Cooking Article

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
albumen
mineral substances
indigestible substances.

The digestible food elements are often grouped
according to their chemical composition
into three classes; vis.
carbonaceous
nitrogenous
and inorganic. The carbonaceous class includes starch
sugar
and fats; the nitrogenous
all albuminous 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 constituents 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 substitute for them. Albumen is found in its purest
uncombined state in the white of an egg
which is almost wholly composed of albumen. 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 albumen
and are so closely allied to it that for convenience they are usually classified under the general name of "albumen." 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 class.

Fats are found in both animal and vegetable foods. Of animal fats
butter 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 butter
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 quantity; 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 furnishing 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 constitute 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 quantities 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 constitute 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. 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.