thirst. These elements are regarded as divisible into four distinct classes, as follows : —

1. The Proteids. — This group contains an essential element for renewing the tissues of the 1. The probody, named “protein,” without which teids: life is impossible, since starvation must take place unless a sufficient quantity is supplied by food. It is a definite compound of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen with nitrogen, but often associated with

Food and Feeding.

a little sulphur and phosphorus also. “ Proteids ” from ani- are f°und hi all animals used as food by

mals '■> man ; and also in many productions of

the vegetable kingdom. We find the proteid element abundantly in lean meat, the muscle of animals, where it is known as “ myosin,” also in the blood and other parts as “ fibrin.” There are, moreover, two modifications of nitrogenous compounds allied to, but not identical with, true proteids, viz. “ gelatin ” and “chondrin,” in bones and cartilage respectively. Proteids are largely present in eggs, forming “albumen,” or what is familiarly known as the “white of eggs ; ” and in milk as “ casein,” the nitrogenous from vegetables.

constituent of cheese.* Again, in wheat, and existing therefore in bread, in smaller proportion as “gluten ;” and in the leguminous seeds (peas and beans) abundantly, as “ legumin,” which is almost identical with “ casein.”

2. The hydro-carbons, or fatty matters, carbon,

2. The hydro- hydrogen, and oxygen, in a certain procarbons. portion, are also necessary for nutrition ;

and these maybe obtained from all animals and some vegetables — those yielding oil, as the olive and some nuts.

3. Carbo-hydrates, also carbon, hydrogen, and

3. The carbo- oxygen, but in different proportions hydrates. from those of the preceding class, not

* It is this nitrogenous element in milk which is separated to form “ Plasmon ” and “ Protene,” made now into various very palatable and nutritious forms of biscuit.

Fats, Carbo-hydrates , Salts. 23

absolutely essential to life like the proteids, although they are most desirable elements of food. They are largely furnished by the vegetable kingdom, consisting chiefly of the starches of all grain, roots, and tubers, with the sugars and the gums ; in milk they exist as milk sugar, or “ lactose.”

4. Lastly, there are certain products no less essential than the first class, all belonging solely 4. inorganic to the inorganic or mineral kingdom, ^ater" salts, namely, water in large quantity, with desalts of soda, lime, magnesia, potash, phosphorus, iron, and other metals. All these must be present in the food supplied, and are obtained in most forms of food from both animal andvegetable sources(see note,p.4i).

Meantime, as a result of chemical changes which take place in every portion of the body How through the assimilation of all these utIlizedelements, chiefly by oxidation, heat is produced ; while not only the proteids, but also the fatty matters and the carbo-hydrates of our food, as well as the inorganic constituents, are utilized in the repair of wasted tissues.

Thus we may regard the human body as a complex and highly organized machine, adapted A cqmplex to execute work of varied but specific machine, kind, but one which is self-supplying fngandPly by means of food, and also automatically rePairm£- regenerates itself in order to maintain a condition of good repair.

Thus, any material which is competent to supply

Food and Feeding.

these requirements is a complete or perfect food. Examples of complete food exist in milk and the egg, sufficing as these do for all the wants of the young animal during the period of early growth. Nevertheless, a single animal product like either of the two named, although complex in itself, is not more perfect than an artificial combination of various simpler substances, provided the mixture (dish or meal) contains all the elements required in due proportion for the purposes of the body.