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 OF HOME ECONOMICS 
 
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 YVONNE DE TEEVILLE 
 
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 Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis bool< is in 
 tlie Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924001868896 
 
POOD PRODUCTS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE WORLD 
 
 BY /WARY E. GREEN. M. D. 
 
 Member of the Amebican Medical Association. 
 
 Member of the Jury of Awards on Food 
 
 Products, World's Columbian 
 
 Exposition. 
 
 SIXTH EDITION 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 THE HOTEL WORLD 
 
 ^y. 
 
Copyrighted, 1895, 
 
 By MARY E. GREEN, M. D. 
 
To MY FHIKND AND TEACHES, 
 MISS JXJLIET CORSON, 
 
 THE FLKST WOMAN IK AMEHICA TO EtEVATE COOKERY TO THE 
 
 DIGNITY OF A SCIENCE AND THE BEAUTY OF AN ART, 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 There is no more important factor in the successful conduct of 
 the household than a knowledge of the composition of foods and 
 their dietetic value, and no greater aid to the housewife in this 
 direction has ever before been published. 
 
 The working housekeeper is unconsciously a practical chemist, 
 for unless she has some knowledge of the substances which she 
 combines in various dishes she may produce some poor results 
 from excellent materials. There is quite a goodly aggregate of in- 
 formation floating through the culinary air; this cook knows a little, 
 that one, a bit more; and the better a cook is the less she is likely 
 to know about the chemistry of foods. She may know that a little 
 i^yga^ or vinegar added to a soup or sauce that is too salt willl 
 modify the taste, but she probably does not know the reason why.j 
 She never has time to learn why things result as they do, but must 
 learn from her more intelligent compeers or from her mistress just 
 such facts as are stated in this book concerning the properties of 
 foods and their nutritive value. In this respect this book may be- 
 come a mine of knowledge to the cook and an incentive to better 
 work. 
 
 To the average half -trained cooking teacher it wiU indeed be 
 useful, supplying her with the practical knowledge not found in 
 other text books, for I do not know of one which covers the ground 
 so thoroughly as this. Written by a woman who possesses a med- 
 ical and chemical knowledge of foods, their properties and their re- 
 lation to health, and who is also a skilled housewife, the value of 
 the book is self evident. 
 
 Dr. Green has a professional record that many men might envy. 
 She has conducted a successful practice ever since her graduation 
 from the Woman's Medical College in Philadelphia in 1868, has long 
 been a member of the American Medical Association, and was unan- 
 imously chosen to serve upon the Jury of Awards on Food Products 
 at the World's Columbian Exposition. I am glad that I had the ad- 
 
INTEODUCTION. v. 
 
 vantage of being associated with her in the work of judging food 
 products at the World's Pair. Dr. Green's scientific record, her 
 practical experience in the art of alimentation, her professional ap- 
 plication of the science of dietetics to the emergencies of every day 
 life, have wonderfully fitted her for the work she has undertaken in 
 this book. 
 
 No public library is complete without this book; no housekeeper 
 can afford to be without it; no cook capable of comprehending what 
 she reads can fail to receive great benefit from its study. It should 
 be indispensable to the great army of club women, scattered all 
 over this broad land, who are just now beginning to study house- 
 keeping and the science of foods. 
 
 %M-^2>j&-yi/ 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The subject matter in. this book was originally published in, a 
 series of magazine articles begun just after the close of the World's 
 Columbian Exposition. The fact that at the Exposition was 
 gathered the most complete and cosmopolitan array of food pro- 
 ducts ever displayed is sufficient apology for the frequent allusions 
 made to these exhibits throughout the book. 
 
 In some instances seemingly undue importance has been given 
 to the consideration of certain foods, namely, condiments, vegetable 
 oils, and mushrooms. In regard to condiments the literature ex- 
 tant is both scanty and inaccessible, notwithstanding the fact that 
 they are deemed a necessity in every household and have been, 
 owing to their antiseptic and aromatic properities, valuable articles 
 of culinary use since the earliest of historic periods. In no country 
 are vegetable oils superior to those of the United States produced, 
 and Americans are but slowly learning their value for culinary and 
 table use; while mushrooms, because of their high nutritive value 
 and the ease with which they may be cultivated, deserve to rank 
 among our staple foods. 
 
 Effort has been made to so demonstrate the hygienic and nutri- 
 tive values of foods that the book may meet the needs of that large 
 body of housekeeping women who have neither time nor sufficient 
 energy to delve into purely scientiflo works on this subject and yet 
 who feel that a knowledge of food values is indispensable in the 
 preparation of dietaries for their families. The housekeeper who 
 understands nothing of the chemical processes that occur in the 
 sanctuary called a kitchen is simply a slave to her receipt book. 
 The housekeeper who does, whUe giving due honor to the writers of 
 recipes, may in emergencies become wholly independent of them. 
 
 For valuable aid in the preparation of this work I wish to ac- 
 knowledge my indebtedness to the writings of Dr. Edward Smith, 
 Pavy, Sir Henry Thompson^ Whitehead, Goodfellow, Dr. Doran, 
 Theodore Childs, Johnston, Youmans, and W. O. Atwater. 
 
 M. E. G. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Brief resume of the exhibition of foods at the World's Columbian 
 Exposition— The Agiicultural Building— The importance of agri- 
 culture and food production 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Food and its properties — The evolution of cookery— Proper conserva- 
 tion of food products— Definition of food— Classification of nutritive 
 elements by Dunglison, Prout, and Li ebig— Latest classification: 
 protein, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, and water f 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Meats — The use of meats by aboriginal man— Their importance in 
 the ancient civilizations — The boar's head and peacock— Nutritive 
 values of different meats: beef, veal, mutton, and pork— Exhibit 
 of meat at the Columbian Exposition — The American packing 
 houses 15 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Preservation of meat by drying- Aboriginal and Indian methods- 
 Jerked beef, tasajo, and pemmican — Modern method of drying 
 beef— Dried or summer sausages— Exhibits of dried meats at the 
 Columbian Exposition 23 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Preservation of meat by salting and curing— Value of salt as a pre- 
 servative — Chemical action of salt upon meat— Modem methods: 
 immersion in brine, packing in dry salt, dry curing, dry salting, 
 and smoking— Exhibits of salted and cured meats 31 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Preservation of meat by heating and canning— Processes used by M. 
 Appert, de Heine, "Wertheimer, and the modern canning factory — 
 The canned meat industry of America, Europe, and Australia— Ex- 
 hibits at the Columbian Exposition— Preservation of meat by cold, 
 by coating with fat, by pickling, by various chemicals 33 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The economy and advantage of utilizing offal— The boar's head, 
 sweet-breads, heart, liver, kidneys, ox tails, ox lips and ox palates, 
 tripe, lungs, and blood— Commercial value of offal 43 
 
tui contents. 
 
 CHAPTER Vni. 
 
 ■Wild fowl and the history of its domestication— Nutritive value of 
 poultry and game— Flavor of the meat influenced by diet, e. g., 
 canvasback duck, ptarmigan, Congo chicken, etc.— The unwhole- 
 someness of "ripened" or "gamey" fowl— Pate de foie gras— Ex- 
 hibits at Columbian Exposition from Siam, Germany, France, 
 Russia, England, South America, and the United States 17 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Fisheries building and aquaria exhibits at the Columbian Ex- 
 position—Dietetic value of fish— Exhibits of dried and preserved 
 fish from all countries- Fish delicacies: caviare, cods' tongues and 
 sounds, sardines, anchovies, roe, fish bouillon— Squid and cuttle- 
 fish— Sea-weed— The United States Department of Fisheries 55 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Food value of shell-fish— lobster, crab, crawfish, shrimp, and prawn- 
 Oyster, clam and mussel— Periwinkle, cockle, scallop, limpet, and 
 whelk— Shell-fish as known to the Greeks and Romans— History of 
 the oyster and oyster culture — Oyster culture in England, France, 
 Germany, Spain, Holland, and America— Nutritive value of the 
 oyster— Nutritive value of the turtle— Green turtle— Terrapin— Ex- 
 hibits at the Columbian Exposition 67 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Dietetic value of soups— The soup of Count Rumford— Bouillon— Con- 
 somme — Puree— Bouill-abaisse — ^MuUagatawny, and others— Nutri- 
 tive value and composition of meat extracts— American and foreign 
 extracts compared— Exhibits of soups and extracts at Columbian 
 Exposition 79 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Condiments, their ancient and mediaeval usage — Their hygienic 
 value— Vegetable aromatics: clove, cinnamon, cassia-bud, pimento, 
 nutmeg, mace, cardamon, pepper, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, 
 grains of Paradise, anise, dill, caraway, basil, chervil, celery, fennel, 
 bay-leaves, summer savory, parsley, thyme, sage, sweet marjoram, 
 mint, tarragon, onion, leek, garlic, saHron, capers, turmeric, curry 
 powder — Pungent aromatics: mustard, horse radish, ginger, 
 chillies — Salt— Pastes and essences of shrimp, lobster, bloater, an- 
 chovy, etc.— Pickles of cucumber, olive, samphire, etc.— Sauces: 
 chutney, Tabasco, Worcestershire, ketchup, carachi, cassareep, 
 and soy— Flavors of almond, tonka bean, vanilla, chocolate, 
 lemon, orange, etc.— Acids: vinegar, lime juice, and verjuice— Cor- 
 dials: Curacoa, Noyau, Ratafia, anisette, kummel, absinthe. Char- 
 treuse, Maraschino, etc.— Exhibit of condiments and spices at the 
 Columbian Exposition 83 
 
CONTENTS. U 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Milk, a perfect and universal food— Its usage by different nations- 
 Chemical composition— Both quality and quantity of the milk of 
 animals afiected by the character of their diet— Necessity of clean 
 surroundings, pure water, and proper food for cows— Milk as a 
 medium of infection— Changes due to bacteria— The value of steril- 
 ization— Koumiss— Matzoon— Condensed milk 109 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Butter, the antiquity of its manufacture and usage— The modern 
 dairy farm— Dairy methods of Holland and Scandinavia— Flavor 
 and keeping qualities due to bacteria— The poor, mainly the vic- 
 tims of inferior buttei^Butter used in public institutions usually 
 inferior 117 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Nutritive value and digestibility of cheese— Necessity of bacterial 
 ferments in its manufacture— Varieties due to the development of 
 certain bacteria— Commercial value— The cheese-making nations- 
 Varieties : Cheddar, Cheshire, Double Gloucester, Banbury, Stilton, 
 Gorgonzola, Cachio Cavallo, Parmesan, Roquefort, Gruyere, Port 
 du Salut, Brie, Camembert, Neufcbatel, Gouda, Edam, Limburger, 
 Lipton, Schweitzer, Ulmetzer, Tyrolean, American cheese 123 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Butterine— History of experiments leading to its manufacture— Its 
 nutritive and hygienic value compared with that of butter— Chem- 
 ical composition—Process of making — Its value in institutions and 
 to the poor— Governmental legislation against its manufacture 131 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Oil as a nutrient— Vegetable oils, their origin and process of manu- 
 facture—Oils from the olive, cotton-seed, peanut, turnip-seed, palm, 
 cocoanut, and cocoa-bean— Exhibits of culinary oils at the Colum- 
 bian Exposition 139' 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Cereals, the largest food crops of the world— Nutritive values of dif- 
 ferent cereals— Antiquity of wheat culture— Its usage by Egyptians, 
 Chinese, Swiss Lake Dwellers, and Romans— Com, its nutritive 
 value— Its culture by the ancient Peruvians, by the Indians and 
 modem races— Barley— Legend concerning its origin— Its usage 
 by the ancient races, by the modem Scotch and Japanese— Oats- 
 Millet— Rye— Buckwheat— Rice, the food grain of the Orient— Nutri- 
 tive value and usage by the Oriental nations 149 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Bread and macaroni— Bread of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks. 
 Romans, Welsh— Bread of primitive and savage peoples— Bread of 
 Sweden, Lapland, Iceland, and Russia — Chemical composition of 
 various cereal flours— Superiority of wheaten flour due to the 
 gluten contained — Chemistry of bread making— Yeast, its origin 
 and chemical properties— Leavened, salt-rising, aerated, germ, 
 *'Boston brown," and graham, bread — Adulterants of flour — Maca- 
 roni, the bread of the Italian — History of usage and process of man- , 
 ufacture— Vermicelli, spaghetti, and pastes— Exhibits at the Colum- 
 bian Expositioa 163 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Edible fungi— A nutritious and concentrated food— Nutritive value 
 compared with that of other foods — Common meadow mushroom — 
 Fairy ring mushroom— Giant puff ball— Morels— Truffles— Methods 
 of mushroom culture — Exhibits at Columbian Exposition 179 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 The legumes— Bean — Soy bean— Pea— Chickpea— Lentil — History of 
 their cultivation— OUa podrida 187 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The tubers and succulent roots— Origin and history of culture— White 
 and sweet potatoes — ^Yam — Salep — Taro — ^Jerusalem artichoke — Ar- 
 rowroot—Sweet and bitter cassava — Turnip, carrot, and other suc- 
 culent roots 193 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Salads and salad plants— The hygienic value of salads — The salads 
 of ancient and mediaeval times— The bitter herbs of the Passover 
 feasts — The Roman salad — Oriental salads— Lettuce— Endive — Cel- 
 ery — Water cress— Sorrel— Spinach— Cabbage— Onion— Leek— Gar- 
 lic— Chives, and others 805 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Fruits and Nuts— History of fruit culture— Fruits of Elizabethan 
 England— Classification: drupes, berried fruits, pomes and nuts 
 or hard, dry fruits — Orange— Citron— Lemon— Lime — Shaddock or 
 grape fruit — Apple — Pear — Quince — Grape — Raisin — Currant — 
 Gooseberry — Blackberry — Mulberry — Raspberry — Elderberry — 
 Cranberry— Huckleberry or blueberry— Watermelon— Muskmelon— 
 Banana or plantain— Guava— Fig— Pomegranate — Papaw— Cherry — 
 Nectarine— Apricot— Date — Litchi— Mango — Bread-fruit— Tamarind 
 —Pine apple— Medlar— Jaca— Prickly pear— Persimmon— Durian, 
 and others — Acorn — Chestnut — Walnut — Hickory nut — Pecan — 
 Beechnut— Hazel nut— Filbert— Almond— Cocoanut— Brazil nut- 
 Peanut— Bread nut— Pekea nut— Kola nut — Cashew nut— Souari 
 nut— Pistache—Sapucaya— Candle nut— The fruitarian theory, its 
 
CONTENTS. Xi 
 
 strength and weakness— Exhibits at the Columbian Exposition.. . 217 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 The sugars and starches— Cane sugar group— Glucose group— Meli- 
 tose—Glycyrrhiziue—Mycose—Melizitose— Lactose— Maltose— Man- 
 nite— Trehalose — Sorbin — Quercite— Finite— Inosite— Saccharine- 
 Honey — Cane sugar — Beet sugar— Maple sugar— Sorghum— Palm 
 sugar — Glucose or starch sugars-Grape sugar— Exhibits at the 
 Columbian Exposition— Starches of wheat, maize, potatoes, rice, 
 arrowroot, cassava, and sago palm 239 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE IMPORTANCE OF AGKICULTUBE AND FOOD 
 PRODUCTION. 
 
 ''HE great achievement of the minds who con- 
 ceived, builded and gave to the people the 
 World's Columbian Exposition was both the 
 magnitude of the whole project and its per- 
 fection. In scope it was limit-defying and 
 yet of wonderful completeness. The large 
 things were perfect and right. As in the sphinxes 
 ^ and portrait-statues of Egjrpt, the only sacrifices 
 made were those of detail, never those of propor- 
 tion. The artists and builders of the nineteenth 
 century learned well these principles, dim though 
 they appear in the shadowy perspective of the past, 
 and if detail has been subordinated to mass or here 
 and there lost sight of, the value of the whole has 
 been but slightly reduced. This exposition will 
 remain as the most perfect lesson ever written for 
 the learning of man prior to the dawn of the 
 twentieth century. Books are made and being 
 made; the press of this whole land has been and still is enlisted in 
 the service of the thought awakened. The Art Gallery has been 
 the free l8»ce of scores of writers; the Liberal Arts building the 
 
2 FOOD FKODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 mine and treasure-house of a universe of artisans; woman has been 
 discovered, re-discovered and then discovered again; Izaak Walton, 
 revivified, has been set up as the deity of the Fisheries building; 
 the oil of sentiment, full measure, has been poured upon the 
 stormy waters of far-away La Babida; the sea, earth and air have 
 verily given up their secrets and their deities of trident and thunder- 
 bolt are with us again. 
 
 On account of this immensity and completeness certain exhibits 
 at the great fair were more popular than others, while even a 
 casual visitor could not fail to observe that some received less at- 
 tention than their absolute merit warranted. This was, usually, 
 because the importance of these exhibits was too lightly estimated, 
 or because their place, with its meed of honor, was not fully estab- 
 lished in our world of industry. Perhaps on this latter account 
 one building received somewhat less than its share of appreciation, 
 although its exhibits have been pronounced by authorities as rela- 
 tively more complete than any on the grounds. I refer to the 
 Agricultural building. Common-place? Perhaps, perhaps not. The 
 majority of exposition visitors, limited in point of time and matter 
 of money, rushed headlong through exhibits, pell-mell, helter- 
 skelter, attracted chiefly by whatever savored of sentimentalism, 
 amusement and excitement. What could not be described by one 
 of these terms was quite likely to be set down as common-place, 
 and for this reason we heard comparatively little of our agricultural 
 and food exhibition. Though a legion of visitors, interested and 
 amazed, passed through the aisles of the Agricultural building during 
 the summer of 1893 and examined the exhibits, food or food produc- 
 tion unfortunately is not a fad and its champions are strangely 
 silent. The faddists dwell now-a-days in the realms of religion, art 
 and reform, unmindful of the necessity of agricultural interest and 
 thankless for the labor of those who, through the production, preser- 
 vation and scientific preparation of food, have made possible our 
 wealth of science, literature and art. As the Agricultural building 
 stood, during those months of enchantment, immense, strong, un- 
 compromising, facing the inlet waters of beautiful Lake Michigan 
 and the statue of the Republic, bridging the distance between the 
 promise of higher science and artisanship as seen in the Liberal 
 Arts building, and the relics of aboriginal agriculture and cookery 
 in the Anthropological building on the south, so stands the fact of 
 agriculture to-day in our national economy. As the building stood 
 
FOOD PBODUOTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 there, continuing with its columned walls the colonnade over the 
 gateway of the lake, it formed part of the peristyle, and we remem- 
 ber that now no less than in the days of the Greeks did the peris- 
 tyle enshrine a deity; theirs a god of power, ours a deity of liberty, 
 whose being is progress and whose spirit, law. As we saw the walls 
 of this building encircled by figures, bearing in their outstretched 
 arms the signs of the zodiac, we thought again of our agricultural 
 interests, encircled by the heavens and dependent upon their 
 moods and seasons for prosperity. As this building stood, proud, 
 ornamented with groups of sculpture, garlanded with flowers and 
 decorated with pastoral scenes that recall the husbandry of Virgil, 
 so from our food production spring the beauty and grace of our 
 present civilization. Without the productiveness of agriculture 
 our arts and industries could not exist. Without this, perfected by 
 
 science and re- 
 j3^5SSj^-v fined by method, 
 the highest intel- 
 lectual achieve- 
 ments were impos- 
 sible. Agriculture, 
 the science of 
 food - production, 
 is the broad head- 
 land upon which 
 7 the possibilities and successes 
 of the world to-day are an- 
 chored, a headland rocky and 
 stubbornly assertive, perhaps, 
 but overgrown with flowers 
 and from which are springing 
 the forests and giant oaks of 
 the ages to come. 
 
 In walking through the 
 corridors of this Agricultural 
 building, the earth and its 
 nations seem drawn up for 
 martial review. They chal- 
 lenge us and each other, throwing down the gauntlet vrith as 
 sturdy a pride as if it would not be taken up sootier or later in our 
 own versatile America. The history of the older nations, the cus- 
 2 
 
4 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 toms of the new, the social status of all, are revealed as satisfactorily 
 by exhibited food products as by any other means. How do we 
 know that Greece is fallen, that the days of Bomau glory are past 
 and that Egypt is to-day only a nation of donkey-boys? By the 
 nature of their food exhibits. Sardines and sausages were sent from 
 the land of the Capitoline, tobacco from Thessaly and classic Ther- 
 mopolsB; from Egypt, from the land of the Ptolemies and Osiris, 
 nothing but silence. Thus the tales are told. 
 
 Spain, the land of Isabella and Columbus, we see to-day as the 
 great exporting bureau of choicest olive oil and sardines. France, 
 the haven of domestic thrift, comes into view as the home of the 
 mushroom and truffle. England and Scotland contribute superior 
 canned meats and flsh, preserves and condiments. Switzerland, the 
 Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries become better known 
 to us and each other by their dairy products. Russia sends grains, 
 sugars and liquors; Italy cereals, sugars, macaroni and pastes. 
 The countries of the far Bast and the tropics are no less well repre- 
 sented, for here we see the coffee of Arabia, Java and Liberia, the 
 latter exceptionally fine. There is exhibited tea of all grades from 
 Japan and Ceylon, mate from Brazil and Paraguay, chocolate — ah, 
 such chocolate! — from the Isle of Trinidad, and liquors from lands 
 galore. Siam, the country of bamboo, rice and bananas, sends pre- 
 served fruits, superior in some respects to any others on exhibition. 
 India, Persia, Johore, Porto Rico, Jamaica with its sugars and rum. 
 Orange IHree State with its display of fruits, ostrich feathers and 
 diamonds, British Guiana with its sugars, preserves and famous 
 Demarara bitters, Trinidad, the land of asphalt and the cocoa-bean, 
 Curagoa, famous for its native liqueur, — all jostle each other in the 
 democratic medley of an exhibition building. The malt and 
 sausages of Frankfurt, the mineral waters of Carlsbad, stand in 
 friendly proximity to the limes, dates and olives of Tunis; the bon- 
 bons and preserves of Uruguay hobnob with the wool and canned 
 mutton of Australia, and at each turn we come upon some of our 
 own American products, so varied, interesting and profuse. 
 
 Nothing equaling the agricultural displays of our states and 
 territories was ever seen before. The wheat lands of Canada and 
 our own great west sent their contribution in cereals of superior 
 quality and statistics of immense production. Com was there in 
 all its glory of waving leaf and tassel as decoration upon the booths 
 and, in its richness of yellow and white, as the exhibit proper. The 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOBLD. 5 
 
 fruit belts of California, of our middle states, of the south and east, 
 were represented by such displays as would have graced the ban- 
 quet board of an Epicurus. Apples, pears, plums of royal purple 
 and gold were there, grapes worthy to crown the temples of a 
 Bacchus, and oranges from the west and south, the golden apples 
 of our own Hesperides. The forests of New York, the New England 
 states, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio and Canada, sent their product in 
 the form of golden maple syrup and sugar, the extensive sugar-beet 
 industry of Nebraska contributed its share of sweetness, there were 
 vegetables of aU kinds and notably excellent specimens of canned 
 fruits, pickles, jellies and preserves. 
 
 The great packing houses sent their quota of meat — the aston- 
 ishment of foreign nations and a stimulus to an industry already 
 far-reaching and immense. We are reminded of our great Texas 
 pastures, of the sheep ranches of Montana and the west, of the 
 game, big and little, from the Rockies, of our prolific lakes and 
 rivers from the "Big Sea Water" to the tiny mountain trout stream 
 which may be spanned with a step. All these pass before the mind 
 of a thinking visitor and he feels that it is a matter of time rather 
 than climate when in this immense country of the west the best of 
 the agricultural products of all lands will be gathered. No other 
 country possesses so great a variety of climate, and when our arid 
 land is reclaimed by irrigation and our wealth and multitude of re- 
 sources cease to be wasted, it is not too much to promise that all 
 our lands instead of a tiny park will merit the title, "Garden of the 
 Gods." For America picks up the gauntlet that the other nations 
 throw down and assimilates their products to a wonderful degree, 
 as it does their people. 
 
 No opportunity for so complete and perfect a study of the food 
 products of the world has ever been given to the people before. 
 Agriculture and food production, preparation and serving are 
 arriving at last to a vantage ground of their own. They are coming 
 to be recognized as the broad foundation upon which the social and 
 intellectual superstructure of our civilization is based and upon 
 which the quality of our arts and higher ludustries largely depend. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 FOOD AND ITS PEOPEBTIES. 
 
 first and chief demand made by aboriginal 
 man upon the earth and the elements about 
 him was for food; the first, last and most par- 
 ticular requirement of his civilized brother 
 to-day still is that food be supplied him. This 
 is the great common ground on which stand 
 both savage and philosopher. The primitive man, we wiU. suppose, 
 for he left neither legend nor written records to tell us, ate his food 
 at all hours and on all occasions when it was to be procured, when 
 he was hungry, and as there was no positive assurance of a next 
 meal, when satiated as well. To him this food was shelter, compan- 
 iouship and warmth. The starches, sugars and fats which it con- 
 tained supplied fuel to the machinery of his body, giving him 
 warmth and making possible great activity. The flesh-forming ele- 
 ments of his food furnished him with strength and restored the 
 wastes of an active vitality. He ate, it is probable, whatever of meat 
 he could procure and was guided in the selection of non-poisonous 
 herbs and vegetables by the preferences of the animals which he 
 observed. 
 
 The great difference at this stage between man and the animal, 
 for in selection and appropriation their food was much the same, lay 
 in the fact of man's cookery. One author has defined man as a 
 cooking animal, and the comparison is apt. Primitive man, though 
 'at first he ate his food raw, very soon came to improve its flavor by 
 the application of heat, and the next step, after fashioning a weapon 
 with which to Mil his game, was the moulding of a piece of mud or 
 
8 FOOD PBODUCTS OF THE WOBLD, 
 
 clay into a vessel for the cooking of it. At first his food may have 
 been cooked by roasting it directly over the flame, by burying it 
 beneath the coals, or later by boUing it in a pot. He then added 
 herbs and aromatic berries for flavoring and, patting succulent 
 roots into the pot, made a savory stew. Again, by the addition of 
 more liquid and longer cooking a soup, excellent, I have no doubt, 
 was the result. And all the invention of modern cookery has been 
 unable to improve in point of healthf ulness, nutrition and economy, 
 
 upon the method used by 
 aboriginal man, the slow boil- 
 ing of meat in a clay pot over 
 a Are. The whole science of 
 cookery is coming back at 
 last to something like that 
 one simple process, excepting 
 ' in cases where nutritious and 
 economical diet is not the 
 Cliff-dwellers' Cooking Pots. thing demanded. People in 
 
 this age require composite cookery and among certain classes the 
 demands of a cloyed sense and a satiated appetite have created most 
 elaborate and useless dishes. 
 
 Now for health's sake we are awakening to the value of primi- 
 tive methods again. We are suddenly discovering that a got of clay, 
 the outer surface of which is roughened, requires less heat and re- 
 tains it more easily than if of smooth surface. This fact we publish 
 as of special benefit to dwellers in high altitudes. But we presently 
 learn that archseologists are bringing to light similar pots used 
 three, perhaps five thousand years ago by the cliff-dwellers of Colo- 
 rado, and our self-complacency silently steals away. The Boston 
 baked bean pot is almost duplicated by those found in the mummy 
 pits of Ancon, Peru, and, if their ghastly proximity to lower maxil- 
 lary bones, femurs and skulls could be forgotten, it is easy to imag- 
 ine that beans cooked in them would have a flavor superior to those 
 cooked in the well-cured pots of antipodal Boston. The same simple 
 and perfect methods of cookery are used by all primitive people^ 
 whether of past ages or of to-day, as the excavated burial mounds of 
 America, of England and of other countries go to prove by means 
 of the cooking utensUs found in them. The uncivilized nations of 
 to-day can teach us many a needed lesson wherever they may be 
 visited, be they the Indians of North or South America, the savages 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 of the South Sea Islands, or the Savannah and Arrawac tribes of 
 British Guiana. The cooking vessels of aboriginal nations are of no 
 small value to the archaeologist in determining the plane of civiliza- 
 tion upon which these peoples rested, and are important links in 
 the chain of development whose last link compasses the modern 
 science, or better, the modern art of cookery. The elaboration of 
 dishes, often to a senseless and unhealthful degree, is peculiar to 
 what we term civilized man. Food, and, usually, whether it can be 
 afforded or not, elaborate food is to-day our main requirement. 
 Our cooks, despots that many of them often are, receive as great 
 salaries as our statesmen, and the mysteries of certain combinations 
 of foods are guarded as carefully by the chefs who possess them as 
 ever were the secrets of an imperial regime. 
 
 Pood, to arrive at a definition, is that substance which is capable 
 of sustaining an organism in a state of health and is that which 
 makes possible the continuing existence of all forms of life, both 
 animal and vegetable. In its relation to the human body, food is 
 the means by which the waste of the system is restored, its energies 
 made effective and a healthy condition maintained. Neither one 
 food nor a small number, merely, is sufficient to preserve health for 
 any length of time. As many elements are demanded by the system, 
 more than a limited number of foods are required. Some foods con- 
 tain a large proportion of the flesh-forming elements, others a greater 
 proportion of elements which are starchy or heat-producing. 
 
 One of the most valuable contributions of science to the non- 
 scientific world has 
 
 been the analyses 
 made of our food pro- 
 ducts. The results of 
 such investigation are 
 continually changing 
 their vantage ground 
 and the last score of 
 years has recognized 
 principles and proven 
 theories that were for- 
 merly discredited or From Mummy Pits of Peru. 
 unknown. The object of these analyses has been to determine the 
 proportion of nutrient and non-nutrient elements in all foods, and 
 by the aid of this knowledge to better our systems of diet. 
 
10 FOOD PEODtCTS OP THE WORLD, 
 
 • Poods are considered in these articles in a purely objective 
 sense and are treated in much the same unpretentious way in which 
 they were exhibited at the Fair. Not their properties but the foods 
 themselves are classifled; as simply, perhaps unscientifically, as they 
 were shown by the exhibitors, ranged in rows upon shelves, placed 
 in show cases, hung on hooks or stuffed into bags and boxes. These 
 foods are most naturally classifled, therefore, as follows: meats 
 (fresh and preserved), poultry and game, fish and sea-foods, butter, 
 butterine and cheese, vegetables, cereals (natural and prepared 
 forms), sugars, fruits, condiments, and beverages. However, a dis- 
 cussion of these foods to be of any value must rest upon a scientific 
 classification, one considering their properties. In this way their 
 value to the human economy will be more easily considered and the 
 treatment of them will be of more practical use than otherwise. By 
 such means alone may the relative nutrition of certain foods be es- 
 tablished and their value determined. 
 
 Just at this point it may be of interest to compare two or three 
 of these classifications of food properties, all valuable, though estab- 
 lished on widely differing bases. Dunglison, an accepted medical 
 aiuthority, classifies foods, in regard to their properties, as follows: 
 (1) Feculaceous or starchy (potato, cereals, legumes); (2) mucilagi- 
 nous (carrot, beet, etc.); (3) saccharine (sugar, raisin, etc.); (4) acidu- 
 lous (orange, currant, etc.); (5) oleaginous and fatty (cocoa, olive 
 and almond oils, animal fat, butter, etc.); (6) caseous (milk, cheese); 
 (7) gelatinous (tendon, skin, cellular texture, etc.); (8) albuminous 
 (brain, nerve, eggs, etc.); (9) fibrinous (fiesh and blood). Dr. Prout 
 siiaplifled this lengthy analysis into four divisions: the aqueous or 
 watery, saccharine or sweet, oleaginous or oily, and albuminous, as 
 white of egg. liebig still further simplified and changed this, 
 dividing foods into two great classes: the nitrogenized or plastic ele- 
 ments of nutrition, comprising vegetable fibrin, vegetable albumin, 
 vegetable casein, fiesh and blood; and the non-nitrogenized elements, 
 or those of respiration, comprising fat, starch, gum, cane sugar, 
 grape sugar, sugar of milk, pectin (vegetable jelly), bassorin (a 
 starchy substance), wine, beer and spirits. The former class fur- 
 nish nutrition to organized tissue, while the latter, Liebig consid- 
 ered, are burnt in respiration, furnishing heat. 
 
 The chief point of difference between these and that classifica- 
 tion which has finally come to be considered authoritative is the 
 recognition of a substance called protein. The existence of this 
 
FOOD PKODXICTS OF THE WORLD. 11 
 
 substance was for many years disputed. Webster's dictionary of 
 1877 says of it: "The theory of Mulder is doubted and denied by 
 many chemists, and also the existence of protein as a distinct sub- 
 stance;" and a quotation from Gregory, following the definition, 
 reads, "The theory of protein cannot be maintained." However, it 
 is now recognized as the basic element of animal and vegetable 
 fibrin, albumin, casein and gluten. The word itself is derived from 
 the Greek verb, meaning "I take first rank;" and is found in the 
 lean or muscular part of meat, the white of egg, in cheese, and in 
 wheat, in the latter being the gluten which is developed in the 
 kneading of dough and which is specially valuable in the manufact- 
 ure of macaroni. Protein is also contained in the "stock" used for 
 soups, being the gelatinous substance extracted from bone and 
 tendon by boiling them. The sugars and starches together, which are 
 closely allied in chemical composition, are designated by latest 
 authority carbohydrates, so called because they are composed of 
 carbon atoms, mingled with a variable proportion of hydrogen and 
 oxygen atoms. The most common of these are the granulated sugar 
 (seen upon our tables) and the starch used in the kitchen for cookery 
 and in the laundry. The granulated sugar belongs to a large group 
 called cane-sugars, comprising the products of the sugar-cane, the 
 sugar-beet, the sugar-maple, honey, the sugar of milk and a crystal- 
 line sugar, obtained from starch, called malt. The sugar of the 
 grape and other fruits and that called dextrose, obtained from 
 starch (usually com-starch) by the action of warmth and acids, are 
 members of the glucose group of carbohydrates. Starch is the 
 principal member of the cellulose group, so called because the 
 starch granules are contained in a cellular structure (also starchy 
 in composition) called cellulose. Gum, a vegetable substance, is 
 another of the carbohydrates as is also dextrine, a substance 
 obtained from starch by means of dilute acids and which forms the 
 basis of an excellent mucilage, "the only kind fit for an editor's 
 desk." The oils and fats form another group and the properties 
 remaining are water and mineral matters. Of the latter, phosphate 
 of lime and chloride of sodium, as our common salt is known chem- 
 ically, are the most important. 
 
 The following table is in a convenient form for reference and 
 may be considered authoritative until modified, as all former ones 
 have been, by subsequent discoveries. It is based upon the latest 
 investigations of science, notably those made at various experi- 
 
12 FOOD PRODUCTS OP THE WOBLD. 
 
 mental stations, located in the United States under the auspices of 
 the goverameut: 
 
 I. Protein -i 
 
 {Myosin (lean) of meat. 
 ^S^^fl^lf;'^""'''*"- • 
 Gluten of wheat, peas, beans, etc. 
 
 nM^+jv-^s/io 5 Ossein (tissue) of bone. 
 Oelatmoids | QoVLagen (glutinous basis) of tendon. 
 
 IL CABBOH'SrDBATES 
 
 Cane-sugar 
 group 
 
 Meat extractives. 
 
 'Sugar beet. 
 Sucrose Sugar maple, 
 or -< Date-palm, 
 
 cane-sugar Sorghum, 
 
 l^ Honey, etc. 
 Lactose or milk-sugar, contain- 
 ing galactose. 
 Maltose or malt-sugar. 
 
 mnnnHB ( Dextrose or grape sugar. 
 Wnirn 1 Levulose or fruit sugar, 
 group ^ Galactose or milk sugar. 
 
 i Starch. 
 Dextrine (obtained from starch). 
 Gum. 
 Cellulose or woody fibre of plants. 
 
 C Fats of meat. 
 III. Pats \ Oils of milk, butter, olive, nuts, vegetables (wheat, cot 
 ( ton seed, etc.). 
 
 IV. Minerals 
 
 V. Water. 
 
 ( Chloride of sodium (salt). 
 
 \ Calcium phosphate (phosphate of lime) and others. 
 
 The analysis given is self-explanatory and indicates at a glance 
 the properties of all those food substaiices which make for the health 
 and activity of the human system. Those possessing protein as a 
 basic element are useful in restoring the wastes of the system and 
 forming the basis of muscular and skin tissue. The fats and carbo- 
 hydrates (sugars and starches) furnish heat and a certain amount 
 of energy, and if more are taken into the system than are daily con- 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 13 
 
 sumed, the surplus passes off as waste material, or may be stored 
 up ia the body for future use. This takes the form of fatty tissue, 
 also of a starchy substance called glycogen, stored up in the liver. 
 
 While both water and mineral matters, particularly salt and 
 phosphate of lime, are necessary to insure a healthy condition of the 
 system, they are not, strictly speaMng, nutritious. 
 
 During the last score of years there has been a widespread 
 and growing interest in the production and proper using of foods. 
 This has come in some degree from the fact that science, in ascer- 
 taining the properties of food, has demonstrated its aggravated mis- 
 use and waste by the average community of people. The question 
 of better facilities for food production was a serious one at the 
 time of the creation of the Department of Agriculture at Washing- 
 ton in 1862. Later, experimental stations have been established in 
 various states, the inspection of milk and certain kinds of meat has 
 been in many states compelled by law, and special legislation is 
 being made from year to year in reference to imitations and adulter- 
 ations. Our supplies of fish and game, which were in danger of 
 being exterminated, are now protected at certain seasons by law 
 and in many ways legislation, a very great assistance to any line of 
 reform, has proved a most efficient stimulus to agricultural interest. 
 An understanding of the proper use of food materials is coming to 
 be considered an educational branch of no small importance, and, 
 in fact, if matters continue as they have begun, the study of food is 
 in danger of becoming a fad. What was accomplished in Germany 
 at the beginning of this century by Benjamin Thompson (Count 
 Rumf ord) in securing a better diet at no greater cost for the men of 
 the Bavarian army, is now being accomplished in America for our 
 army of poor, and in the way of lunches for our army of shop-girls, 
 clerks and students. The soup-Mtcbens established in all our 
 great cities, the cooking classes for the instruction of both rich and 
 poor, indicate a slow gravitation toward more hygienic methods of 
 living. All these influences are proving to an extravagant nation 
 that hygienic and palatable food is usually far from costly, and that 
 fifteen cents, reinforced by brains, may provide a better meal than 
 ten times that amount otherwise. 
 
 No lesson should be more quickly learned by American people 
 than economy in the use of agricultural products and no time was 
 more appropriate for the learning of it than the period of the World's 
 Columbian Exposition. In our United States food products .are so 
 
14 
 
 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 profuse and cheap that wastefuhiess is a temptation. Most foreign 
 nations consider our food waste greatly to our discredit and their 
 : chief message to us is one of thrift. We have taught them better < 
 methods in the production and cultivation of foods, and it is hard 
 to tell which lesson was more needed. As one remembers the wooden 
 plows, the clumsy and immense tools of iron exhibited at the Pair 
 from Siam, Johore, even from many European countries and our 
 own Mexico, then considers the wretched social condition about us, 
 the reckless waste of a cheap and bountiful food supply by the 
 ignorant classes and their corresponding periods of suffering, it 
 seems as if the best cure for both conditions were a world-compari- 
 son of agricultural products and methods. Just such a comparison 
 was made possible by the exhibits gathered under the roof of the 
 Agricultural building during the Columbian Exposition. Not until 
 deductions are made, not until their lessons are learned by all 
 nations, may the triumphal arch of universal brotherhood be reared 
 upon other than an infirm foundation. 
 
CHAPTER m. 
 
 MEATS. 
 
 N ANCIENT ballad of Merrie Eng- 
 land declares to us that all Britons 
 are infallible as long as fed on beef. 
 Whether the baUad was made to fit 
 a still more ancient cnstom, as with 
 many of the Roman legends, or 
 ■ whether the practice of beef -eating gave rise to 
 the ballad, there is no means of ascertaining; but 
 it is no more true of England than of most other 
 nations that their feast songs were always of meat 
 and their drinking songs of wine. Wine flowed 
 freely at the tables in historic days, and vegetables, now so import- 
 ant a part of a meal, were then but a few, poor notes in the song of 
 a classic feast. The boar's head was decked with holly, never the 
 potato, and the sirloin of beef is still regarded in England with all 
 the homage due to a thing of noble lineage. Even the pumpkin of 
 to-day, glorious in the richness and molten gold of its surface, 
 gathered from summer skies as it lay like Danae beneath them; 
 even that takes rank inferior to our strutting, gobbling, national 
 bird, the turkey. One author says: "There is a peerage of meats. 
 It inclades the princely venison, the cardinal ham, the baron of 
 
16 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 beef, aud the knightly sirloin. Every canvas-back duck is a duke, 
 and each saddle of mutton a marquis." 
 
 Here is Dean Swift's description of what constituted an aristo- 
 cratic mid-day dinner of Old England: "Oysters, a Sir Lyon of beef, 
 a shoulder of veal, then flsh which were to be dressed with claret, 
 tongue, pigeons, cowcumbers, fritters, almond pudding and soup. 
 After the soup was removed, venison, pasty black pudding, hare and 
 goose." Small wonder that viands in those days had to be "spiced 
 to the brink" that they might tempt a satiated appetite; small 
 wonder that gout and apoplexy were common disorders among the 
 well-to-do classes, for it was accounted nothing strange that even 
 good Queen Anne should die of the latter disease. 
 
 During the epoch of the Roman republic, peacocks occupied the 
 place of the modem sirloin, and in the middle ages the coarse meat 
 of this bird, far from agreeable to the modern epicure, was consid- 
 ered a luxury and served with great ponp. The costliness of these 
 birds sufficed to immortalize the extravagance of both Vitellius and 
 HeUogabalus, who served dishes composed of their tongues and 
 brains. 
 
 Certain it is that from the time primitive man pulled his first 
 mollusk from the water and ate it raw — from that later time when 
 he captured the cave bear and boiled its shoulders in a clay pot of 
 his own making — down to the gastronomic luxuries of a Careme 
 or a Francatelli, the important article of diet has been meat. 
 Whether the flsh and larvae of the native Australians, the horse- 
 flesh of the Pampas Indians, the reindeer meat of the Laps, the 
 buffalo meat of the North American Indians, or the juicy cut of 
 beef served in a Delmonloo restaurant, man's meal-time enjoyment, 
 be he civilized or uncivilized, wise or unwise, largely depends upon 
 meat. It is eaten by the people of tropical countries as well as by 
 the Siberians and Icelanders, and, generally speaking, those classes 
 which do not consume meat are prevented from so doing either by 
 its scarcity or because of religious or moral belief. There has been 
 an attempt made, I believe, to demonstrate the theory that only 
 those nations whose diet is a mixed one, including meats, ever do 
 valuable service in science or invention. However that may be, it 
 is certainly true that the hest^physical condition is maintained on a 
 mixed diet of which about one-fourth per cent consists of meat. 
 
 There is a large class of people to-day who, under the banner of 
 vegetarianism, discard the use of flesh foods. But, with the excep- 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 17 
 
 tion of the absolutely strict vegetarians, they consume large quanti- 
 ties of very concentrated forms of animal food, namely, milk, cheese 
 and eggs, so characterized by the nitrogenous elements or protein 
 which they contain in abundance. That the theories advocated by 
 the vegetarians are worthy of consideration was proven by the gen- 
 eral interest in the "Vegetarian Congress held in Chicago during the 
 summer of 1893. But their position seems to be rather a protest 
 against the inhumanity of our slaughter pens than against meat 
 per se. The latest investigations of dietetic science demonstrate 
 that the human system cannot be maintained in a state of perfect 
 health on a purely vegetable diet. A glance at the preceding tabu- 
 lation of the properties of food shows that the tissue-building sub- 
 stance or protein is confined almost wholly to animal foods. There 
 is a variable but small proportion found in vegetables, especially in 
 the cereals and legumes, but the amount is so small in these, in 
 proportion to the amount of fats and carbohydrates (sugars and 
 starches) as to be inadequate. Another fact has been demonstrated, 
 both by Professor Atwater and certain German scientists, which is 
 that the tissue-building substance or protein of meat is more digest- 
 ible than that of vegetables. It has been proven by a careful ex- 
 periments that, of the protein contained in beef and other meats, 
 the entire amount taken into the system is assimilated by it; while 
 in the case of vegetables, even considering those richest in protein, 
 beans, peas, oat-meal and cracked wheat, one-third and often more 
 remains undigested^ On account of this variation, any classification 
 of foods in regard to the amount of nutrim^ent which they actually 
 contain without considering the ability of the system to assimilate 
 them is faulty. For, in a diet composed of even those vegetables 
 richest in tissue-building material, the system is put to great waste 
 of energy in eliminating the undigested protein as well as the unas- 
 similated surplus of fats and carbohydrates. H. Newell Martin, 
 professor of biology in Johns Hopkins University, says: "The 
 strict vegetarians who do not employ even such substances as eggs, 
 cheese and milk, but confine themselves to a purely vegetable diet 
 (such as is always poor in proteids), daily take far more carbon than 
 they require, and are to be congratulated on their excellent digest- 
 ions which are able to stand the strain. Those who use eggs, cheese, 
 etc., can, of course, get on very well, since such substances are ex- 
 tremely rich in proteids, and supply the nitrogen needed without 
 the necessity of swallowing the vast bulk of food which must be 
 
18 
 
 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 eaten in order to get it from the plant directly." On the other 
 hand, it is true that too much meat is consumed, generally speaking, 
 by the well-to-do classes, and the vegetarian doctrine is doing valu- 
 able service in favor of a more hygienic system of diet. The happy 
 medium between the two extremes is reached as yet by only a small 
 proportion of people. 
 
 Animal foods may be divided into three classes: meats, eggs, 
 and milk in its various forms, such as butter and cheese. Meats 
 are the flesh products of various domestic animals, giving us beef, 
 veal, mutton and pork; of poultry, of wild game and fowl, of fish, 
 shell-flsh, turtle and other sea-foods. The meats which we consume 
 most largely come from our own domestic animals; they, the most 
 consistent vegetarians of all. The sustenance they derive from the 
 vegetable kingdom, has many elements in common with the ele- 
 ments of their own composition for we recognize both animal and 
 vegetable protein, though widely differing in its proportion to the 
 other elements. At one time it was believed that each element of 
 animal flesh came to it in the same form directly from the vegetable 
 
 kingdom. Liebig, h o w- 
 ever, determined that the 
 animal world had ability 
 to transform one kind of 
 organic substance into an- 
 other and that this was 
 done in the conversion of 
 vegetable substance into 
 animal tissue. It is unnecessary 
 to pursue this reasoning further 
 than to state that the organic mat- 
 ter of the animal world has its 
 source in the organic matter of the vegetable 
 world, and that vegetable food is converted by 
 the animal's processes of digestion into the 
 complex tissue known as meat. For the reason, therefore, that the 
 animal saves mankind a large amount of the labor of convert- 
 ing vegetable into animal tissue, meat is a highly digestible food. 
 When waste of human energy and of undigested portions are con- 
 sidered in the case of man, meat is an economical portion of diet as 
 well. The principal meat both in England and our own country is 
 beef, and the fresh meat exhibited at the World's Columbian Expo- 
 
FOOD PBODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 19 
 
 sition, though limited in quantity, illustrated all the characteristics 
 of the best. 
 
 Beef is in best condition when the animal is from four to five 
 years of age, preferably grass-fattened. Stall-fed animals contain a 
 surplus of fat which, as has already been noticed, is not agreeable 
 nor useful as a food beyond a certain limit. While the prize fat oxen 
 and prime Christmas beeves are very good to look upon they are 
 usually far from becoming an economical food, so much of the fat 
 being unused, or, if eaten, unassimilated. Beef should be firm and 
 dry, presenting some resistance to the touch. A juicy or flabby 
 condition of raw meat indicates unhealthiness of the animal. The 
 color should be a bright red, neither pale nor of a purplish hue, the 
 latter condition indicating that the meat was bruised, not well bled 
 or that the animal was diseased. There should be no odor except- 
 ing a pleasant one. The best meat is marbled, with firm light 
 streaks of fat running through the muscular tissue. Deep yellow 
 fat generally indicates age, or the use of a certain kind of food given 
 for the purpose of fattening. 
 
 Veal is younger beef, but a more expensive and less nutritious 
 meat. The calf is usually slaughtered when from six weeks to nine 
 months old. Dr. Edward Smith is authority for the statement that in 
 England calves are killed when under one month old, beiag consid- 
 ered very choice eating. This was prohibited in Boston in 1855 and 
 is not done now in America unless stealthily. Veal, like the meat 
 of all young animals, such as lamb and sucking pig, is not digested 
 easUy on account of the tenacity of its fibres, rendering it difficult 
 of mastication. It is highly gelatinous containing, however, not 
 a large proportion of protein. 
 
 Mutton, by most persons, is considered of agreeable flavor and 
 requires but mention as it is almost uniformly good in all markets. 
 The best is grain and grass-fattened and is less liable to disease than 
 either beef or pork. However, it is less suitable for persons of very 
 active life than beef. 
 
 Pork is the one condemned meat and has received more abuse, 
 just and unjust, than has ever been heaped upon any other one 
 food, partly due to the religious prejudice by the Jews and Moham- 
 medans against the use of it. Certain foreign countries have legis- 
 lated against the importation of it, particularly that exported from 
 America, and this has had a salutary effect upon the industry. 
 However, it js probable that it was oft^B eoademaed unjustly, and 
 $ 
 
20 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 our American pork is, in general, quite as free from disease as tiie 
 product of any other country. Inspection of it before exportation 
 is now compelled by law in tlie large cities of America, both pork 
 and other meat being subjected to examination by microsoopists. 
 Swine that are kept about slaughter-houses and fed upon ofEal, as 
 is done in many of the small towns, are wholly unfit for food, and 
 pork from such sources ought to be condemned; but the meat of 
 corn-fed hogs from the western prairies is probably as untainted as 
 beef. 
 
 Pork is not health-giving when eaten exclusively or in large 
 quantities, as it is not as nutritious as other meat. It contains but 
 a small proportion of protein — less than one per cent in very fat 
 pork (Atwater), and a far larger proportion of fats than the system 
 can relish or digest. However, it excels all other meats in the facility 
 with which it can be preserved by salting or drying and the finely 
 cured portions are considered quite delicious when properly cooked. 
 Swinton tells us that a favorite meat of the old Bomans was young 
 pork. JBacqn is coming to be advocated by dietetists as a valuable 
 food for young children and for invalids. It is both appetizing and 
 easy of digestion and can be taken when such foods as veal, pork in 
 other forms or even new potatoes, could not be digested. \ 
 
 These meats were exhibited at the exposition, but, owing to the 
 diflBculty and great expense of shipping a long distance, they were 
 exhibited in a fresh state only by the American packing-houses. It 
 was a source of regret that foreign countries were unrepresented in 
 this respect, but there is no reason to suppose that America would 
 have suffered by any comparison. The exhibit was not large and 
 was contained in one immense refrigerator car, through the glass 
 sides of which could be seen splendid prime beef, hung in quarters; 
 also veal, pork and mutton. Pipes within the car, covered thickly 
 with hoar frost, showed the air to be cold, untainted and dry. The 
 meat was thus kept through the hot summer months almost as fresh 
 as when first placed on exhibition. 
 
 The method of taking care of meats so that, when prepared, 
 they may be put on the market in their most attractive, cleanly and 
 healthful form, has been scientifically studied by the great packing- 
 houses of America, notably those of Armour, Swift, Cudahy, Libby, 
 McNeill and Libby, North Packing company. Nelson Morris and a 
 few others. 
 
 It is universally conceded that such meat is far more healthful, 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 21 
 
 iu general, than that prepared in small cities and towns. Such an 
 industry naturally is and rightfully should be carried on in large 
 headquarters, and it were far better, so far as health is concerned, 
 did the dwellers in coxmtry districts depend more largely upon 
 them for their meat supply. Every operation in a large packing- 
 house is based upon some scientific reason and is conducted with 
 great cleanliness and perfection of system. Meat slaughtered after the 
 Jewish custom, the requirements for which date back to the Mosaic 
 law, is regarded by many as superior to that of Ihe ordinary mark- 
 ets. Though the great packing-houses adopt a method far more 
 humane, their care, system and cleanliness are even greater. Such 
 system, reinforced by the microscopic inspection regularly carried on 
 in every such house, renders their products thoroughly excellent. 
 More than any other institution they are responding to the de- 
 mands of the people for wholesome food in a way in which Americans 
 may justly take pride. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PRESERVATION OF, MEAT BY DRYING. 
 
 ^HEBE is a quality inherent in all 
 food which under natural conditions 
 renders it changeable and perish- 
 able. The properties of aU aliment- 
 ary substances are susceptible of 
 change. The atmosphere which sur- 
 rounds us comes in contact with 
 every substance; unless removed or 
 excluded, as when in a vacuum, 
 through the agency of unnatural 
 means. It contains germs which are 
 always active, paying "with eternal 
 vigilance" the price of their victories, 
 and whose mission is the destruction 
 of aU organic substances. These are 
 the active causes of the change known as decomposition. To pre- 
 vent such change, various means have been devised for keeping 
 food from putrefaction and in a wholesome condition. These 
 methods are known as drying, salting, chilling, heating, canning, 
 coating with gelatine or fat for the exclusion of air, and the use of 
 chemicals. 
 
 Drying was undoubtedly the first method used for keeping meat 
 
24 FOOD PKODUOTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 in a wholesome state, and was practiced in pre-historic times by the 
 earliest races of mankind. After returning from the chase and par- 
 taking of a feast, precursor of the modern "game dinner," satiated 
 man pondered while he digested. Without a doubt he earnestly de- 
 sired to preserve the unused game from decay that he might have 
 sufficient for periods of famine, inclement weather or when on the 
 long marches customary with nomadic peoples. His perceptive 
 faculties were at that time sufficiently acute to perceive that meat, 
 cooked, was longer preserved than meat in a raw state. Thus the 
 earliest method of preserving meat is known to have been by slowly 
 drying it over a fire, either upon sticks or upon frames made from 
 the twigs of trees. By this slow method of heating and drying, the 
 non-nutrient juices of the meat were evaporated. The product 
 of such a method-is to-day called "jerked meat." If this meat, after 
 being dried, is pounded until dessicated it is called pemican or 
 pemmican. In some of the South American states it is called 
 charqui and in Uruguay and Nicaragua, tasajo. Meat still con- 
 tinues to be dried in this primitive way in nearly all countries; not, 
 however, by the most progressive classes. In America, drsdng is 
 effected chiefly by heat alone, thpugh often aided by the sunshine 
 and air. Drying wholly by the action of the air is a tedious process 
 and in most places cannot be satisfactorily done, owing to the 
 moisture of the atmosphere. When heat is used, great care must 
 be exercised or the flavor of the meat will be destroyed. 
 
 Meat dried is in its most nutritious, form for preservation. Only 
 the water is evaporated, all of the nutriment being retained. It is 
 estimated that one pound of dried meat contains as much nutriment 
 as about four times that weight of fresh meat, so greatly has drying 
 reduced its weight and bulk. This method is the one chiefly used 
 in warm climates, because no other simple process ensures safe 
 preservation, and because both nutritive value and flavor of the 
 meat are retained. 
 
 Thus far the only scientific objection made to the use of meat 
 preserved in this way is that it is not sufficiently cooked to destroy 
 larviJB or germs of disease which may exist. The flesh of wild ani- 
 mals is much less liable to be infected with these discoveries of civ- 
 ilization than that of the domesticated species. A lower caste Bud- 
 dhist, it is said, once broke in pieces the microscope which revealed 
 to him living organisms in the water and vegetables of his daily 
 food because his religion forbade the destruction of even the lowest 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 25 
 
 forms of life. Through the same ignorance, before the days of 
 chemistry and the microscope, all meat was considered healthful by 
 English speaking people, but though our laboratories have discov- 
 ered germs to us, we cannot believe that they could be annihilated 
 by the destruction of our microscopes. In that respect, the East 
 Indian has the advantage of us. 
 
 The native races of America brought many specimens of dried 
 meat to the World's Columbian Exposition. One specially interest- 
 ing exhibit was placed in the Anthropological building and consisted 
 of a complete collection of Indian foods, gathered by the chief of 
 the Nez Perce tribe. Miss Alice Fletcher, a recognized authority, 
 told me that this collection was undoubtedly the most complete and 
 interesting ever made by the native, uncivilized American. There 
 wore exhibited wild vegetables, fruits and berries, part of them des- 
 sicated and combined with wild potato meal into cakes. The meat 
 was their favorite kind from the elk and bison, and was prepared in 
 the usual way, pemican. Longfellow, in his poem of Hiawatha, de- 
 scribes a typical Indian feast in the following words, the mondamin 
 referred to being Indian corn: 
 
 " Then on pemican tliey leasted, 
 
 Pemican and buflalo marrow, 
 
 Haunch of deer and hump of bison, 
 
 Yellow cakes of the Mondamin 
 
 And the wild rice of the river." 
 
 Catlin, whose large collection of portraits of the North American 
 Indians comprised part of the Smithsonian exhibit at the exposition, 
 frequently refers, in his "History of the North American Indians," 
 to their pemican or dried and pounded buffalo meat. This they mix 
 with equal parts of fat and pack in bladders which are usually dried 
 and then buried in the ground, the primitive store-room and treas- 
 ure-house for preserving meat from hostile tribes. 
 
 Mexico, Siam and Uruguay exhibited dried meats. That from 
 Mexico, known as jerked meat, showed a very crude method of dry- 
 ing; but it is a food article of great value to the people and, owing 
 to their warm climate, is a satisfactory way of preserving it. The 
 largest exhibit of dried meat came from Uruguay, the direct product 
 of the saladeros or killing grounds. These are situated along the 
 coasts and rivers of that country and correspond to our packing 
 houses. The vast herds of cattle, which range over the plains of 
 South America, were formerly considered valuable only for their 
 hides. More recently, their meat has been dried and the product is 
 
S6 FOOD PKObUCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 called tasajo. In preparing the meat for drying, the great sides of 
 the carcasses are entirely divested of bones and fat, and the meat is 
 placed upon frames in the sun. It is frequently "turned and, owing 
 to a dry atmosphere, it is possible to complete the process without 
 the use of salt. This tasajo is an unattractive food, as it is bleached 
 by the sun until colorless, somewhat resembling dried codflsh^^ 
 Three grades of quality are made, one entirely without salt, which is 
 use3'at home; a second grade, slightly salted, which is sent into the 
 interior of South America; and a third, very salt, which is exported 
 to Jamaica and the West Indies. The tascyo exhibited at the expo- 
 sition was put up in canvas-covered packages, about two feet square 
 and about fifty pounds in weight per package. When taken out the 
 meat was unfolded much as a hide of leather would be straightened, 
 but it was quite palatable and not unlike, in flavor, our own dried 
 beef. The commissioner, Senor Murgiondo, told me that this meat 
 was an important factor in the revenue of Uruguay. There were 
 also exhibited several kinds of tasajo, pulverized, of value as food 
 for invalids. This, combined with an equal quantity of chocolate. 
 
 is made into lozenges and bonbons, and was also displayed in the 
 form of a powder for use with hot water as a beverage. These prep- 
 arations were all agreeable to the taste and, forming one of the 
 most concentrated and nutritious foods, merit special mention from 
 a dietetic standpoint. 
 
 Siam exhibited specimens of the dried meat commonly used in 
 
FOOD PEODUCTS OP THE WOBLD. 27 
 
 that country, which was no less interesting than the South Amer- 
 ican product. This meat is dried wholly without salt, then pounded 
 and shredded by hand with a knife to the finest possible degree. 
 This shredding is all done by women, after the drying and bleaching 
 process of the sun is completed. There were at the exposition 
 about two dozen specimens of shredded meat and fish from Siam, 
 put up in glass jars, all of it having much the appearance of fine 
 excelsior. It was of good flavor and quite appetizing, though from 
 its appearance it was impossible to distinguish fish from meat. I 
 marvelled at the time and labor involved in such preparation and 
 asked the commissioner if all meat were thus prepared in Siam. 
 "O, yes," he replied, "the women prepare it all. They have plenty 
 of time and nothing else to do." And so, in far away Siam, these 
 patient little women sit day after day, knife in hand, shredding 
 meat, happy, it may be, in a fashion all their own. These cans of 
 shredded meat told volumes about the Siamese, and on every page 
 was written patience, industry and care. The meats exhibited were 
 beef, pork, chicken, veal and duck beside a large assortment of fish, 
 cuttle-fish, squid and shrimp. 
 
 Nearly every packing bouse in America which was represented 
 at the exposition displayed samples of dried beef, and it was fully as 
 characteristic and interesting as that from other countries. It is 
 not, however, as rich in nutriment, much having been lost in 
 preparation by salting before drying. It is dark and of a red color, 
 owing to the use of saltpetre in the brine, and also because it is 
 dried in the shade. The salt and saltpetre, used in curing, add to 
 its keeping qualities but detract from its nutritive value, as the en- 
 tire juices of the meat are not retained. Our dried beef is far more 
 marketable than any from other countries and represents an im- 
 mense industry. This is because of its better appearance, although 
 a method which does not retain the entire nutritive substance can- 
 not be considered perfect. Chipped dried beef is deservedly popu- 
 lar and when put up in cans, as is done in many packing houses, 
 may be preserved indefinitely. 
 
 Dried sausages, or as they are better known, "summer sausages,'' 
 are the rock upon which epicureans and the common clan split. 
 There is never a half heartedness in the way in which summer 
 sausages are regarded. They are either liked desperately and with 
 conviction of their innate piquancy and superiority or they are as un- 
 qualifiedly despised. I think a motto must have hung in every sau- 
 
28 FOOD FEODaCTS OF THE WOBLD. 
 
 sage-maker's shop over three continents while the summer sausages 
 at the exposition were being made, and this was it: "Who peppers 
 the highest is sure to please.'' There were exhibited summer sau- 
 sages from many foreign lands, rivals of our own in their fragrant 
 endeavor to win a coveted medal. These are great favorites with 
 many persons and, while they are not required for the proper serv- 
 ing of any meal, still they are the very particular bonne bouche for 
 a lunch, and disciples of the Fatherland can no more reverently en- 
 shrine them than upon the side-board, flanked with cheese and 
 beer. Just what becomes of the enormous quantities made and 
 marketed I doubt if any woman will ever discover. There are a few 
 things, good and bad, which men have from time immemorial ap- 
 propriated to themselves, and among them are summer sausages. 
 Perhaps this is because, as an admirer said, they "leave a pleasant 
 taste in the mouth." 
 
 The making of summer sausages requires much skill, not only 
 in selecting and proportioning the meat but in the seasoning as 
 well. For there are spices of all sorts and savors, pepper, salt, garlic 
 and minced herbs. Bach house seasons its summer sausages differ- 
 ently for they are made to suit the taste of the maker, or the de- 
 mands of a particular locality. No meat at the exposition seemed 
 so capricious in flavor, quality and general appearance as the sum- 
 mer sausages. After being made and stuffed into casings, they are 
 hung for a few months until properly cured. As they are usually 
 made in winter they are dry and well cured by summer time and 
 hence their name. I learned that there is an art in sausage mak- 
 ing and that there are secrets as well, guarded as sacredly as the 
 porcelain maker guards the secrets of his clay. There is real in- 
 spiration in the pride of a sausage maker over his products. Decked 
 in cap and white apron and armed with a long, sharp knife, he deftly 
 cuts the sausage in twain. He holds it before an admiring gaze, 
 then brings it nearer that we may cfitch its ripened fragrance. 
 
 At one of the American exhibits the artist in sausages was a 
 German, whose duty it was to display the goods at their best ad- 
 vantage. As he cut sausage after sausage a smile of satisfaction 
 passed over his countenance. Did he not come from the land of 
 sausages? Was he not confident that no product excelled his own? 
 Did he not know that every sausage was a masterpiece of its kind? 
 And be tempted us to taste again and again and just once more 
 until a score of varieties in all their mottled color and fragrance of 
 
FOOD PROUUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 29 
 
 herbs and spices lay before us. No longer shall Prance, Germany, 
 Italy and Spain appropriate the laurels of marjoram, thyme and 
 garlic. America has taken a conspicuous place at their side, for tie 
 excellence of flavor, variety and attractiveness of her summer 
 sausages. There were numerous varieties from Mexico, Argentine 
 Republic, Brazil, Uruguay, Germany, England, Prance, Italy and 
 Spain. Italy distinguished herself by having the largest sausage 
 exhibited, weighing fifty pounds. On Italy's day at the great expo- 
 sition there was feasting and rejoicing and this mammoth sausage, 
 called "Mortedella," was both host and banquet on that occasion. 
 Just one year before, that sausage was made across the water, in- 
 tended to become a fatherland greeting to the sons and daughters 
 of Italy planted upon American soil. A deft carver, appareled in 
 whitest linen and armed with keenest of knives, sliced pieces for 
 each of the crowd that on that day passed through Italy's pavilion. 
 Each stopped long enough to wash down the morsel with wine from, 
 his native land of sunshine and little wonder that their cry was 
 "Vive I'ltalia!" 
 
 Uruguay preserved her exhibit of summ.er sausages with special 
 care. They were large in size, well made, rolled in tin-foil and in- 
 closed in individual tin tubes. 
 
 Spain was very proud of the giant sausage of her exhibit, nearly 
 seven feet in length. Around it smaller ones were hanging, all sus- 
 pended by the national colors of yellow and red. The exhibits made 
 by all countries were interesting and paid something very like 
 homage to this article called a summer sausage. Its forerunner was 
 the pemican of the Indian and, such pranks have the extravagant 
 flavorings of civilization played with it, soon it may be entitled to a 
 place among condiments. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 PKESERVATION OF MEATS BY SALTING AND CDHINQ. 
 
 ALT is the common name for chloride 
 of sodium and occurs in nearly all 
 forms of nature, in the vegetable and 
 animal as well as in the mineral king- 
 doms. It is in most cases found depos- 
 ited in the earth in the form of rook- 
 salt and is procured hj mining. Salt 
 also exists in solution both in ocean 
 waters and in saline springs, from 
 which it is obtained by evaporation. It 
 is held in suspension in the atmosphere 
 and all animal and vegetable substances 
 have it in varying proportions in their 
 tissues. Salt is abundant in the secre- 
 tions of the human body and in the 
 blood, of which latter substance it is 
 the natural antiseptic. It aids in the 
 absorption of food and holds in solu- 
 tion the fibrin and albumin of the blood. In the material world 
 its uses are manifold, it being the basis of all glass and soap manu- 
 facture and valued as an agent in the composition of certain disin- 
 fectants. The use of salt as a fertilizer dates back to the ancient 
 customs of China and Hindostan, and throughout all ages its value 
 to the human system has been known. One of the ancients called 
 salt a substance "divine;" others declared it acceptable to the gods. 
 History tells us that salt was first used as a fiavoring for meat 
 among the Fhcenicians, and we also know that the Koman soldiers 
 pf » }ater time, who served th^ir lan(} for ?t small sum, received part 
 
32 FOOD PKODTJCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 of their wages in salt, so valuable was the substance at that tiiney 
 Prom this custom is derived the word salary. Some idea of the 
 esteem in which salt was held may be gained from the fact that it 
 was once the custom to deprive prisoners of it; but when this depri- 
 vation was found detrimental to health it was discontinued. 
 
 The action of salt upon fresh, raw meat is to partially extract 
 the water or juices. These juices hold the albumin and salts of the 
 meat tissue in solution. Salt also absorbs heat and lowers the tem- 
 perature of anjrthing with which it comes in contact so that its gen- 
 eral effect is to cause meat to become tough and to lessen its nutri- 
 tive value. Liebig estimates that the nutritive value of meat so 
 treated is diminished one-third, often one-half, both because of the 
 juices extracted and because the toughening renders it difficult of 
 digestion. A considerable portion of the nutriment is held in solu- 
 tion in the brine, from which it cannot be extracted for use as food; 
 and it is a common saying among rural people that every pailful of 
 old brine is worth a dollar. This is because old brine is so filled 
 with the extracted juices of the meat first placed in it that any 
 cured in it afterward loses a far smaller per cent of nutriment. For 
 this reason brine is saved by farmers and those who salt their own 
 meat and, after scalding, is used again and again. Salt prevents 
 the development of germs in meat impregnated with it and may pre- 
 serve it for an indefinite time. 
 
 The methods now used in preserving meats by salting are (1) im- 
 mersion of the meat in a solution of salt, known as brine; (2) by 
 packing in dry salt which, by the extraction of the juices of the 
 meat, soon becomes dissolved and penetrates the tissues; (3) by rub- 
 bing dry salt into the meat, a method known as "dry curing;" (4) by 
 using salt sparingly and completing the preservation by drying and 
 smoking. Saltpfitrev also a mineral product, is usually combined 
 in small quantities with the salt and helps to retain the red color of 
 the muscular tissue. It possesses antiseptic qualities as well but is 
 chiefly used for keeping the meat in good color, this giving it 
 greater commercial value. Soda is often used with salt and salt- 
 petre, its tendency being to overcome the hardening and toughen- 
 ing which salt causes. The antiseptic properties of borax render it 
 also valuable. The latter substances are detrimental to health if 
 used for any length of time, even in minute quantities, and it is de- 
 sirable that substances equally valuable as preservatives but with- 
 out their injurious properties may be found. Sugar is also used to 
 
FOOD PBODUCTS OF THE WOBLD. 33 
 
 some extent, particularly in the milder method of curing, known as 
 pickling. 
 
 Beef, when intended for home use and not for exportation, is 
 usually preserved in a pickle containing salt, salt-petre, sugar and 
 such spices as give it the most desirable flavor. Shoulders, hams, 
 bacon and tongue are cured for the American markets with as little 
 salt as is necessary to ensure their preservation. Each packing- 
 house, whether of America or Europe, tries to out-do the other in 
 placing its cured meats on the market in the most palatable and at- 
 tractive form. Not infrequently the quality of a single kind of 
 cured meat, such as ham or bacon, establishes the reputation of its 
 house for excellent meats in general. 
 
 At the exposition, the display of salted, cured and pickled meats 
 comprised hams, shoulders, bacon, and pork in all its cuts, known 
 commercially as clear pork, mess pork, backs, lean ends, etc. All 
 these from American houses were exhibited barreled as if ready 
 for shipment, with the single difEerence of having glass heads upon 
 the barrels through which the exhibits could be seen. The exhibit 
 of cured beef was also placed in the regulation barrels, displaying 
 aU the marketable cuts, brisket, ribs, navels, plates, and a fat extra 
 
 cut which is put up expressly for 
 the markets of India. Tongues 
 were shown by the barrel and 
 half barrel, a wealth of that deli- 
 »cious lunch meat, and all, excel- 
 lent in color, showed care and 
 sldll both in selection and cut. 
 The dry-cured sides of pork were 
 British Guiana Cooking Vessels. packed in salt in square boxes, 
 ready for shipment. Each box contained one hundred pounds of 
 pork. To what extent America is endeavoring to capture foreign 
 trade was shown very plainly at the exposition by the names given 
 to various cuts of meat. The dry cured pork was variously desig- 
 nated as Cumberland cut, Yorkshire sides, Birmingham sides. South 
 Staffordshire sides and Wiltshire sides. In the hams there were 
 Staffordshire, Manchester, Boston and New York cuts, while the 
 California and Picnic hams were so nicely cut and trimmed that 
 one would hardly have believed them to be only shoulders, after all. 
 These cured shoulders are desirable for home use in the way of 
 lunches as they contain but little fat, much of which is wasted iu 
 
34 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 the ordinary ham. As nearly as can be ascertained, the honor of 
 introducing this method of curing shoulders, providing an appetiz- 
 ing meat at a low cost, belongs to the packing-houses of the United 
 States, the only country which exhibited them. Some comprehen- 
 sion of the importance of the American industry in salted and cured 
 meats may be gained from the following ofScial report for the fiscal 
 year of 1892 to 1893. The American exports of bacon amounted to 
 397,000,000 pounds; ham, 82,000,000 pounds; salt pork, 53,000,000 
 nounds; and of salted beef, 58,000,000 pounds. 
 
 The salted and cured meats coming from other countries did 
 not compare favorably with those exhibited by the American houses, 
 and only dry-cured meats were sent. The foreign countries exhibit- 
 ing these were Argentine Republic, Brazil, Mexico, Italy, Belgium, 
 France, England and Canada. Much of the foreign meats of this 
 class were injured by exposure on ship-board, through delay in 
 reaching Chicago and in being placed in the buildings. The 
 methods of curing and styles of cut differed somewhat from those 
 used in America and, in awarding medals, both American and for- 
 eign judges considered all these differences of standard. The hams 
 sent from abroad were in most cases cut square at the base instead 
 of round, and the shanks were cut very long. They were not pol- 
 ished as hams are in America where competition forces the packing- 
 houses to put goods on the market in an attractive form, and where 
 hams and shoulders are as rich in color and texture of surface as 
 light mahogany. Neither were they as closely trimmed, perhaps 
 because that would mean waste, although in America such trim- 
 mings are used for potted meats. 
 
 Meat is preserved by salt in all countries and in many different 
 ways. It is rendered particularly appetizing when smoked after be- 
 ing mildly cured or salted and such treatment renders it thoroughly 
 wholesome. There is little more to be desired, excepting that some 
 method may be found by which chemicals, injurious even in the 
 slightest degree, will not be used, and a method, as well, whereby a 
 greater proportion of nutriment may be retained. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PEESEBVINQ OF MEAT BT CANNING, COOKING, FKEEZING, USE OF 
 CHEMICALS AND OTHEK METHODS. 
 
 lEBIG says: "The property of organic 
 substances to pass into a state of ferment- 
 ation and decay in contact with atmos- 
 pheric air, and in consequence to trans- 
 mit these states of change to other organic 
 substances, is annihilated in all cases with- 
 out exception by heating to the boiling 
 point." As is well known, heat is a com- 
 mon means of preserving alimentary sub- 
 stances and is unfailing in its effects. 
 Pood undergoes but little change in being 
 heated to the boiling point and, if afterwards protected from the 
 atmosphere, may be preserved indefinitely. The advantage of using 
 heat as a preservative was first made known by M. Appert of France, 
 in 18M|i^lthough it is claimed that the same method of preserving 
 must have been known to the inhabitants of Pompeii, as sealed jars 
 containing figs in a perfect condition have been found in the exca- 
 vated ruins. Appert succeeded in preserving in glass jars meats, 
 vegetables and fruits and for this important discovery the govern- 
 ment of France gave^ him 12,000 francs. One year later de Heine, 
 then in England, patented a process by which he claimed that food 
 could be preserved by completely exhausting the air with an air 
 pump. All attempts, however, were unsuccessful until the process 
 patented by Wertheimer in 1839 came to be used. This provided 
 that the food to be preserved should be placed in tin or metal cans, 
 the interstices being filled with water, juices or other fluid, and the 
 lid to be securely soldered upon the can. The cans were to be then 
 set in water and boiled, the air being expelled through small holes 
 pierced in the lid. When the food was sufficiently cooked and th« 
 
36 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 air entirely driven out, the holes were to be filled with solder, com- 
 pleting the process. Food thus treated would remain in a perfect 
 state almost indefinitely and but little improvement, if any, has 
 since been made upon that method. The theory of these men, how- 
 ever, differed from that accepted by modern science, although the 
 same means were used and the same results obtained. It was orig- 
 inally believed that the oxygen contained in air was the destructive 
 agency, and that the expulsion of air. alone was sufficient to prevent 
 decomposition. Professor Tyndall was the first, I believe, to demon- 
 strate that the atmosphere contained living germs, destructive in a 
 varying degree, to all substances. Meats, fruits and vegetables may 
 thus be preserved by first being heated to the boiling point and 
 then being kept from contact with the air. 
 
 This is the process used in all the large canning factories of 
 America as well as the countries abroad and is practiced in every 
 household in which fruit is preserved. Canneries are scattered all 
 over the United States; those of the Atlantic coast preserving meats, 
 fish and vegetables, those of Washington and Oregon furnishing 
 our tables with choice salmon, while those of California send to us 
 the delicious fruit of that state at a nominal cost. Tons of meat 
 are daily preserved by this method in the large packing-houses of 
 Chicago and the eastern cities, as well-cooked as that of the most 
 careful housekeeper. In these canneries one is first impressed with 
 the appetizing odor of the cooked meat and then with the cleanliness, 
 rapidity and system with which the whole process is carried on. 
 Said a friend recently — a housekeeper of more than average ability — 
 "1 never tasted canned meat. I insist upon cleanliness in the hand- 
 ling of my food and prefer to know where the meat comes from." 
 
 Let us see. This lady lives in a small 
 city, the cattle and other meat being 
 slaughtered in the suburbs. The quar- 
 ters are brought into market in the 
 same wagon which carries calve.s, lambs 
 • and poultry. The handling and cutting 
 of the meat is done by men not over 
 neat and often far from skillful; and 
 from the shop it is carried home to 
 my lady's kitchen. Here again, neither utensils nor help are cleaner 
 than in the packing rooms, in fact, not as much so, for in the 
 latter place steam, the great purifier, the universal germ destroyer. 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 37 
 
 makes everything cleanly and odorless. Evei-ytliing possible is 
 handled by machinery. The animal, after being dressed, hangs 
 for forty-eight hours in the chill-room and the meat is cooked, for 
 canning, entirely 
 by steam in large 
 cedar vats. The 
 boning o f pigs' 
 feet, the selecting 
 of pieces for pot- 
 ted meats, the 
 examining of. 
 tongues that no 
 
 blemish may be ^^^^^F^'\%. 
 
 found, the pack- 
 ing into cans, the 
 weighing; the en- 
 t i r e process, if 
 viewed impartial- 
 ly, v/ould more quickly remove the prejudice against canned meats 
 than any argument. Certainly those who know eat it with far less 
 mental discomfort than meat from an ordinary market; first, because 
 prime cattle are always selected for use and, secondly, because of the 
 cleanliness with which the meat is handled. So extensive is the in- 
 dustry ia canned goods that they are marketed in nearly every 
 country on the globe, exports of canned beef alone, during 1892, 
 from the United States amounting to 79,000,000 pounds. 
 
 The exhibit of canned meats from America was far larger than 
 that from other countries, doubtless owing to the proximity of the 
 canning houses, several of which are located in Chicago. The ex- 
 hibits from various houses were much the same and comprised the 
 following cuts of meat: brisket of corned beef, plain corned beef, 
 brawn, pigs' feet, boar's head, boneless pigs' feet, dried beef (in 
 cans), beef tongues, lunch (pigs') tongues, lambs' tongues, roast 
 mutton, roast and boiled beef, minced steak, compressed ham, 
 stewed kidneys, sv/eetbreads (sub-lingual and thyroid glands), Ger- 
 man rare-bits (of pigs' head), English lunch meat, tripe, Oxford 
 sausages, oxen-maul salat (salad of beef's palate), beef coUops, strips 
 of breakfast bacon and chili con earns (pepper with beef). The last 
 named dish Is made from small pieces of meat to which is added a 
 varying amount of chili (pepper) according to the different receipts 
 
38 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 for making. It is a popular article of food, chiefly exported to the 
 markets of Mexico and California, and whoever has visited the 
 former country must remember with pleasure the national dish, chili 
 con came. 
 
 The canned meat industry of Australia is immense and rapidly 
 growing and that country ranked next to the United States in the 
 size of its exhibit at the World's Fair. The export trade in canned 
 goods between Australia and England is an important source of 
 revenue to the former country, comprising the meats exhibited at 
 the exposition: corned beef, beef brawn, roast beef, boiled beef, 
 rump steak, ox lips, ox cheeks, beef palate, ox tails, corned mutton, 
 stewed kidneys and sheep's trotters. To the memory of Charles 
 Dickens these latter pay classic and savory tribute, and visions of 
 England with its "old ale, ripe wine, much sack and a pen'o'worth 
 of bread" cluster appetizingly about the memory of him who wrote 
 of sheep's trotters. One of the judges at the exposition, — is it 
 treason to tell of it? — ^became half indignant when urged to taste 
 of sheep's trotters. Never could he taste a morsel so plebeian! True, 
 he was uncommonly fond of pigs' feet, "dainty morsels," said he, 
 "easUy digested, appetizing, and — every one eats them, you know." 
 So he wrapped himself in the recollection of pigs' feet, whJfeh are 
 never out of mud until securely cooked and canned, while I ate, 
 alone, a delicate tidbit called "sheep's trotter," far superior to a 
 pigs' foot, well cooked, well flavored and nicely canned. Perhaps 
 the time is coming when the extravagant American will no longer 
 consign to the garbage heap so good a thing as a sheep's foot. The 
 Australian corned mutton was as good as corned beef, excepting to 
 those persons found in every community to whom mutton in any 
 form is distasteful. The sheep used are the large Cotswold variety, 
 and so cheap are they in Australia that a fine animal sells for fifty 
 cents and its mutton retails at four cents a pound. 
 
 The meat sent from Canada, Belgium, Prance, Argentine Re- 
 public, Uruguay and Japan was chiefly beef and beef tongue. Spain 
 exhibited roast beef, sirloin steak, tongue and cabrita. The cans, 
 when opened for inspection, all showed choice meats, and with a 
 bottle of crisp, round olives the tasting and judging was more pleas- 
 urable than usual. "What is cabrita?" we questioned. "Kid," was 
 the reply. Visions of theatre bills, oyster cans and garbage, the 
 natural food of the American kid, assailed us and the very atmos- 
 phere grew livid. But in spite of all prejudice, the fact remains 
 
■FOOD PEOBtJOTS OP THE WOULD. 39 
 
 that cabHta is a tender, delicious meat, far less assertive in flavor 
 than the mildest of mutton. 
 
 Great Britain sent, preserved in the regulation tin cans, Irish 
 stew, lamb with green peas, roast mutton, mutton chops, ham, tripe 
 with onions, Oxford sausage, truffled sausages, chicken sausages 
 and Scotch "haggis." The latter is well-nigh the Scottish national 
 dishj highly prized across the water but seen in America rarely, ex- 
 cept at the feasts of the bonnie Scots. Here is the recipe for 
 making it, copied from an old English cook-book: 
 
 The heart, tongue and part of the liver of the sheep is minced 
 fine with half its weight of bacon. Now add a cup of bread crumbs, 
 the rind of one lemon, two eggs, a glass of wine, two anchovies, 
 pepper and salt. Mince all thoroughly together, place in a well 
 buttered mold and boil for two hours. 
 
 Whether served hot or cold this is a more than agreeable dish. 
 Eeferring to Scotch "haggis," one of our best known American 
 cooks, a writer upon cookery, says: "We need some mild laws to 
 make people like such elaborate compounds as the foregoing, which 
 are considered very fine across the sea and are encased in jelly and 
 ornamented; at least to make people eat them after the trouble of 
 their making." He then refers to a certain banquet given in Chi- 
 cago, for which an expert French chef prepared the dish, and says: 
 "Yet the way the Phillistines, after tasting with their knife points, 
 pushed it away and took to plain beef and ham was sad for the 
 artist to see." The same author adds that haggis may be modified 
 by the use of truffles, particularly when used for luncheons, and 
 after being made, may be kept for some time. 
 
 Germany had certain canned meats put up after a fashion and 
 combination of her own. There were, among others, ham with 
 chestnuts and goose with beans, the latter dish rather a heavy one 
 to the American taste. Prom Strasburg, the city of goose livers, 
 there were sent quantities of meat for goose-liver pies, although the 
 Germans stUl place the French name upon the labels, "Pat^ de f oie 
 gras, aux truffes, du Perigord." There was also ham. Burgundy 
 style, ham with champagne sauce, f ricandeau of veal with puree of 
 green peas, and sausages, best of aU, from "Prankfurt-am-Main." 
 Said one of the judges, as he stood before the rows of opened cans, 
 "Frankfurter" in hand: "Many a time in Frankfurt, have I seen 
 them make these sausages. A man stands at one end of a tank 
 grinding away at sausages which fall into the boiling water with 
 which the tank is fflled. At the other end the people stand eating 
 
40 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 them.'' Very few Americans ever taste the genuine Frankfurt 
 sausage, but must be contented with those made here, rarely so 
 skillfully seasoned or so delicately made. 
 
 Days ran into weeks before the immense displays of canned 
 goods at the exposition were all examined and the special points 
 which determined their excellence were the following: (1) That the 
 meat be well-selected, free from fat and tendons, and of good color; 
 (2) that the seasoning be delicate; (.3) that the cans be well filled. 
 Meat put up in cans must vary in nutritive value according to the 
 amount of water used in cooking, this holding the albumin and ex- 
 tractive salts in solution. The entire juices should be retained as 
 far as possible, both for their nutritive value and for flavoring. 
 
 Potted and deviled meats, preserved in cans and jars, are 
 always in demand for lunches, picnics and camping parties, and are 
 a relish as well as a food proper. No other preserved meats make 
 such excellent sandwiches, and they are prepared usually from ham, 
 chicken, turkey, beef and tongue. The meat is minced to extreme 
 fineness, so that it resembles paste in consistency, and is seasoned 
 delicately to retain the natural flavor. The deviled meats, of which ~ 
 there are various kinds, are minced also, but differ from potted 
 meats in being made very hot with peppers and spices. The season- 
 ing varies with each canning house or locality. Beside the meats 
 mentioned, herring, anchovies, rabbit and quail were exhibited, 
 potted and also deviled. 
 
 All the American packing-houses sent potted meats put up in 
 tin cans. The only foreign countries which exhibited those were 
 England and Prance, and these goods differed chiefly in being pre- 
 served jn small earthen pots as well as in metal cans. 
 
 Pickled meats were exhibited to a limited extent. They are so 
 called because, after being cooked, they are protected from the air 
 by being put into plain or spiced vinegar; cloves, allspice, lemon and 
 bay leaves, with or without the addition of red peppers, being the sea- 
 sonings most commonly used. These meats are chiefly useful for 
 lunches, picnics and in restaurants. Only the choicest parts of the 
 animal are used for pickling, tongues of beef, pig and sheep, pigs' 
 feet and tripe. They are usually pu up in small kegs or half barrels. 
 
 There are other methods of preserving, meat which need men- 
 tion although not largely used and not wholly satisfactory. One of 
 the oldest and best known is the preservation of meat by cold. The 
 Eskimo knows that if his whale or seal blubber be buried in the 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 41 
 
 snow, it may be preserved indefinitely. As long as meat is kept 
 frozen it remains perfectly fresh, although its flavor is somewhat 
 altered; but it must not be allowed to thaw. Ice has been used for 
 this purpose for many years, particularly in the transportation of 
 fresh meat, but owing to its expense the cold storage method has 
 superseded it. This allows the meat to be kept in a stationary 
 temperature just above the freezing point, and owing to this system 
 our American beef may be placed upon the London markets very 
 cheaply and in a perfect condition. Said Lady Somerset recently, 
 when comparing the products of the fresh young soil of America to 
 those of the impoverished land of England: "Why, even now, Mr. 
 Armour of Chicago is underselling the local butchers in the little 
 town of Ledbury on the castle lands." Australia sends large quanti- 
 ties of meat to England in a fresh state by means of the cold storage 
 system and the refrigerator car at the exposition kept meat in a 
 fresh state during six, hot, long, summer months. 
 
 Meat is also preserved by means of a coating of fat, which serves 
 to exclude the air. Such meats, however,'must first be cooked, that 
 €feie germs may be destroyed, then covered with melted fat or oil. 
 This method of preserving, using a vegetable oil, was largely em- 
 ployed in preparing the exhibits of both Spain and Italy. The food 
 thus preserved includes sardines, anchovies, squid, tunny-fish, and 
 cuttle-fish, besides such vegetables as mushrooms, artichokes and 
 truffles. 
 
 Creosote is another preservative, and also a powerful antiseptic. 
 It is the active principle in smoke and the meats upon which it is 
 used are caUed ham, bacon, and dried beef. 
 
 A method has been patented in England according to which 
 freshly killed meat is dipped into a solution containing one per cent 
 of carbolic acid and seventy-two per cent of alcohol. After the 
 meat has been removed and dried it is placed in a concentrated 
 alcoholic solution of sugar. It is then cut in pieces, and packed in 
 casks, the interstices being filled with melted fat. Another method 
 which is practical in preparing meat for far distant markets, pro- 
 vides that it be exposed to a current of refrigerated air until stiff- 
 ened. It is then sprinkled with powdered borax and is transported 
 in a refrigerator car. A method known as Kauffman's, which has 
 been long in use in houseEolds, consists in fumigating the meat 
 with sulphur. If this is done several times, meat may be kept in 
 hot weather, without ice, for a considerable time. There is also a 
 
42 
 
 FOOD PKODUOTS OP THE WORLD. 
 
 material, advertised under the name of "Preservaline," which con- 
 sists of bpraxj boric acid, saltpetre and salt, "f his added to water 
 makes a brine in which the meat is immersed. 
 
 "While the use of chemicals keeps meat in a marketable condi- 
 tion, such meat, from a dietetic point of view, ought to be used with 
 caution! As a general thing, any substance the antiseptic properties i 
 of which are sufficient to keep meat unchanged by atmospheric 
 contact, renders such meat a questionable article of diet. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE UTILIZATION OF OFFAL. 
 
 N THE foregoing chapters reference has been 
 made chiefly to meat proper, those portions 
 of the animal which lie about the bones and 
 are known as muscle and fat. But there are 
 other portions, termed offal, which are valu- 
 able as food, but which are often cast off as 
 refuse in dressing an animal for market. In 
 small cities this waste is invariably seen but 
 in the large cities, particularly in the packing 
 houses, not only is that part of the animal 
 utilized but many of our table delicacies are portions of offal. 
 
 In broad terms, about one-third of the animal may be marketed 
 as offal. In sheep the weight of it may equal the weight of the 
 meat, while in hogs there is a smaller amount, compared to the 
 weight of the body, than in any other animal. I was told by the 
 representative of one of our largest packing houses that there is 
 no profit on the meat proper, only upon the offal. The head of this 
 teuse is a multi-mUlionaire. Meat is sent from his establishment 
 into interior cities and towns and is sold at the price of country 
 beef, though generally of a better quality because well matured, well 
 fattened and more skillfully cut. The' prices at which it is sold, 
 eight, ten and twelve cents a pound, prove that there can be little, 
 if any, profit on the meat directly, when the expense of handling 
 and shipping is considered. That the profit upon offal which is util- 
 ized is not inconsiderable may be seen from the following report of 
 animals slaughtered from this house during 1892: hogs, 1,750,000; 
 cattle, 850,000; sheep, 600,000. The following table by Edward Smith 
 states the relative proportion of the offal to the meat of various ani- 
 
44 FOOD PBODUCTS OF THE WOBLD. 
 
 mals. It indicates how great would be the loss to those handling 
 and consuming meat if these portions were not utilized: 
 
 Carcass. Offal. 
 
 Store oxen 59.3 38.9 
 
 Fat oxen 59.8 38.5 
 
 Pat heifers..' 55.6 41.3 
 
 Fat calves 63.1 33.5 
 
 Store sheep 53.4 45.6 
 
 Half fat sheep 59 40.5 
 
 Very fat sheep 64.1 35.8 
 
 Store pigs 79.3 18.8 
 
 Fat pigs 83.4 16.1 
 
 Those portions of offal used for food are hearts, livers, ox-tails 
 which are used for soup; the kidneys and the kidney fat which is a 
 constituent of a most cleanly and wholesome article of food, butter- 
 ine; tongues of cattle, sheep and pigs, ox-lips, ox-palates and sweet- 
 breads. The lungs, being rich in nitrogenous matter, are minced 
 and combined withi other meat, being greatly valued in some coun- 
 tries as food, and the blood is, to some extent, used for blood pud- 
 dings and sausages, dishes in great favor with the Germans. The 
 stomachs of cattle are cleansed and made into Wge, a dainty which 
 the old Greeks regarded as fit for heroes; for in the palmy days 
 tripe was often the principal dish seen upon the banquet tables of 
 those men who met to celebrate the victory of gods and mortals 
 over the sacrilegious Titans. Oaen, France, is to-day celebrated for 
 the manufacture of its tripe, the preparation of which is a general 
 industry. All such portions of offal are more rich in protein or 
 flesh-forming elements than meat; the percentage of salts is about 
 the same while they contain relatively much less fat. A large pro- 
 portion of offal is utilized commercially. The skin is sent to leather 
 tanneries, the hair and specially the long ends of the tails of cattle 
 are used in the making of mattresses; the trimmings of the hides 
 are sent to gelatine factories from which they are returned in the 
 form of delicate and transparent gelatine, the delight of every 
 housewife. Parts of the hoofs, bones and horns are made into glue, 
 the hoofs and horns themselves being converted into buttons, 
 spoons and ornaments. The intestines are cleansed and salted for 
 use as sausage casings, the undigested food in the stomachs is dried 
 for fuel, the bladders are used for the packing of putty and all 
 scraps are dried and used for fertilizers. The bones afe'dried and 
 ground for fertilizers and for use in refining sugar. The blood, 
 which is rich in albumin, is preserved, coagulated and dried, also 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. '45 
 
 used both for the refining of sugar and the manufacture of fertil- 
 izers. Even the stomachs of pigs are used for the manufacture of 
 pepsin, while the refuse fats are sent to the soap factory which re- 
 turns in exchange, soap and glycerine. Connected with the packing 
 house already referred to is a laboratory in which a number of ex- 
 cellent preparations of pepsin are made, as well as a medicinal pre- 
 paration from the thyroid glands of the sheep. It seems that the 
 science of economy would "o'erleap itself" in its endeavor to reduce 
 waste to a minimum amount, for it has been said that "every por- 
 tion of the pig is utilized, even the squeal, which may be preserved 
 by phonograph!" 
 
 Much of the poetry of the old times is lost in this practical util- 
 ization of offal, for, however deliciously cooked and flavored, there 
 is nothing more prosaic than beef coUops, sweetbreads, and boar's 
 head turned out of an American tin can. There is little atmosphere 
 of the oak forests of England or the valorous knight of the chase 
 about a boar's head such as this; and we may well cling to the old 
 rhymes and ballads. Dryden tells of "sweetbreads and collops 
 which were with skewers pricked," and there is an old song of the 
 boar's head which is still sung at the annual feast at Queen's Col- 
 lege, Oxford, it having been first published in 1521. Wherever 
 the boar's head was used, a custom dating back to the era of WUliam 
 the Norman, it was borne, profusely decorated with holly and bay 
 at the head of a triumphal procession to the banqueting hall. 
 " The boar's head in hand hear I, 
 
 Bedecked with hays and rosemarye, 
 
 And I pray you, masters, he merry, 
 Quot estis in eonvivlo. 
 
 " The hoar's head, as I understand, 
 Is the bravest disli in all the land, 
 When thus bedecked with a gay garland, 
 Let us seiTire cantico ! 
 
 " Our steward hath provided this 
 
 In honor of the King of Bliss 
 
 Which on this day to he served is, 
 
 In reglmensi atrio ! 
 
 Caput aprl def ero 
 
 Eeddens laudes Domino." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 POULTBY AND WILD FOWL. 
 
 OULiTRY is wild fowl domesticated, al- 
 though the origia of its domestication 
 and its use as food is lost in tradition. 
 There was an early period in which all 
 birds, now called poultry and fowl, 
 bmlt their nests in the tangled leafage 
 of a jungle and gathered berries, buds 
 and slugs for food. To-day their de- 
 scendents are fed and protected by 
 their quondam enemy, man, that they 
 may minister to his fondness for chick- 
 en-pie and pat6 de f oie gras. It is stated 
 that wild fowl were first domesticated 
 in Burmah, Darwin believes, from the 
 jungle-fowl of Bankiva. There is also 
 a Chinese tradition that poultry came 
 to that land, originally, from the West, 
 perhaps directly from India, while the 
 records of ancient Babylonia indicate 
 that poultry-raising was an industry 
 with the Chaldeans as remotely as the ninth centui^, B. C. It is 
 known that domesticated fowl were common among the Britons, 
 prior to the Roman invasion in 55 B. C, and poultry-raising has been 
 practiced in most European countries since earliest times. To-day, 
 while wild birds or game are becoming gradually rarer and more 
 expensive, the domesticated species is being still more largely 
 
48 FOOD PKODDCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 used and the industry of poultry-raising is an important one in 
 nearly all countries. While in hotels and at elaborate dinners the 
 place of honor in the menu is still occupied by the sirloin of beef, 
 the dinner is never complete without poultry in some form and 
 game, the latter usually broiled, following the punch or sherbet. At 
 any modern dinner, at all complete, a proniinent place is given to 
 some of the poultry family, a goose, a pair of ducks or better sliU a 
 turkey, the most recently domesticated bird of all. While among 
 meats the boar's head is assigned the "crown and semblance" of 
 honor, among birds there is, as well, their proper and distinctive 
 standard bearer, the peacock. As with the boar's head, the peacock 
 served the double purpose of food and epicurean decoration, with 
 the single difference that, while boar's head is still seen upon the 
 holiday tables of England, the peacock, in such role, is. a thing 
 of the past. It was most highly esteemed as a food in the middle 
 ages, and legends tell us that the bird was first obtained by Solo- 
 mon from the spice islands of the Orient. The bird was not used as 
 food later than the reign of Francis I., when it first came to be em- 
 ployed merely as ornament upon the tables. It Vi^as highly spiced 
 and covered completely with its own gorgeous plumage, its tail out- 
 ; spread, the eyes in which, they tell us, symbolized eternity. Winter 
 ' relates that~"tbe same peacock was served again and again and on 
 special occasions, such as weddings, his beak and throat were stuffed 
 with cotton and camflre." This was lighted for the di^ertisement of 
 the guests much as the brandy poured about a plum pudding is set 
 a-flre just before being placed upon the table. From that time un- 
 til this France has been called the greatest fowl-consuming nation 
 in the world, and the statement was well borne out by the display 
 of canned and truffled fowl which was sent by that country to the 
 World's Columbian Exposition. 
 
 As a v/hole, fowls have a distinct dietetic value, although, in re- 
 gard to nutritive properties, there is little difference between theirs 
 and other meat. Their flesh is rich in nitrogenous matter, but con- 
 tains little fat unless, as with poultry, they are specially fattened 
 for killing. The meat of poultry is classified as light meat and 
 dark, the latter considered more delicious in flavor, while that of 
 wild fowl is always dark and savory. It is also considered more 
 tender and digestible than the meat of tame fowl, as one author 
 states, because of the violent exercise undergone by the bird prior 
 to kUling, and is greatly preferred by the gourmet. The flavor of 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 49 
 
 certain wild fowl is distinctive and largely depends upon the food 
 eaten by them. That of the highly prized canvas back duck is due 
 to its feeding upon the wild celery, as the root of the valisneria 
 is called. These beds of wild celery are located along Chesapeake 
 Bay, and the flesh of the duck is in fine condition only when its 
 diet is wholly vegetarian. This is not always the case, for at times 
 the duck's food consists of fish, which causes its flesh to lose all 
 that is valued in its flavor. 
 
 The flesh of the ptarmigan savors of the spruce leaves of its na- 
 tive mountains, the partridge owes its spicy flavor to the aromatic 
 nuts and berries which it uses for food, while the Congo chickens of 
 Africa are considered excellent because fed upon pine-apples. Even 
 in the case of the turkey, a delicipusfiavor may be imparted to its 
 meat by a diet of sweet potatoes and nuts continued for several 
 weeks before killing. Such birds, however, demand extravagant 
 prices and the story is told of an Italian restaurateur in New York 
 who accomplishes the same thing by flavoring the meat, posi mortem, 
 as it were. He mixes a pint of vinegar and claret with a cupful of 
 olive oil in which the bird, dressed, is partly immersed. It is turned 
 dally for a week and then cooked, a dish fit for a king. But one 
 surely ought to be satisfied with the skill of the average cook who 
 makes his dressing of bread crumbs vnth oysters, mushrooms or ' 
 Italian chestnuts, the daintiest of sweet marjoram and summer 
 savory for seasoning, pepper and salt, plenty of butter and a suspi- 
 cion of nutmeg. What matter whether the turkey be stuffed before 
 death or after? It is the American dish typical, combining the 
 intangible piquancy of the French, the heartiness of the English and 
 the generous savoriness of the lands of the Danube and the Rhine. 
 
 It is essential that the flesh of both poultry and game be tender 
 before cooking and in some countries it is the custom to give fowls 
 vinegar for that purpose just before killing them. The most com- 
 mon method, especially with game, is to let it hang until tender or 
 "ripened," by which time it has acquired a peculiar flavor, much 
 liked by certain epicures and designated as "gamey.'' Such meats 
 are in the incipient stages of decomposition and Chrysostom says of 
 them: "The tendency of putrefaction to impart deleterious quali- 
 ties to animal matter, originally wholesome, has long been known. 
 To those unaccustomed to the use of tainted meat, the mere com- 
 mencement of decay is sufficient to render the meat insupportable 
 and noxious. Game, only enough decayed to please the palate of 
 
BO ^ FOOD PEODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 the epicure, has caused severe cholera in persons not accustomed 
 to eating it in that state." The detrimental effects of such meat, 
 which is always poisonous, are counteracted in a measure by the 
 heat used in cooking it and also by the digestive fluids which are 
 antiseptic in their nature. Then, too, its frequent use renders the 
 system less liable to be affected by it. The liking for it is undoubt- 
 ■edly a depraved and vitiated taste which may have descended to 
 certain of us from uncivilized ancestors. The Indians of America 
 are accustomed to bury meat for weeks, until it is putrid. Then it 
 becomes more orlessofa delicacy according to the degree of its putre- 
 faction. Even the Greenlander buries his meat until- half decayed, 
 when it Is used as a relish, called mikiak. The Chinese, Siamese 
 and Burmese use putrefied fish as a basis of certain of their choicest 
 condiments, while the epicures of cultured Europe and America 
 disdain the barbarity of such tastes. But is this any more barbaric 
 than the hanging of game until tender from decay before cooking? 
 It half persuades one that the cycle of gastronomic tastes is being 
 completed in this return to the customs of the savage, for when man 
 feasts upon partially decomposed flesh his taste is not an iota in ad- 
 vance of that of the rudest of his ancestors. 
 
 Chicken, the most common of domesticated fowls, is more 
 largely used in Europe than here because it is possible to obtain it 
 when other meat in good condition mkj not be procured. It is in- 
 dispensable to mulligatawny soup, and to the curry of rice, so staple 
 a food with the Siamese, Javanese, East Indians and many European 
 nations. Siam exhibited dried and shredded chicken. The variouB 
 canning houses of America sent displays of potted chicken, plain 
 and seasoned; of boned chicken, plain and truffled; of deviled 
 chicken, the same meat canned plain without seasoning, and curried 
 chicken in abundance. France, a country which annually spends 
 fifty-two millions of francs for different species, of fowl, exhibited 
 varieties of chicken, both whole and minced, dressed with truffles. 
 Beside this there was a profusion of bottled orete de cog and crete de 
 rogiwns de coq, portions of the fowl which are not as yet accepted 
 articles of foCd in America but which are imported to a small extent 
 for foreigners living here. 
 
 Probably there is no fowl more tortured than the goose, that 
 the markets may be furnished with the enormous livers from which are 
 made the pat6 de foie gras. The goose is kept caged and in a warm 
 place and is stuffed with fattening foods, until the liver, in which 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 51 
 
 this uuassimilated food takes refuge, becomes gorged with fat and 
 enormously enlarged. The goose is then killed and the liver, when 
 put up with truffles, is pronounced by all the world "the most deli- 
 cious of morsels." At the exposition France and Germany met each 
 other in friendly rivalry over their famous goose-liver pies. Stras- 
 burg and Paris had each a fine display though Germany still uses 
 the French name, pS,t6 de foie gras. In France, I am told, the food 
 of these geese is seasoned until stimulating to quick . growth, this 
 producing the jpeouliar flavor so well liked in the livers when pre- 
 pared as "pat^s." The story is told of a certain queen of France 
 who spent fifteen thousand francs in the effort to have a certain 
 flavor imparted to these goose-livers by the method of feeding. 
 Goose livers are far from being healthful articles of food. It has 
 been previously shown that the human system can assimilate only a 
 limited amount of fat and should not be burdened with a quantity 
 taken merely to please a perverted appetite, and which must be 
 thrown off as effete matter. 
 
 Germany exhibited canned goose with beans. Goose, how- 
 ever, is not as much used in this country as abroad, our only ex- 
 hibit being plain canned goose from the state of Maine, although 
 there is a famUiar ditty heralding its excellence when dressed with 
 "sage and onions.'' 
 
 Duck was not largely exhibited at the exposition, only a few 
 houses sending it. The largest display was from Siam, dried and 
 shredded. The bird itself, when tame, is closely allied to the goose 
 in habits and its meat is quite similar in flavor. 
 
 What the goose is to Prance the turkey is to America. It has 
 long beep known as our national bird and is quite generally appro- 
 priated to the celebration of our great 
 national holiday. Thanksgiving Day. Its 
 meat is superior in flavor to that of the 
 goose, and we are already learning, as has 
 been noticed, the French extravagance of 
 improving this flavor by special feeding. 
 There was plenty of turkey sent to the 
 exposition, aU canned, the finest toeing 
 boned and put up with truffles. There 
 was turkey meat potted in glass, the dark 
 meat in the center and the white surrounding it which, when sliced, 
 made a very ornamental dish. There was also deviled turkey of 
 6 
 
52 POOD PEODOCTS OF THE WOBLD. 
 
 various kinds, most of which was seasoned with condiments to the 
 disadvantage of its natural, delicate flavor. 
 
 The foreign countries, those which exhibited canned quail, 
 partridge and other wild fowl, were far more largely represented 
 than America. The finest display of partridge and quail at the ex- 
 position came from Argentine Republic. They were preserved whole 
 in cans, the partridge in oval tins, each tin containing two birds. 
 The commissioner told me that these tins of canned partridge could 
 be sold in Argentine Republic for a sum equivalent to the American 
 dime. Said he: "These birds are so plentiful that if a covey is 
 started by a hunting-party they may be beaten down with clubs." 
 The birds were well put up but with their flavor somewhat modified 
 by the highly seasoned sauce in which they were preserved. 
 
 England presented a great variety of game, potted and canned. 
 There were curried venison, rabbit and hare, pat^s of snipe, wood- 
 cook, plover and lark; and pheasant, delicious truffled pheasant 
 from, the preserve of a member of the peerage. These preserves, as 
 the land owned by the peerage, and which are used only for hunting 
 grounds, are called, furnish excellent game at every hunting season. 
 Most of it finds its way into English markets, as it brings a good 
 price and is largely in demand. The pheasant is popularly supposed 
 to be best prepared for cookery if hung by the tail until it is suffi- 
 ciently ripened to become detached from that appendage. It is 
 probable that pheasant when intended for canning are not so 
 treated, for I attributed the flavor of those at the exposition to 
 the truffles, with which they were prepared. The partridge and 
 woodcock vie with each other in regard to flavor and delicacy and 
 epicures have never yet agreed upon which is best. An English 
 rhyme tells us that — 
 
 " If the partridge had the woodcock's thigh, 
 'Twould be the hest bird that ever did fly ; 
 If the woodcocli had but the partridge's breast, 
 'Twould be the best bird that ever was dressed." 
 But to taste of p&t6 of lark seemed sheer sacrilege, the bird of all 
 birds, immortalized by Chaucer, Shelley, Wordsworth and WUliam 
 Shakespeare. Sentiment must be forgotten by the Englishman of 
 to-day for the London markets are supplied from the country about 
 Dunstable with not less than four thousand dozen of these dainty 
 songsters annually. 
 
 Russia presented a large variety of Wild fowl, nicely preserved, 
 whole, in tin cans, put up without seasoning or sauce. Each bird 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 53 
 
 could be lifted from its can entire and, though dry enough 
 to be served upon a napkin, was tender, delicious and per- 
 fectly preserved. The list included hazel-hen, a bird similar to the 
 American grouse; heath-hen, also a grouse; Scotch-hen, snow-hen, 
 a species of pheasant; ptarmigan, called also the spruce grouse; and 
 capercailzie, a grouse, native to the mountains of northern Europe. 
 Nearly all countries preserve fowl, each differently and some 
 more skilfully than others. England and America, only, make 
 a specialty of boned and potted meats and in these, no other country 
 excels them. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 FISH. 
 
 [ HE flsherios exhibit at the Columbian Expo- 
 sition was placed in a bmlding of its own, 
 located at the northern end of the grounds, 
 upon the upper lagoon. The large exhibits of 
 preserved flsh, the miles of filmy netting 
 spread and draped into place by rods, oars 
 and tackle in the main buUding, indicated a 
 vast amount of energetic research upon the 
 part of our own as well as foreign nations. 
 The aquaria of living flsh in the structures on 
 either side of the central part demonstrated, 
 in most interesting fashion, the extent and 
 dignity of the occupation of fishery. 
 
 The Fisheries building was fashioned af- 
 ter the old Spanish-Romanesque style of architecture, wholly unlike 
 in motive and treatment anything else on the grounds. The very 
 capitals of its columns forewarned one of the wetness of the exhibit 
 within its walls for, as Ruskin tells us, capitals of such shape are 
 peculiar to northern and rainy climes. Profusely decorated, they 
 slanted abruptly inward from abacus to shaft as if for protection from 
 inclement weather above. The decoration seemed to have been 
 dredged from a sedgy pond or weedy sea-marsh and, by some modem 
 Medusa, stiffened into the stone adornments of column, capital and 
 arch. Frogs, lizards and crawfish, their legs indicating a furious 
 scramble on their part to escape, were caught in a tangle of sagit- 
 taria and pickerel-grass. Lobsters and crabs disported themselves 
 among the fingered masses of sea-weed; flsh, lithe of body and gro- 
 tesque of countenance, meandered over the columns, quite secure 
 
B6 FOOD PBODUOTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 from disturbance by their meshy protection of net; and also with 
 coquettishly clasped taUs, adorned the handrails of the porches. 
 
 The living exhibit in the aquaria was not intended to be a food 
 display, but rather a natural science lesson. The aquaria were 
 placed in the end structures which were polygonal in shape, the 
 salt and fresh water displays being separated by the central build- 
 ing. Anemones, like gorgeous flowers, brightened the salt water 
 tanks and as the sea-horses and amiable little fiddler crabs floated 
 past them, one was reminded A nothing so much as the quaint con- 
 ceits which have made fame and fortune for the artist, F. S. Church. 
 The fresh water exhibit was far larger, containing specimens of 
 nearly every variety known to the waters of our lakes and rivers; 
 the mammoth sturgeon, mishe-nahma as our Indians call it, the 
 slender pickerel, the calico bass, and the tiny trout from our mount- 
 ain streams, the daintiest fish of all. But nothing could be farther 
 removed from any suggestion of food than these fish of the aquaria, 
 demurely floating about in the radiance of electric light. Not a 
 suspicion of gaminess could be attached to them. The shark gazed 
 deprecatingly through the glass at what he may have thought to be 
 a human menagerie on parade, and the very sword-fish seemed to 
 breathe apologies for inability to sheathe his ugly weapon. 
 
 The main building, larger than the others, contained scientific 
 data of all forms of aquatic life, displayed by means of maps, pre- 
 served and stufEed specimens, casts and explanatory literature. All 
 classes contributed their share. There were, besides fish of all vari- 
 eties, sponges, jelly-fish, polypi, star-fish, sea-urchins, leeches, Crusta- 
 cea, reptiles, aquatic animals and even water-fowl. Fish culture 
 was illustrated by means of hatcheries exhibited in both the Gov- 
 ernment and Fisheries buUdings. The science of fresh water ang- 
 ling was also demonstrated with all its- death dealing apparatus; 
 traps, nets, rods, reels, lines, gaffs, spears, creels, artificial flies and 
 bait; all the intricate appliances with which man must reinforce his 
 own skill and acumen before he can cope with the wariness of one 
 timid little fish. The methods of sea-fishing were most completely 
 shown by Norway, Japan, Canada and those of the United States 
 bordering on the Atlantic ocean. The fishing gear of all nations 
 and many kinds was shown, illustrating trawl, herring, long-line and 
 other methods. Fish-hooks, knives, traps, wiers, nets, lobster and 
 eel-pots illustrated special fisheries such as herring, cod, mackerel 
 halibut, oyster, lobster and sponge. 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OP THE WOKLD. 67 
 
 But the most interesting f eattire, in many ways, was the food 
 exhibit of preserved fish. There were salted fish, dried fish, smoked 
 fish, and canned fish; fish flour, fish delicacies such as sardines, an- 
 chovies and caviare, and oils from the whale, cod, seal, shark and 
 dolphin. Pish is an important article of diet among all nations, to 
 say nothing of those communities depending almost wholly upon it. 
 It is, of course, most largely used by those who follow fishing as an 
 occupation, chief among whom are the Norwegians, the people on 
 the coasts of Ireland, those of the Mediterranean coasts, the Eski- 
 mos of the Arctic regions, the poorer classes of Chinese and East 
 Indians and a limited class on the Atlantic seaboard of America. 
 
 It is commonly believed that a fish-consuming people are not 
 robust, becoming liable to leprosy and other scorbutic diseases, as 
 these affections are common in China, in lower India and among 
 the Eskimos. This is true, however, of only the most ignorant 
 and destitute classes, and, it is more than likely, because of their 
 inability to procure even a small quantity of vegetables, cereals 
 or fruits than because they are deprived of all animal foods ex- 
 cepting fish. The people of our own coasts and those of Norway 
 are as rugged, healthy and prolific as could be desired and the 
 women of fish-eating communities are often remarkable for their 
 robust and picturesque beauty. In neither case, however, do these 
 people depend chiefly upon fish for sustenance. They cultivate and 
 use vegetables and grains extensively and in the case of the Nor- 
 wegians, one of their fish is salmon, the meat of which somewhat re- 
 sembles beef. A diet, continuously adhered to throughout years 
 and generations, consisting mainly of a certain animal food fosters 
 a tendency to scorbutic or skin disease. It has been stated that 
 the population of England was continually depleted in early times 
 by scurvy, owing to the fact that vegetables had not then taken their 
 place as a necessary article of diet and that the people were com- 
 pelled to subsist chiefly upon meat. This is especially the case 
 in tropical countries and is probably the reason that such tendencies 
 among the flsh-eatlng natives of lower Asia are attributed to their 
 flsh diet. 
 
 In regard to its nutritive value fish compares most favorably 
 with meats, containing about the same proportion of protein, but, 
 excepting the sturgeon and salmon, far less fat. Fish is considered 
 to be a specially suitable food for brain-workers on account of the 
 phosphorus contained. This belief is without scientific foundation. 
 
68 
 
 FOOD PEODUCTS OF THE WORLD, 
 
 -*^'tf^*> 
 
 ■V^ 
 
 •<? 
 
 ^ 
 
 although the fact that it is very digestible 
 renders it more suitable for those of sedentary 
 habits than beef; for such people should 
 avoid a heavy meat diet. Their systems have 
 no use for it and if the unused portions 
 are not eliminated, a process always costing 
 dearly in wasted strength, there occur period- 
 ical attacks of biliousness or, worse, gout. On 
 the other hand a diet of fish alone is not 
 capable of sustaining continued muscular 
 activity. Dalton, in comparing the nutritive 
 values of different foods, gives priority to 
 beef; then in order, mutton, venison, fowl, 
 game, and last of all, fish. However, as fish 
 contains a large amount of protein in a^ 
 highly digestible form and comparatively 
 little fat, it is a healthful and palatable 
 food, and is specially valuable in combination 
 with cereals. 
 
 There is a proverb which reads: "It is 
 only the Arabs of the desert who affect to 
 despise flsh," and the proverb states a well- 
 known truth inversely, for wherever flsh is 
 to be procured, there it is held in great es- 
 teem as an article of diet or as a delicacy. 
 Since the earliest times flsh have held high 
 rank as food. We read that the Greeks and 
 Romans were fond of them and in cookery 
 combined them with oil, wine, eggs, carrots, cheese and sweet herbs. 
 
 H^ 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOBLD. 59 
 
 Modern tastes are simpler in this respect for we chiefly prize the 
 natural flavor ■which heat develops, and a whiteflsh broiled, a shad 
 ^'planked," or a dainty smelt, browned quickly in smoking oil, is 
 quite to our taste without added flavorings. It is said that we are 
 not as epicurean in regard to fish as were the ancients; and this is 
 to some extent true, for it is not always possible to procure them in 
 a perfectly fresh state. There is an art of flshmongery in our age, 
 and by means of painting the gills and various other devices, stale 
 fish are often relieved of the appearance of their condition. The 
 Greeks very early enacted a law, which we might adopt with bene- 
 fit, stipulating that the fisherman or fish vender must remain stand- 
 ing until all his fish were sold. America, surrounded by ocean and 
 gulf, traversed by the greatest rivers of the world, and holding in 
 her midst a chain of immense lakes, seems intended to supply the 
 inhabitants with an abundance of fish for food. When supplies of 
 any kind are plentiful, however, more or less lavish expenditure 
 and waste are the result and the effects of such waste were early 
 noticeable in our fresh water fisheries. More fish were taken, fre- 
 quently, than were needed for food ; they were improtected during the 
 spawning season; seines, traps and pounds were used and the 
 smaller fish were wantonly destroyed. 
 
 The early fisheries' reports from time to time pointed out a no- 
 ticeable decrease in the coast fisheries as well as those of the great 
 lakes. It was seen that some protection to the fishing industry was 
 a necessity and in February, 1811, Jaws were passed which had for 
 their object the preservation of the food fish of the United States. 
 By the next year the Fish Commission was in working order, its first 
 appropriation being $15,000, and it became a separate governmental 
 bureau in 1888. To-day the Department of Fisheries is working 
 along the same line with the Department of Agriculture toward 
 better methods of food preservation. The department specially 
 investigates the geographical distribution of fish and endeavors to 
 preserve the equalization of such distribution; it experiments for 
 the purpose of learning the economical value of fish as food; and by 
 experiments in other directions endeavors to determine the best 
 methods of fish propagation and culture. The careful and efficient 
 research of the Fish Commission has resulted in an awakened pub- 
 lic sentiment which will no longer calmly submit to the useless de- 
 struction of fish by seines, traps and other means; and the exhibi- 
 tion in the Fisheries building, with that made by the Fisheries De« 
 
60 FOOD PBODUCTS OF THE WOBLD. 
 
 partment in the Government building at the exposition, was the 
 crown and memorial set upon twenty years of philanthropic work. 
 
 The flsh in the aquaria, intended merely as an educational ex- 
 hibit at the exposition, far outnumbered in variety those used for 
 food, although it is estimated that in the United States alone, in- 
 cluding coast fisheries, there are about one hundred varieties used 
 for the latter purpose. 
 
 Among edible fishes the white-meated .variety is more easily 
 digested than those possessing red flesh, as the former contain far 
 less fat. If fat be contained to any extent it is usually deposited in 
 the liver, as with the cod, while in red-meated fish such as salmon, 
 it is distributed thi-oughout the tissue. All flsh are in best condi- 
 tion before spawning, just after the season has passed being far less 
 valuable for food. Their flavor is influenced by the food consumed 
 by them, no variety being more susceptible than the trout. It is the 
 flsh, par excellence, when caught in mountain rivulets, but of de- 
 cidedly different flavor after being fed for even a short time in trout 
 ponds. Someone has compared the flavor of smelt to that of cu- 
 cumbers and grayling to that of thyme; and we all are familiar with 
 the sedgy taste of pickerel and catflsh caught from muddy, grass- 
 grown ponds. It is related that the ancient Eomans valued turbot 
 as a food more highly if caught after the flsh had feasted upon some 
 disobedient slave, thrown into the pond; an incredibly horrible 
 custom but finding almost a parallel in the brutality with which 
 turtle, lobster, and other foods are sacrificed to the whims of so- 
 called epicures. 
 
 The food exhibit proper showed many varieties of preserved flsh, 
 the different methods of preservation being dry salting, salting in 
 brine or pickling, drying without salt, pulverizing to flsh-flour, 
 pounding and shredding, canning, and preserving in oil. Each of 
 these methods depends either upon the demands of the country in 
 which the flsh are preserved or the requirements of an export trade. 
 
 The United States occupied flrst rank in respect to the magni- 
 tude of its display, although the exhibits of Canada, Norway and 
 Russia were but little inferior in any respect. Large displays of 
 dried, smoked and canned salmon were sent by the great canning 
 companies of Washington and Oregon. The salmon attains an 
 enormous size, as was seen by specimens sent from Portland, Oregon, 
 frozen into cakes of ice, one flsh weighing sixty-seven pounds. 
 Sturgeon, dried and in "scraps," was sent from the Northwest, being 
 
FOOD PEODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 61 
 
 a fat, coarse-meated fish and one diflQcult of digestion. In early- 
 times its flesh was considered a great delicacy, Henry I. of England 
 having once proclaimed it to be a royal flsh and one to be eaten at 
 no table but his own. But its quondam reputation has long been 
 forgotten by modern flsh lovers. Fishermen attribute its rank 
 flavor to its food, and it is variously known as "herring-sturgeon" 
 and "mackerel-sturgeon," these smaller kinsmen furnishing it with 
 food at different places or times. 
 
 The same canneries sent also canned sturgeon roe or eggs, 
 known as caviare. This is considered a great delicacy and from its 
 appetite and thirst-provoking qualities has been called the "savory' 
 preliminary" of a feast. That of Russia, where it is usually eaten in a 
 fresh state, is described as being "grey, pearly, succulent and deli- 
 cate, of which most of the caviare found in this country is but the 
 shadow of the substance." The word caviare is of Turkish origin, 
 and the delicacy was earliest used by the Moslem tribes inhabiting 
 Russia. It was introduced into western Europe by the merchant 
 traders of Constantinople and was well known in the Elizabethan 
 age of England. At that time, however, it was esteemed only by the 
 wealthy and was considered to be as far above the taste as it cer- 
 tainly was beyond the purse of ordinary people. Hamlet, in speak- 
 ing of a play, makes the comparison: "It pleased not the million; 
 'twas caviare to the general; but it was an excellent play." 
 
 The exhibit of caviare at the exposition was contributed to not 
 alone by foreign countries but by America. That from North Caro- 
 lina was salted and dried. It is also largely produced from the roe 
 of the New Jersey sturgeon. The roe is shipped to Europe, re- 
 packed, relabeled and then shipped back to America to be resold at 
 "an advanced price. It brings, originally, from five to seven dollars 
 per keg, each keg being from 100 to 130 pounds in weight, and the 
 last year's production of caviare, as shipped abroad at a low price, 
 "was valued at $140,000. Americans are rapidly developing a taste 
 for this delicacy, which is useful in the making of sandwiches as 
 well as in fish-dressing and sauces. 
 
 The Great Lakes were represented by whitefish and trout whUe 
 the eastern states displayed mackerel, haddock, blueflsh, salmon, 
 halibut, and cod. The latter is especially valuable for food as its 
 flesh contains, proportionately, far more nutriment and less fat than 
 the majority of flsh. When caught in season it is meaty and tender, 
 in fishing districts becoming a staple article of diet; but when 
 
62 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 caught out of season its flesh is stringy, tough and flavorless. It is 
 usually cured by salting and by exposure to sun and air until thor- 
 oughly dried. The cod furnishes two delicacies, highly prized by 
 all fishermen, which were sent in cans to the exposition — cods' 
 sounds and tongues. The sounds are the swimming bladders of the 
 cod and are delicate and gelatinous when cooked. The tongues are 
 tempting morsels, and neither these nor the sounds are often found 
 in inland markets, owing to the great liking which people on the 
 coasts have for them. 
 
 Halibut was displayed cured, as is usual, by salting and smok- 
 ing. There was also a display of smelt, the silvery little tid-bit 
 which is always delicious but never plentiful enough. Sardines, 
 genuine American sardines (which are only little herring), put up 
 in genuine cotton-seedl oil, took their place with the others. There 
 is no objection to these as an article of food, especially when put up 
 in a pure, vegetable oU, but to be given the name of sardines, a 
 French label and a high price, seems very unworthy the American 
 nation. Call them herring in vegetable oU, make them so good that 
 rich and poor want them and so cheap that all can buy, and another 
 name may be added to our list of distinctively American productions. 
 
 Canada had a praiseworthy exhibit, not only of fish foods 
 but also of boats and fishing appliances. There were exhibited 
 salmon, canned and dried; dried, boneless cod, and cod shredded; 
 hake and haddock, dried sturgeon, and cods' tongues in cans and 
 half-barrels. 
 
 Norway's display was particularly large and full of interest. 
 There were exhibited boats and flshing-gear of all kinds showing 
 the people to be of unusual thrift and intelligence, as well as pains- 
 taking and scientific. There was exhibited complete analyses of 
 different fish foods, so arranged that the most unlearned could at 
 once see the relative nutriment and wastes. This exhibit was ar- 
 ranged in sets of glass jars, all the jars being plainly labeled. Jar 
 number one contained two pounds of a certain fish. Jar number 
 two contained the entire amount of nitrogenous or tissue-buUding 
 elements found in a similar two pounds of the same kind of fish. 
 The next jar contained the fat or oil, the next the water, extracted, 
 and the last jar the ash or waste matter. If protein in its most 
 digestible form were desired a glance indicated which fish was most 
 suitable; if oil were necessarry, another was seen to be most valu- 
 able. Such experiments are forging along the right line, and, if 
 
FOOD PBODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 63 
 
 carried on in all lands and with all foods, it were not long before 
 people would be fed as intelligently as is live stock by the average 
 farmer. 
 
 The Norwegian dried flsh were haddock, coalflsh, stockfish, ling, 
 cod and boneless cod, shredded fish, and fish-flour. The haddock 
 were cured without salt, dried until extremely hard, and tied into 
 bundles weighing fifty pounds each. Fish flour was shown, prepared 
 from various flsh which, after being well dried, are pulverized. 
 This fish flour is extensively used as food in Norway, chiefly for bis- 
 cuits, jmddings and soups. The following flsh were well preserved 
 in' Frine: stock-fish, herring, kUp-fish, ling, cusk, cod, haddock, 
 mackerel and anchovies. Among canned flsh were sardines, ancho- 
 vies, herring in oil and a large assortment labeled, "Delicatessen." 
 The latter included flsh-balls, 
 flsh-baUs in jeUy, flsh-baUs in 
 wine sauce, cods' roe, flsh pud- 
 ding, flsh gratin and fish-balls in 
 flsh bouillon. 
 
 Among all the nations of the 
 far East, there were none which 
 more genuinely won the respect 
 of this hurrying, restless, western 
 continent than did the Japanese. 
 Whatever the food exhibited 
 might be, every detail of its his- 
 tory, growth and manufacture, . 
 even to a chemical analysis, was 
 given. The labels upon all their 
 food articles contained full in- Siamese Fish BroUer 
 
 formation, showing that the Japanese are unrivaled in patience, that 
 they are absolutely honest in the manufacture of their goods, and 
 that they endeavor, not to put upon the market the largest quantity, 
 but to make each article perfect in workmanship. Their dried flsh 
 were nicely prepared and attractively put up; salmon, herring, sar- 
 dines, skate, and sharks' fins, the latter a great delicacy. The 
 salted flsh were salmon, cod, mackerel, herring, tunny and tai. 
 Herring and sardines were preserved in oil; various fish were 
 canned, some of which were placed in the cans in layers separated 
 by grape leaves. 
 
 geawe^d, so largely used in Japan as a food, was also exhibited. 
 
64 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 It is prepared by being cleansed and then pressed into thin sheets, 
 as delicate and transparent as mica. This seaweed has an agreeable 
 taste and imparts its own flavor to other food which may be cooked 
 with it. The entire exhibit of Japan, as well as that of Norway, was 
 educational to a marked degree. 
 
 Bussia exhibited largely. There were sturgeon steak, caviare, 
 herring, smoked eels, sprats and anchovies. The exhibit impressed 
 one with the fact that the most highly prized article of all was 
 caviare. All were carefully preserved. 
 
 Great Britain exhibited dried flsh from Dublin Bay, the cele- 
 brated "Finnan baddies," and herring, most excellent herring. 
 Little wonder that herring-pies have been famous in England for 
 nearly three centuries, for we learn that in 1629, twenty -four her- 
 ring-pies, each containing five herring, were carried to court, a cus- 
 tom not yet forgotten. This is the recipe for making: Five her- 
 ring, to be seasoned with half a pound of ginger, half a pound of 
 pepper, a quarter of a pound of cinnamon, one ounce of cloves, one 
 ounce of long pepper, half an ounce of grains of paradise (a some- 
 thing very peppery and which, we are told, was then much used in 
 beer). These pies were to be washed down with good ale. 
 
 Herring are essentially modern flsh, for neither the Greeks nor 
 Romans knew of them. The Dutch first brought them from the 
 Scots and pickled them so excellently, it is said, that they derived 
 great profit from the sale. But the herring of Great Britain, such 
 as were seen at the exposition, kippered, pickled, and put up in 
 cream of tomatoes, are unequaled. There were also tunny flsh, cod, 
 pilchards, white-bait, turbot, soles and sprats, Yarmouth bloaters, 
 eels and anchovies, herring milt and herring roes. One firm made 
 a special exhibit of silvooeas, a fish resembling the herring and pos- 
 sessing a delicate fiavor. They were served to the public daily, and 
 became very popular, put up in cans with tomato sauce and kippered. 
 
 The fish exhibits of both New South Wales and Mexico were 
 largely educational. 
 
 The Mediterranean countries sent chiefly sardines put up in 
 oUve oil, the firm meated little flsh whose popularity is so great that 
 all sorts of imitations follow in its wake. Italy and Spain both sent 
 tunny in oil, also cuttle-flsh and squid. Both the latter flsh have 
 much the flavor and texture of shrimp. The cuttle-flsh was also 
 preserved in oil, sections of its arms resembling huge pipes of maca- 
 roni and the eating of one of these fearful disc-like suckers by one 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 65 
 
 unaccustomed to it brought to mind in all its horrid vividness, the 
 cuttle-fish described by Victor Hugo. Still, the flesh much resembles 
 the meat of the lobster claw and was considered as great a luxury 
 by the ancient Bomans as it is to-day by their descendants. Squid 
 is put up in its own inky fluid and is far from attractive in ap- 
 pearance. It consists simply of an elongated sac with tentacles at 
 one extremity, being largely eaten in Portugal and other countries 
 of southern Europe. 
 
 Siam exhibited several varieties of flsh, all dried, some whole 
 and some pounded and shredded. There were cuttle-fish, squid, 
 shrimp, prawn, and bass, including very many varieties with untrans- 
 latable names. The skate was also exhibited dried, a cartilaginous 
 fish, in flavor somewhat like Japanese seaweed. 
 
 As a food, fish are absolutely free to those who wish to procure 
 them from the waters and should be one of our lowest-priced articles 
 of diet. Fish do not require care as to protection, propagation or 
 feeding and were it not for the reckless waste of this product by nets 
 and traps the occupation would not be governed by the element of 
 chance or "luck" which renders it a precarious one, and its product 
 higher in price than ordinary meats. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 SHELL-FISH AND TURTLE. 
 
 HELL-PISH may be generally classified 
 as crustaceans and mollusks, the former 
 possessing an articulated body which is 
 protected by a coat or shell-like cover- 
 ing. The latter are invertebrate and in- 
 articulate animals whose shells enlarge 
 yearly to accommodate their growth-. 
 The former class includes lobster, 
 crabs, crawfish, shrimp and prawn, de- 
 scribed by Dr. Edward Smith as fibri- 
 nous, because composed of actual mus- 
 cular fibre. Mollusks may be subdi- 
 vided into bivalves, comprising the 
 oyster, scallop, clam and mussel; and univalves, including the peri- 
 winkle, cockle, limpet, whelk, etc. 
 
 Nearly all species of shell-fish were known to the Greeks and 
 Romans, the universal favorite being the oyster. Crustaceans were 
 usually eaten raw, and Pliny tells of a crawfish (which was probably 
 a lobster), measuring four cubits or nearly six feet in length. It is 
 said that the Romans were better connoisseurs of fish and shell-fish 
 than are the moderns and the deviled crab of to-day may have had 
 for its prototype the crab and mussel minced meats of two thousand 
 years ago. In the sixteenth century the lobster was largely used as 
 food, being roasted in an oven and served with vinegar, its meat, 
 until a recent date, being considered very nutritious. But the flesh 
 of all crustaceans is difficult of digestion, owing to the peculiar 
 toughness of its texture, and is likely to cause the ambitious gour- 
 met serious discomfort. An attack of indigestion may follow the 
 
68 FOOD PKODtfCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 eating of shell-fish and frequently a disturbance of the skin, pro- 
 ducing an eruption. Notwithstanding these peculiarities, shell- 
 fish are considered the very delicatessen of foods, preference being 
 given to the lobster. It is served with condiments and, were the 
 gastric juices not spurred to an unusual extent by these excitants, 
 it is probable that the chances of indigestion after a midnight 
 supper would be greatly increased. But so delicious is considered 
 the flavor of its white, tenacious flesh that many are those who will 
 continue to enjoy it in spite of risks. A certain physician, who is 
 widely known as a lecturer upon hygiene and foods, declares the 
 flesh of all shell-flsh unfit to be eaten owing to the dubious char- 
 acter of the food consumed by them. He terms them "scavengers 
 of the sea." They are usually found, it is true, in the esttiaries and 
 shallows where the rivers empty into the sea, waters none too clean 
 at anytime and often foul. Still, it is possible that they purify the 
 refuse in assimilation, to some extent, as does the rhubarb plant or 
 mushroom, which gathers nourishment from a heap of compost. 
 
 In structure the lobster resembles the common crawfish of our 
 inland creeks and consists of a thorax, terminating in a head, and an 
 abdomen, called the tail. It is protected by an external shell, which 
 it sheds yearly, the covering of the thoracic organs being split while 
 that of the tail is cast off whole. The meat is found chiefiy in the 
 tail and claws, the latter more delicate in flavor. The lobster 
 breathes through branchiae or gills, portions rarely if ever eaten. The 
 contents of the thorax consist mainly of liver, commonly called 
 brain, which is too fatty to be digestible. Lobster catching by par- 
 ties who go out in boats is considered to be as rare a sport as is 
 "crabbing," the catching, when hooks are used to dislodge the quar- 
 relsome creatures, being highly exciting to any unwary fisherman 
 whose fingers come in contact with the treacherous claws. The 
 female or hen-lobster is in greatest demand because of the eggs or 
 "berries" which are found attached beneath the tail. The eggs on 
 boiling change in color from black to bright red, and with the "coral" 
 or ovary are valued by the chef de cuisine for garnishes and for in- 
 gredients of his sauces. 
 
 Crabs resemble lobsters in possessing an external skeleton cov- 
 ering both the thorax and an insignificant tail. They are also pos- 
 sessed of ten legs, the first pair of which terminate in vicious look- 
 ing claws. Few of the many varieties of crab are used for food, the 
 commonest being the blue or edible crab {callinectes hastatus). This 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 69 
 
 crab inhabits the shallow waters throughout the entire extent of 
 the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific coasts and is always to be found in 
 seaboard markets. In the South and East the blue crab is chiefly 
 valued at that period of the year when it has cast off its old shell 
 and is in a "soft-shelled" condition. It is then broiled whole for eating 
 while, when hard-shelled, it may be deviled, baked and served upon 
 its own dainty skeleton. The edible crab of the Pacific coast, from 
 San Francisco to Puget Sound, is used only when hard-shelled on 
 account of its immense size, the shell alone being as large as a 
 breakfast plate. The meat of these crabs is delicious and they are 
 marketed, boiled, ready for salad or other preparation. They are 
 used only when caught from the deeper waters and are so plentiful 
 that the finest retail for ten cents apiece. 
 
 Crawfish, aside from minor differences, might be lobsters in 
 miniature. They inhabit secluded places in both fresh and marine 
 waters, appropriating for food whatever of mollusks, larvae or in- 
 sects, living or dead, come in their way. Owing to their voracious 
 appetites Audubon has termed them "little aquatic vultures." 
 Crawfish, particularly those of the fresh waters, are but little larger 
 than shrimp or prawn, although those of the rivers of Russia attain 
 considerable size. 
 
 Shrimp and prawn are tiny creatures found along the coasts of 
 the United States, of Europe (specially the southern countries) and 
 of Great Britain. Even upon the sea-coast, they are usually boiled 
 before being marketed, the heat changing their color to a tint known 
 as "shrimp pink." Prawn 
 resemble crawfish in ap- 
 pearance and habits and 
 are larger than shrimps. 
 Both are considered a 
 luxurious and delicate 
 food, and, although, their 
 flesh is tenacious to the 
 verge of elasticity, they Lobster. 
 
 are more digestible than lobster. The tails of these tiny fish are 
 the only portions eaten, although the rest of the body is often 
 used for flavoring soups and sauces. Like the lobster and crab they 
 are prepared with condiments. 
 
 At the Columbian Exposition the shell-flsh industry was exten- 
 sively represented. Numbers of lobster-pots were exhibited, quan- 
 
70 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 titles of cans coutalniug lobster meat and, to crown all, a mammoth 
 lobster shell, relict of a recently defunct decapod which weighed 
 twenty-three and one-half pounds. Canned lobster was sent 
 from the northeastern portion of the United States, from Canada 
 and from Japan; from England, lobster canned plain and with 
 curry. Japan sent canned crabs; and shrimp, both canned and 
 dried. Shrimp and prawn were sent from the southern of the 
 United States; shrimp, dried and pickled, were sent from Mexico, 
 pickled shrimp from New South Wales. The process of preparing 
 shrimp and prawn by drying might to advantage be more largely 
 employed in America. By such means they could be obtained at 
 inland markets at a more reasonable price than now prevails. 
 
 Of the bivalves the oyster is the most extensively used and by 
 far the most highly esteemed. With a delicate and perfect flavor it 
 has the advantage of a lineage antedating the descendants of the 
 Tarquins and immortalized by the poets of all ages. One of the 
 Greek writers calls it "the truffle of the sea," and the poets of an- 
 cient Rome vied with each other as have those of the modern world 
 in attempts to pictiire its seductiveness and'Charm. There may be 
 persons, William Matthews suggests, who do not like oysters but, 
 "like ghosts and anthropophagi, they have never appeared to us." 
 The eloquence and grandeur of the old world were nourished upon 
 the oyster. It was the first, intermediate, and last course at the 
 Boman banquet tables and many a master of eloquence, among 
 others Martial, Horace, Pliny, Seneca and Cicero, paid unto it in- 
 spired and poetic tribute. The Romans were the first to establish 
 oyster beds extensively and theirs became widely famous, the 
 oysters being as immense as those of Louisiana and Alabama. 
 
 After a few centuries of neglect the oyster was put permanently 
 into fashion by the foppish old Louis Quatorze. It became univers- 
 ally liked throughout all Europe and oyster culture has since then 
 been carried on more extensively each year. 
 
 The status of oyster culture in Europe has been most thoroughly 
 investigated by Bashford Dean of Columbia College, New Yprk. 
 According to his investigations the countries which now most ex- 
 tensively cultivate the oyster are England, Erance, Germany, Spain, 
 Portugal, Italy and the Netherlands. Italy is the home of oyster 
 culture, it having been accomplished in Rome as early as the time 
 of Crassus. The most noted of these culturists,of whom there were 
 many, was Sgrgius Orator, a wealthy patrician. Oysters were also 
 
FOOD FEODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 71 
 
 cultivated at Tarente, a prosperous and ancient city, at which place 
 the most extensive beds in all Italy are located to-day. The sys- 
 tem used is known as vertical or "rope-culture," ropes being used 
 upon which the oysters lodge and grow to maturity. 
 
 The oysters of England were known to the ancient world. 
 The largest natural beds lie in the estuary of the Thames but 
 there are also cultivated areas, the greater part of which are 
 controlled directly by parliament. Lessees of these beds are com- 
 pelled by law either to cultivate them or forfeit the lease. The 
 process of culture consists in planting the "brood" oysters over 
 areas, smooth, hard and clean of bottom and in no danger of being 
 overwhelmed by mud or sand. When the tiny oysters become of 
 sufllcient size they are removed to deeper waters to fatten for market. 
 
 To quote from Mr. Dean: "The Dutch have come to be looked 
 upon in Europe generally as the most successful administrators of 
 the oyster industry .... an industry which not only gives 
 employment to the poorer coast population, but pays into the 
 national treasury, in rental of state lands hitherto absolutely profit- 
 less, an annual income of nearly a half million of dollars." The 
 importance of oyster culture to so small a country as Holland is ap- 
 preciated when we learn that the entire cultural area of that 
 country is not half as great as that of Long Island alone. The 
 principal beds are those of the Zuyder Zee and of the Schelde estu- 
 ary. The Dutch breed their oysters upon tiles, ranged sidewise 
 in rows along the shore, and from these remove them to deeper 
 waters from which they are dredged for market. The oysters of 
 Holland and Ostend, Belgium, are considered valuable and of fine 
 flavor in all European markets. Those known as Ostend oysters 
 are those which are simply fattened at Ostend, having been origin- 
 ally obtained from the cultural beds of other countries. 
 
 The oysters of both Spain and Portugal are peculiar in shape, 
 flavor and color. This is thought to be due to the physical condi- 
 *tions of their locality, as they have not been successfully bred in 
 any'other place. There are few, if any, cultural areas, the extended 
 coast line making it possible to always depend upon the natural 
 beds from which they are dredged and sold to fishermen to be 
 planted in rented areas of their own. Oysters are there considered 
 a cheap, and in some respects, an inferior food. 
 
 The oyster beds of Germany are located only on the shores of 
 the North Sea bordering Denmark. These beds were described as 
 
72 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 early as 1652 iu tlie Danish chronicle and are, by tradition, the 
 property of the crown. Oyster culture has been practically a fail- 
 ure in Germany, owing to the sediment and mud in the waters, lack 
 of food for their growth, and the coldness of winter (Moebius). The 
 oyster supply depends, therefore, upon the products of natural beds. 
 The natural oyster beds along the coast of France were for 
 many years considered inexhaustible and not until the last fifty 
 years has oyster culture been practiced. Now the seed oysters are 
 attached to roofing tile until sufficiently large to be removed to 
 deeper waters to fatten for dredging. The French have encount- 
 ered many obstacles in the culture of oysters owing to the physical 
 conditions of their coasts and coast waters. The two principal 
 species are known as the "flat" and the "Portuguese" oyster, the 
 former round, the latter long and deeply ridged. The oyster grounds 
 of France have long been under absolute control of the government. 
 The oyster industry in America is carried on chiefly in the cele- 
 brated regions of Chesapeake and Long Island, along Connecticut, 
 in the southern gulf waters and along the western coasts. The 
 oysters are cultivated upon shells spread carefully over smooth, 
 hard bottom; in parts of Connecticut on twigs and branches, and 
 in California upon frames made of bamboo. 
 
 The chief enemies with which the young oyster has to contend 
 
 are mud and sediment, too low 
 temperature of the water during 
 winter, freshets, certain species of 
 periwinkle, and starfish. Beyond 
 dredging no remedy for these lat- 
 ter destructive agencies has been 
 used in the East, though in the 
 West the starfish are kept out of 
 the beds by fences of bamboo, 
 closely staked. 
 
 The nutritive value of the oys- 
 ter is low, though its digestibility 
 renders it of great value to the in- 
 Starfish Destroying an Oyster. ^a,lid. After the "fattening" process 
 they bring a higher price than before, although, as the oyster does 
 little more than absorb the fresh water, it is no more nutritious. 
 Many still prefer the flavor of the smaller variety dredged from the 
 natural bed. They contain only from twelve to fourteen per cent 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 73 
 
 of nutriment, slightly more than mussels, this accounting for the 
 fact that a quantity may be eaten at the beginning of a meal with- 
 out ruining the appetite for the heavier foods which follow. One 
 author relates that Vitellius once ate a thousand oysters for a meal; 
 but one is inclined to take the statement with at least as much salt 
 as the gluttonous old emperor must have taken with the oysters. 
 
 Oysters are eaten only when "in season," from September to 
 May, although this custom is not arbitrary. In May the spawning 
 season begins and for a fev/ months they are poor and unfit for 
 food, giving rise to the popular saying that they should be eaten 
 only during those months the names of which contain R. There 
 are over sixty varieties in existence and in general the small oyster 
 is confined to temperate climates while the large varieties abound 
 only in warmer waters. They have been found in lower Asia a foot in 
 length and proportionately broad, and I assisted a few years ago in 
 the eating of one fresh from the Gulf waters near Mobile the shell 
 of which measured ten and one-half inches by four. It was as deli- 
 cious as the daintiest of blue-points and as fine in flavor as any of 
 the dozen little oysters clinging to its shell. The oysters found in 
 the warm tides of the Pacific coast are, on the other hand, extremely 
 small though excellent of flavor. 
 
 It is considered by many that the flavor of an oyster is not im 
 proved by cooking while its digestibility is diminished. For these 
 reasons it is very generally eaten raw, with or without condiments, 
 a custom which may have inspired the reminiscent lines written by 
 
 Gay: 
 
 "The man had sure a palate covered o'er 
 With brass or steel, that on the rocky shore 
 First broke the oozy oyster's pearly coat, 
 And risked the living morsel down his throat." 
 Dr. Roberts states that the greatest benefit and most enjoyment can 
 be obtained from the oyster only when it is eaten raw. The dark 
 colored mass or liver of the oyster is, says he, "simply a mass of 
 glycogen or animal starch. Associated with the glycogen, but with- 
 held from actual contact with it during life, is its appropriate 
 digestive ferment, the hepatic diastase. The mere crushing of the 
 oyster between the teeth brings these two bodies together, and the 
 glycogen is at once digested without any other help than the dias- 
 tase. The raw, or merely warmed oyster, is thus self-digestive." 
 He further says that a cooked oyster has to be digested by the gas- 
 tric juice of the consumer, like any other food, the heat having de- 
 
74 FOOD PK0DUCT8 OP THE WORLD. 
 
 stroyed the associated ferment, while long cooking may render it 
 almost indigestible. 
 
 Owing to the inland location of the exposition, no raw oysters 
 were exhibited, though there were canned, dried and spice-pickled 
 oysters in abundance. 
 
 Clams, as food, are nearly as important as the oyster, although 
 chiefly used by the classes living along the coasts upon which they 
 are found. They are readily marketable, are abundant and are 
 easily procurable from the sandy beaches at low tide. Like the 
 oyster the clam consists of a tough, fibrinous portion and a soft 
 mass, the latter part more digestible. It is not highly nutritious, 
 but of desirable flavor. The "little-neck" clam, peculiar to the New 
 England coast, is sacred to the clam broth and that most epicurean 
 feast of all, the "clam-bake." Webster used to prepare clam chowder 
 for his friends at Marshfleld, and the dish is as typical of that re- 
 gion as is the "Boston baked bean." Clams have been used by the 
 New Englanders for centuries and several times during the early 
 struggles of the Plymouth colony they were the only food remaining 
 between the people and starvation. 
 
 The early settlers of Seattle and the region about Puget sound 
 are still called "clam diggers" because clams have been since the 
 first a principal article of food. The round clam or "quahaug,'' 
 though an indigestible morsel, possesses a fiavor suflSciently delicate 
 to render it valuable in the making of clam broth. The long-neck 
 clam is of small size when found on the eastern coasts of America, 
 but those from Washington and Vancouver are extremely large, 
 bearing about the same relation to their eastern cousins as the 
 gigantic California pear to one grown upon a stony New England 
 hillside. 
 
 At the exposition there were specimens of clam broth or bouillon 
 from Maine, and, in a building called the New England Clam Bake, 
 clam chowder was daily served to hundreds of visitors. Dried and 
 preserved clams were sent from the far Northwest, the largest speci- 
 mens coming from the Vancouver Indians. The Japanese sent 
 clams which were preserved by being pierced through the neck, 
 hung in rows of one or two dozen upon a stick of bamboo, and in 
 that way dried. 
 
 The scallop is in greater favor in America than in Europe. It 
 is procured during the summer months by dredging boats, chiefly 
 in the Long Island and Cape Cod regions. The powerful adductor 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 75 
 
 muscle, which serves to close the shell, is the only portion eaten. 
 
 The mussel is a small salt water moUusk, about two inches in 
 length, and best liked for food when about two years old. Its flesh 
 is of a yellow color when cooked, being tough and somewhat indigest- 
 ible. In America it is used chiefly for bait and as a fertilizer of 
 land but in the European countries it has wide favor as food. Off 
 the coasts of England thousands of tons are' collected and marketed 
 annually and it is estimated that the mussel fishery alone of Franco 
 has been worth §175,000. There they are cultivated in enclosures of 
 sea water. In China, the mussel industry is extensive, large quanti- 
 ties being dried for food. The mussel is eaten by only a limited 
 class in America. Along the Pacific coast, particularly about San 
 Francisco, mussels are abundant, those only being eaten which are 
 taken from the deeper and outlying waters. Mussels found near 
 the shore are poisonous, owing to their feeding upon the sewerage of 
 the cities which is there emptied. 
 
 The cockle is found along the shores of America as well as off 
 EYance, England, Ireland and Holland. Immense quantities are 
 consumed in the latter countries, both fresh and pickled, and as 
 they cost in the market about twenty-five dollars a ton they are 
 specially valuable to the poorer classes of people. 
 
 The limpet, as well as the cockle, periwinkle and whelk, is eaten 
 chiefly by the lower classes of Europe, being considered in America 
 indigestible and of none too good a flavor. It is always marine, and 
 is found in America adhering to the rocks along the coasts. The 
 whelk is an active little gourmand, whose food consists of dead fish, 
 crabs and other mollusks. Periwinkles are found upon the rocky 
 shores of both Europe and -America at low tide, being largely con- 
 sumed for food in the former continent. The sea-ear, or Abalone 
 oyster, belongs to the limpet family. It is found in large numbers 
 along the California coast. It is eaten fresh, though it is also dried, 
 and often weighs a pound. It is specially valued by the Chinese, 
 and is always found in their markets at San Francisco. Some idea 
 of the commercial value of this moUusk as a food may be seen in the 
 fact that a few years since the Abalone trade was worth $250,000 
 annually. The owl-limpet is another and smaller variety, so called 
 from the figure of an owl impressed upon the pearly inside coating. 
 It is greatly valued as food by the Chinese, being eaten raw, 
 cooked and dried. 
 
 Many a person has laughed over the assurance of a certain nat- 
 
76 FOOD FBODTTCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 uralist of earlier days who, in classifying animals according to their 
 outward appearance, placed the turtle in the category of insects. 
 For a reptile it is and must remain according to later dictum, the 
 only one of its class, except the edible iguana from the Isle of Trin- 
 idad, which had the honor of being exhibited in the rank and file of 
 food products at the World's Columbian Exposition. The turtle 
 has existed since the mesozoic period of the world's history and 
 more species have been discovered in fossilized formations than are 
 now in existence. It was known to the ancients, and Pliny, among 
 other writers, states that boats were made of its shell. He probably 
 referred to the trunk turtle, an immense animal which reaches a 
 length of seven or eight feet and a weight of nearly a ton. It is 
 still found in the Mediterranean but its flesh is wholly unfit for 
 food. 
 
 There is a story extant that Antony at one time gave his cook a 
 city for so skilfully preparing a certain dish that it won praises 
 from Cleopatra. This dish is believed to have been turtle, a meat 
 largely used by the wealthier Eomans. 
 
 Turtle is not a hygienic food, though its praises have been sung 
 from time immemorial by epicures and poets. It is said that any 
 meat, from pork to chicken, may be counterfeited by its various 
 portions, such different flavors are possessed by its flesh. It is ten- 
 der and palatable but extremely fat, rendering quantities of it cloy- 
 ing to the appetite and diflacult of digestion. Doubtless its repu- 
 tation as a luxury depends upon its comparative rarity and upon 
 the wine, oil and condiments used in cooking it. The turtle seen 
 upon our tables is a food too highly spiced and far too fat to be of 
 any great value to the human system aijd is far more likely to pro- 
 mote disease than to maintain health. Sailors and people living 
 along the shores off which turtle may be easily obtained soon cease 
 to eat it and return to a diet of dried codfish or even humbler fare 
 with grateful relish. 
 
 Mr. Bates, naturalist and author, who spent two years upon the 
 Amazon where turtle is found in great abundance, states that he 
 became so nauseated with the taste and odor of turtle meat that he 
 suffered from hunger on several occasions when there was scarcity 
 of everything else rather than eat of it. The native women cooked 
 It for him in a variety of ways. A soup was made from the chopped 
 entrails; the tender fiesh from the breast was minced, mixed with 
 farina and roasted, and steaks from it were cooked in fat. Sausages 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 77 
 
 were made from the stomach filled with minced meat and boiled 
 and, on other occasions, a piece of the meat roasted and dipped in 
 vinegar made an agreeable change. The flesh attached to the shell 
 of the back is called "calipash" while that attached to the lower 
 shell is known as "calipee." 
 
 Turtle soups were largely exhibited at the exposition, the only 
 soup exhibits not containing them being those sent by the western 
 packing houses of America. Turtle in any form is a luxury, unob- 
 tainable by those of limited means who live inland, and whoever 
 eats largely of it is quite sure to demoralize his liver and bring on 
 indigestion. 
 
 There are about forty species of turtle and tortoise inhabiting 
 the oceans adjacent to America, only a few of which are used for 
 food. The green turtle is the most valuable, being famous for the 
 soup made from its flesh. It attains a large size, sometimes weigh- 
 ing a thousand pounds, and is caught in the deeper waters, usually 
 by means of nets. 
 
 Terrapin, a smaller species of the tortoise family, is found in 
 both fresh and salt waters. The salt water variety is the "diamond- 
 backed" luxury of epicures and is marketed at enormous prices. 
 Its color is a dull brown. It is slow of growth, reaching a market- 
 able size in not less than six years. It is then from six to seven 
 inches long and three inches in height. The flesh is most prized 
 during hibernation, when the terrapin is found buried in the mud 
 of the salt marshes. There are two terrapin farms in the United 
 States, one, the oldest and most famous, in Maryland, the other 
 near^lofeilfij Alabama. A farm consists of alternate canals of sea 
 water, cut in from the coast, and ridges of land, the whole enclosed 
 by a high fence. Every terrapin caught in the ocean is taken there 
 and, as they breed rapidly in the farm, the industry is profitable in 
 spite of the years that elapse before they reach a marketable size. 
 They retail at from forty to sixty dollars a dozen. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 SOUPS AND MEAT EXTBACTS. 
 
 T IS written that the chefs of France in the time 
 of Louis, le Grand Monarque, devised "bouillon" 
 and "consomm^" because mastication was con- 
 sidered to be vulgar. The vast display of soups 
 at the Columbian Exposition half persuaded 
 one that the rest of the world had reached the 
 same conclusion and lived upon nothing else. 
 For so indispensable is a soup considered to 
 even an ordinary dinner that the canning 
 houses both at home and abroad find ready 
 market for their goods. One reason that pre- 
 pared soups are so largely bought is that the 
 average housewife cannot prepare one in the 
 limited time she is wUliag or able to give. She 
 will inevitably omit the one indispensable con- 
 sideration, time; for without consecrating the better part of a day 
 to its making, one's soup is a failure. The making of a good soup 
 is an art, and requires not only skill but tact and sympathy. Slow 
 cooking is a chemical necessity, and any hastening of the process 
 means ruin. 
 
 Soup gives a great amount of nourishment while it requires of 
 the system a minimum of exertion in assimilation. It soothes an 
 impatient stomach into gentlest of humor and may serve as the 
 major part of a meal or only as a dainty appetizer. Count Rum- 
 ford, after five years of experiment in feeding the poor of Munich, 
 
80 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 found that the most savory, most nourishing and least expensive 
 food was soup, generally made from pearl barley, potatoes, bread, 
 and seasonings. But among the better classes soup is simply the 
 first course of a more or less elaborate dinner. Says an author, "A 
 soup is to a dinner what a portico is to a mansion; it is not merely 
 the first thing to which you come but it also serves to give an idea 
 of what the architect intends to do afterward." Brillat-Savarin 
 says, "it rejoices the stomach and disposes it to receive and digest 
 other food," and to many, a dinner without soup would be far from 
 relishable. The true gourmet prefers a light soup, served hot and 
 in small quantity, the heavy soups, such as the purees, creams, 
 mullagatawny, and turtle soups being ruinous to the appetite and 
 all too traitorous to the courses which follow. 
 
 The lighter varieties are either extract or gelatine soups. 
 Bouillon, the best known of the former kind, is made from chopped 
 lean beef and, like beef tea, must be entirely free from fat. It is 
 clarified with egg, strained, and may be served either hot or ice cold. 
 Bouillon is a stimulant, contaiiung very little nutriment. 
 
 Consomm^ has no English word-equivalent. It is a gelatine 
 soup, richer and more nutritious than bouillon. It may or may not 
 be brown, but should always be clear, various articles being added 
 to the liquor at times to give it variety. It is then known by vari- 
 ous names, such as consomm^ au riz, when rice is added; consomm^ 
 julienne, vegetables being used; consomm^ aux petits pois, con- 
 somme with green peas; or consommd d'ltalie, consomme to which 
 small fancy or alphabetical pastes are added. Each cook may vary 
 ingredients or flavor, providing that the jelly-like consistency is 
 retained. Consomm^ and bouillon are the bases of all good meat 
 soups, delicacy of flavor and aroma being their prime qualities. 
 
 Purees are composed of meat-stock and vegetables, the latter 
 being reduced through a sieve until the whole soup is of a thick, 
 creamy consistency. Cream soups differ little from purees except 
 in the addition of cream. Velvet soups are made of tapioca, per- 
 fectly cooked and strained into the stock. These soups require the 
 perfect suspension of aU. ingredients in the stock. Bisques are 
 pur^e soups seasoned with crayfish and are always delicate in flavor. 
 Potage is a creamy soup, resembling a pur^e. 
 
 BouiU-abaisse is peculiarly a French dish, said to be no- 
 where found of greater excellence than at Marseilles. As the name 
 indicates, it is a broth reduced to some consistency by evaporation, 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 81 
 
 being usually a fish broth. Thackeray has immortalized it in the 
 following lines: 
 
 " This Bouillabaisse a noble disb is, 
 
 A sort of soup or broth or brew 
 Or hotch pot of all sorts o( fishes, 
 
 That Greenwich never could out do ; 
 Green herbs, red peppers, mussels, safEern, 
 
 Soles, onions, garhc, roach and dace ; 
 All these you eat at Torre's tavern 
 
 In that one dish of Bouillabaisse." 
 
 The French have another soup called "Potage a la jambe du 
 bois," or "soup of the wooden leg.'' It is made from a shin of beef 
 and is served with the shin bone (the wooden leg) "emerging like 
 the bowsprit of a wreck from the sea of vegetables." 
 
 MuUagatawny soup is of East Indian origin, the name being de- 
 rived from two Tamil words meaning pepper-water. Its chief ingre- 
 dients are chicken, rice and curry; plenty of the latter by all means. 
 
 Turtle soups are perhaps the most highly seasoned and most 
 epicurean of all soups known to us, but as has been stated, they are 
 far from being hygienic articles of diet. 
 
 The superiority of good soups over bad lies largely in the flavor- 
 ings. "Bay-leaf," it has been said, "is to soups what vanilla is to 
 sweets;" anZTlEe bouquet garni of the French consists of parsley, 
 thyme, laurel, bay and cloves, with or without a small onion. 
 
 The different varieties of soups exhibited at the Columbian Ex- 
 position were green turtle, mock turtle, terrapin, consomm^, bouil- 
 lon. Julienne, ox-tail, chicken broth, chicken with rice, with curry, 
 with gumbo and with tomato; purees of peas, green peas, corn and 
 game; creams of asparagus and celery; mullagatawny, beef with 
 barley, mutton broth, and soups of oyster, hare, game, kidney and 
 venison. 
 
 The Australian soups differed from the others in being con- 
 centrated untU quite solid and gelatinous. Both the French and 
 English sent "dessicated soups," consisting of dessicated meat and 
 vegetables which require cooking for some time in a quantity of 
 water before being used. Both of these preparations are eminently 
 valuable in army or navy or for the use of travelers who are com- 
 pelled to carry their own food supplies. 
 
 Meat extracts are a perpetual monument to the fallibility of 
 popular as well as scientific opinion. When Baron Liebig first gave 
 to the world his fluid extract of beef he believed it to contain all the 
 
82 FOOD PEODaCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 nutriment necessary for the maintainance of health and vigor in 
 any person using it. The world in general and doctors in particular 
 accepted this new gospel because of the prestige of Baron Liebig's 
 name. Physicians of a generation ago have much to answer for, as 
 it is now believed that many a patient may have been actually 
 starved to death on Liebig's extraetum earnis. 
 
 Thirty-four pounds of lean beef are required to make one 
 pound of extract. Pat, gelatine and albumin are excluded, leaving 
 only the salts and extractive flavors, principles which are of little 
 nutritive value. The extract contains the creatine of the beef 
 which is to meat what theine is to tea or caffeine to coffee; and it 
 also contains the ozmazone which gives to meat extracts their pecu- 
 liarly aromatic flavor. Beef extract is therefore not nutritious, 
 although valuable in any exhausted condition of the system because 
 of its stimulating and restorative properties. By promoting organic 
 activity in systems which are debilitated it is far more valuable 
 than alcoholic stimulants, because of the absence of depressing 
 secondary effects. 
 
 Beef extract is a valuable adjunct in every household because 
 of its appetizing qualities and for the,.^vorit may impart to various 
 kinds of soups. Its use as a refreshment produces such tonic and 
 stimulating effects that it is now served hot in nearly every drug 
 store or restaurant in America. The best American beef ex- 
 tracts are in every respect equal to those of Liebig. 
 
 Meat extracts are both fluid and solid, though it is not always 
 wise to decide in favor of the latter. There are a few solid extracts 
 on the market consisting more largely of gelatine than of extractive 
 principle. One beef tonic, consisting of pulverized beef and beef 
 extract, is valuable because a greater amount of nutrition is con- 
 tained than in the simple extract. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 CONDIMENTS, SPICES AND FLAVORS. 
 
 MAXIM as ancient as the time of Democritus of Abdera 
 reads: "Whatever pleases the palate nourishes." Modern 
 science has proven the truth of this maxim and has given 
 us acceptable reason vphy condiments are no more 
 necessary in palace of connoisseur than in hut of 
 barbarian, why they are as eagerly used by the native 
 of Labrador as by the swarthy son of the tropics; why they are the 
 property of Mohammedan, Confucian, Buddhist, Gentile and Jew, 
 of all castes, races and civilizations. * Acting principally upon the 
 nervous system through the sense of smell, condiments stimulate 
 the flow of both the saliva and the gastric juices. They materially 
 aid digestion, and the familiar phrase, "to make the mouth water," 
 states a physiological fact. From this standpoint the fragrant 
 aroma of steaming coffee and the savory odor of a stew are as truly 
 condiments as pepper and salt; for condiments are the magic wand 
 which transform most commonplace of foods into essences, subtle 
 and delicious. They are equally appropriate to the steaming potage 
 of the French peasant and the sacrificial altars of Palestine and 
 Greece. Nothing more closely tests the skill of the cook than his 
 use of these appetizing flavors. Like genii of the fairy tale, they 
 are willing, versatile and obedient as slaves; when master their 
 pathway is likely to be strewn with sorrowful though most aromatic 
 wrecks of soups and hors d'ceuvres. They should permeate foods as 
 incense does the atmosphere, delicate, impalpable and as indescrib- 
 able as they are requisite. The too abundant use of a certain condi- 
 ment or spice, the lack of another or the injudicious mingling of 
 certain others will ruin the finest pudding, sauce or soup over 
 compounded, 
 7 
 
8i FOOD niODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 Condiments and spices are as ancient as civilization. The 
 oldest books of the scriptures, notably Exodus, Leviticus, Job and 
 the Canticles, make frequent reference to salt and spices, sub- 
 stances which were costly and chiefly dedicated to royalty and the 
 uses of temple and altar. The Greeks followed the Semitic customs 
 to some extent in their disposition of spices, not using them as 
 largely in their food as have later races. They were fond of aromatic 
 flavorings and it is said that the laurels of Greece, of which the 
 cinnamon is a species, possessed that quality to a greater extent 
 than those of any other country, although all laurels have aromatic 
 leaves. 
 
 Homer in the Iliad refers with naive surprise to those people 
 unaccustomed to the use of salt, and in the ninth book pictures 
 Patroclus as 
 
 "He strows a bed of glowing embers wide, 
 
 Above the coals the smoking fragments turns. 
 
 And sprinkles sacred salt upon the urns." 
 
 By the mediaeval Bomans condiments were well liked. They 
 made, according to one author, a pickle from the tunny flsh, just as 
 their languorous descendants are doing to-day, and also prepared a 
 condiment from the intestipes of the mackerel. "Liver of the 
 capon, steeped in milk and beccaflcoes, and dressed with pepper" 
 was another of their highly seasoned dishes. 
 
 In the thirteenth century Dante, in the description of the 
 alchemists and forgers of the tenth gulf of the Inferno, refers to 
 one Niccolo of Siena "who flrst the spice's luxury discovered." 
 Contemporary with him in England, Wm. Langland, in his "Vision 
 of Piers the Plowman," inquires if thou "hast in thy purse any hot 
 spices?" 
 
 Frequent reference by the writers of that day Indicates that 
 these substances were expensive and used mainly by the luxurious. 
 Venice had for many years controlled the trade in spices, which 
 were brought overland from the Orient in immense caravans, and 
 not until Diaz and Vasco de Gama, in the fifteenth century, rounded 
 the Cape of Good Hope did their costliness diminish. After that 
 event spices and condiments ceased to be regarded merely as luxu- 
 ries and became as necessary to the plainest of soups as to the 
 Puree de volaille a la Bearnise of the French chef. 
 
 All classes of people use condiments in some form, from the 
 wealthy epicure who flavors his terrapin with mace, salt, pepper 
 
FOOD PBODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Vegetable^ 
 
 AEOMATIOS 
 
 and sherry to the negro who sifts okra through his fingers into his 
 gumbo soup or the Indian, stirring the contents of a steaming kettle 
 with twigs of sassafras. 
 
 Condiments have been defined as those substances eaten with 
 meat and combined with salt while spices are chiefly added to 
 articles containing sugar. They may be classified as follows: 
 
 'Clove, cinnamon, cassia-bud, pimento or 
 allspice, nutmeg, mace, cardamon, pepper, 
 cumin, coriander, fenugreek, grains of 
 Paradise, anise, dill, caraway, basil, chervU, 
 celery, fennel, bay-leaves, summer savory, 
 parsley, thyme, sage, sweet marjoram, 
 mint, tarragon, onion, leek, garlic, saffron, 
 capers, turmeric and curry powder. 
 
 {Mustard, 
 horse-radish, 
 chillies, 
 ginger. 
 
 MlNEKAL-{ Salt. 
 
 Animal ■{ Pastes and essences of shrimp, lobster, bloater, anchovy, etc. 
 
 Sattces \ Chutney, Tabasco, lime juice, Worcestershire, ketchup, 
 ( carachi, cassareep and soy. 
 
 ■PTr.c-T T.O S Various vegetables and fruits, such as cucumber, olive, 
 i-iCKLES j sanpiiire, etc. 
 
 Flavors ^ VanUIa, tonka bean, almond, chocolate, orange and 
 I various fruits. 
 
 Acids ■{ Vinegar, lime juice, lemon juice, verjuice. 
 
 rir.T.T.TATC! ( Cura^oa, Noyau, Eatafla, anisette, kuemmel, absinthe, 
 l-obdials I Chartreuse, Maraschino, etc. 
 
 Salt is even more valuable as a condiment than as a preservative. 
 It is used in every staple article of cookery and, as has been said, 
 'Plutarch was right when he styled salt the condiment of condi- 
 ments." Cereals and vegetables are tasteless without the addition 
 of that mysterious quantity, "a pinch of salt," bread is insipid with- 
 out a dash of it, as also are cakes and puddings. Meats, when so 
 cooked that their own salts are not extracted, as when roasted, are 
 more palatable without additional salt than any other food so 
 prepared. 
 
 Though salt is unused because unattainable by certain barbaric 
 peoples, such as the Bedouins, it is considered to be a necessity by 
 all others. Aristptje relates that in Greece a salt spring was be- 
 
86 
 
 FOOD PBODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 lieved to be a direct gift of the gods, salt always comprising part of 
 the religious offerings. Salt is referred to in the Scriptures more 
 than a score of times. In Leviticus we find the command that 
 "every oblation of thy meat offering shall be seasoned with salt." 
 In Job occurs the question "can that which is unsavory be eaten 
 without salt?" The Biblical comparison to salt which has lost its 
 savor refers to the custom still retained in Oriental countries of 
 adulterating with earth the salt which finds its way to the extremely 
 poor who can not pay the original high price. ;, So costly was salt 
 in the ancient world that the old caravan routes were first formed 
 for traffic in this article. The "Salarian Way" of Home was so 
 named because of its immense commerce in salt and to this day the 
 trade route across the Sahara is by this means mainly supported. 
 Recently the salt beds of Europe and the salt mines and wells of 
 the western hemisphere have made this 
 article so abundant that its cheapness 
 effectually protects it from adulteration. 
 Cloves are the unexpanded fiowers of 
 an evergreen tree found in the East Indies 
 and indigenous to the Molucca Islands. 
 They are called by the Chinese "fragrant 
 naUs" owing to the peculiar shape of the 
 dried clove buds, and the English word is 
 derived from the Latin clavim, and French 
 clou, also meaning nail. It is doubtful 
 if cloves were known to the Greeks or 
 Romans, the Venetians having first ob- 
 tained them from the Arabians, while the 
 clove trade was later monopolized by 
 the Portuguese. Then it was owned by 
 the Dutch who expelled the Portuguese from the Spice Islands in 
 1605. The Dutch made great effort to control the entire spice trade 
 of these islands, which was a source of abundant wealth, and were 
 even known to furnish the market with the adulterated article, the 
 oil of clove being extracted by pressure and the buds being given a 
 fresh appearance by a glai"^ of olive oil. They also preserved the 
 mother clove, or fully developed fruit. This resembles an olive in 
 appearance and, being less pungent in flavor than the bud, makes a 
 dainty sweetmeat. The clove tree is not hardy and grows best when 
 planted in loamy soil, sheltered from the winds by the hills, It has 
 
 Clove. 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 87 
 
 been introduced into the West Indies and Guiana. Cloves from the 
 Moluccas and Ceylon are more valuable, being richer in oil, darker 
 in color and far more aromatic. 
 
 Cinnamon is the inner bark of a tree allied to the laurels. It is 
 indigenous to Ceylon and the Penang Islands although believed by 
 some authorities to have originally come from China, where it has 
 flourished since the remotest times. As it is mentioned in the Old 
 Testament it is conjectured that the Hebrews obtained it from the 
 Arabians who in turn procured it from India. Later it was men- 
 tioned by HerodotuS. It is known that Hippocrates used cinnamon 
 
 Cassia Buds. 
 ^nedicinaUy and the modern medical world has but recently made 
 cassi§u^ In shape and size they resemble cloves, in aroma, cinnamon, 
 and are usually preserved whole for sweetmeats or spices. Cassia 
 is mentioned by Moses as an ingredient of the holy oil, in Psalms as 
 a perfume and in Ezekiel as a spice. 
 
 Allspice, sometimes called Jamaica pepper "and properly, 
 pimento, is native to the Island of Jamaica and has not been suc- 
 cessfully cultivated outside of the West Indies. The pimento tree 
 yis an evergreen of the myrtlebloom family, all of which are exotic 
 \he discovery that oil of cinnamon is a valuable antiseptic and 
 germicide. Not until 150C was cinnamon discovered wild in Ceylon 
 and not until 1770 was it improved by cultivation. The tree grows 
 to a height of twenty and occasionally tmrty feet, although, as the 
 bark from the young shoots is of finer flavor, that only is used. 
 Cinnamon shrubs are cultivated in fields, the finest being located in 
 the region of Colombo, Ceylon. The shoots, which grow in clusters 
 
88 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 of from four to ten, are out to the roots twice a year, after the rains. 
 The epidermis is peeled off, the bark is put up in bundles about 
 forty inches long and thus dried and marketed. Three grades are 
 exported, the finest, thin, of a brownish yellow color, fragrant and 
 sweet of odor and correspondingly high of price. It is also adulter- 
 ated with cassia bark, a cheaper production. 
 
 Cassia is the inner bark of a species of cinnamon called Chinese 
 cinnamon or cassia lignea. The greater part of it is exported from 
 CJiina. The bark is put up in bundles about half the length of 
 cinnamon bark and is more pungent and less sweet of flavor. Cassia 
 buds are the unripened fruits of the tree which produces Chinese 
 trees, and reaches a height of thirty feet. The allspice of commerce 
 consists of the berries of this tree, exported whole after being dried, 
 and so called because their aroma resembles that of cloves, cinna- 
 mon, juniper and nutmeg. The berries are gathered when green, 
 being left on the twigs until dried by the sun, by which means all 
 the essential oil is retained. 
 
 Nu^Jteg is the kernel of the fruit of an exotic evergreen tree 
 native to the Banda and other of the East Indian islands. In ap- 
 pearance it resembles the orange, yielding fruit 
 l'^^^^'^ when eight or nine years of age and bearing 
 
 for fifty or sixty years. It requires a light soil, 
 moisture and shade, and cannot be propagated 
 in regions in which these conditions are not 
 I present. The tree bears fruit during most o^ 
 the year, in the Molucca and other islands three 
 crops a year being gathered. The fruit, which 
 requires nine months in which to mature, is 
 Nutmeg. ■ carefuUy dried before the pericarp is removed 
 
 and the kernel taken out. There are three varieties, the ma.le or 
 barren, the royal and the queen, the last, a small, round nutmeg, 
 considered most valuable. The inferior nutmegs are used for the 
 extraction of nutmeg butter or oil, known as "oil of mace." Aboutj ' 
 six per cent of volatile oil is contained. It is stated that moice nut- 
 megs are exported to the United States than to all Europe. The 
 Dutch formerly preserved the entire fruit, kernel and pericarp, in a 
 syrup of sweet vinegar for a sweetmeat. This nation when in con- 
 trol of the spice trade of certain of the East Indian islands made 
 strenuous efforts to confine the nutmeg tree to the Bandas. But 
 the "nutmeg bird," a species of blue pigeon, frustrated their designs 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 89 
 
 by scattering the nuts all over the islands after feeding upon their 
 pulpy covering. So determined at one time were the Dutch to keep 
 the price of nutmegs high that, if an unusually large harvest oc- 
 curred, part of it was burned by them. 
 
 Mace is the reticulated aril covering the kernel. When fresh, it 
 is of a crimson color, reaching the golden tint only when dried and 
 after some months. In its properties it is similar to the nutmeg. 
 The leaves of the nutmeg tree as well as the fruit are highly aromatic. 
 The cardamon is a member of the ginger family and is native to 
 Malabar, Madagascar and Ceylon. That from the latter country 
 is of quite large size. It consists of a rhizome or root stock from which 
 rise tall, flag-like leaves. The flower stem springs directly from the 
 root and is much shorter, bearing racemiform clusters of small 
 white flowers. The fruit consists of greenish pods half an inch in 
 length, each pod being three capsuled and containing numerous 
 seeds. These seeds are pungent in flavor and constitute the valu- 
 able part of the plant. The pods are dried slowly as rapid drying 
 causes them to split, thereby losing the seeds. Cardamon seeds 
 were used by the ancient Greeks both as a spice and as medicine. 
 Pepper, with cinnamon, salt and incense, was 
 one of the staple commodities which anciently 
 passed over the caravan routes between Venice 
 and India. At that time its price was extremely 
 high and, according to E. M. Holmes, rents were 
 frequently paid in this article as late as the 
 middle ages. After the sack of Rome by the 
 barbarians one of the articles of tribute demanded 
 by Alaric was a thousand pounds of pepper. As 
 late as the eighteenth century the pepper trade was 
 confined to the Portugese. In recent years it has 
 become one of the cheapest of our spices. 
 The pepper plant is a vine, of the order piperacece, which grows 
 wild in China, is also indigenous to Malabar and other islands of 
 the East Indies, and has been introduced into the V/est Indies. 
 The plants require a rich moist soil, bearing after the fourth year 
 and continuing fruitful for from eight to fourteen years. The most 
 famous of the pepper islands are the Penang, which furnish more 
 than half the amount produced by the entire East Indies. Only 
 the berries of the pepper plant are valuable and those, being 
 gathered before fully developed, have a wrinkled appearance when 
 
00 FOOD PBODPCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 dried. The berries used for white pepper are decorticated either in 
 the islands or in London and reach the United States ready for 
 grinding. The finest grade passes through more than twenty dif- 
 ferent operations before it is considered marketable. 
 
 Black pepper differs from the white in the leaving on of the 
 hull, which is black and contains the acrid principles of the flavor. 
 Hence, white pepper is less pungent and fully as fine in flavor as 
 the black. Shot pepper consists of the finest berries, those richest 
 in oil. It is selected by throwing a quantity of the berries in water. 
 Those which sink are collected, labeled, and sold as shot pepper. 
 
 Long pepper, referred to by the Greeks as piperi maoron, is the 
 unripe fruit of a species of pepper, an inch or more in length and 
 and shaped like a spike. The flavor is similar to that of ordinary 
 black pepper. African pepper is another variety. Those best 
 known to the western markets are Penang, Tellicherry and Malabar. 
 Cumin or cummin is a small herbaceous plant, native to Egypt 
 and very early cultivated in the Mediterranean countries. It is now 
 grown in India, Sicily and Malta, the seeds only being valuable. 
 These contain a large proportion of essential oil which gives them 
 an aromatic but acrid flavor. They are not now used in cookery 
 though receipts are still extant which prove them to have once 
 been considered a valuable culinary spice. The Latin poets relate 
 that the ancients used cumin seeds medicinally, their effect being 
 to produce languor. They ai'e referred to in Isaiah as being 
 "beaten out with a rod" and also in the Mosaic law regarding tithes. 
 
 Coriander is a small umbelliferous 
 plant native to the eastern of the Mediter- 
 ranean countries but now cultivated quite 
 generally in both Europe and America. 
 The fruits, erroneously called the seeds, 
 are nearly always mentioned in the earlier 
 recipes for meats and puddings and to 
 this day many a country housewife consid- 
 ers them indispensable to the flavoring of 
 dried apple pies. The plant grows wild 
 in all parts of Palestine, especially in the 
 Coriander. Jordan valley. 
 
 Fenugreek is an herbaceous plant allied to the clover. It is 
 native to the Asiatic countries and is still cultivated in France and 
 Germany. The seeds were formerly used as a spice, but now only 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 91 
 
 as an ingredient of curry powder, owing to their strong, bitter and 
 unpleasant flavor. 
 
 Grains of Paradise are the dried seeds of a reed-like plant allied 
 to the ginger family and indigenous to western Africa. The fruit 
 which contains the seeds is four or five inches in length and of a 
 bright red color. The seed are now ne ver used, excepting occasionally 
 by brewers. Formerly they were esteemed as a spice for cookery 
 and were one of the ingredients of the famous Norwich herring pies 
 of old England. In flavor they are extremely hot and pungent. 
 
 Anise is a little annual of the order umbelliferse and scarcely 
 more than a foot in height. It is indigenous to Europe, although 
 cultivated in many of the northern Med- 
 iterranean countries. The seeds are pow- 
 erful aromatics, used both medicinally 
 and in the preparation of a liqueur called 
 "anisette," which is to the Italians what 
 kuemmel is to the Germans. The star 
 anise is a tree allied to the ma^olias, 
 the seeds of which are stronger and less 
 pleasant of flavor than those of the com- 
 mon anise. They are called star aniseed 
 from the star-like shape of the fruit. 
 The anise mentioned in the New Testa- 
 ment as part of the tithes "is a different 
 plant, believed to be dill. 
 
 Dill is a small herb, native to Spain, 
 which produces umbelliferous stalks of 
 yellow flowers. It is still cultivated in 
 portions of temperate Europe. An aro- 
 matic oU is extracted from the tiny seeds 
 which are also used, whole, for flavoring 
 pickles. 
 
 Caraway is also an umbelliferous 
 plant growing wild in the meadows and 
 pastures of both Europe and Asia. It is 
 cultivated for its mildly aromatic seeds, 
 although in the northern countries of 
 Europe the root, which resembles the 
 parsnip, is also eaten. No aromatic of temperate climates is more 
 common than the dainty, white-blooming plant growing in the 
 
 Caraway. 
 
92 
 
 FOOD PBODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 
 
 kitchen gardens of both hemispheres. Its seeds are used for the 
 spicing of cheese, cakes and candies, and in Germany in the rye 
 bread called "ktimmel-brod," which is universally eaten. The 
 seeds are also used in the making of an aromatic cordial called 
 "ktimmel." 
 
 Basil is not now used as extensively in cooking 
 as formerly. Its native haunts are India and Persia, 
 although since it yields gracefully to culture, it is 
 to be found in many old-fashioned kitchen gardens. 
 Its aromatic properties are similar to those of other 
 I J. / garden herbs. 
 
 V("*<S»T^ Chervil is an umbelliferous annual possess- 
 
 ing aromatic leaves and somewhat resembling 
 parsley in flavor. It is used in Europe as a pot- 
 herb for soups and stews, but is chiefly known in 
 America as cpe of the obsolete delicacies which 
 deserve to be still popular. The root, which is 
 fleshy and fusiform in shape, is cooked and eaten 
 . .„ by the people of southern Europe. 
 '\i Celery is a veritable plebeian, originally grow- 
 
 -y*- ing wild in the ditches and fens of Europe, a 
 / coarse, offensive and poisonous vegetable. Few 
 
 plants are so susceptible to the influences of culti- 
 vation and it is difficult to recognize its unaristo- 
 cratic prototype in the tender, white and aromatic stalks of the 
 garden product. It belongs to the parsley family and every portion 
 13 useful to the cook, from the daintily curled tops which may be 
 used for both flavor and garnish, the stalks which may be eaten 
 plain, dressed raw in salad or cooked, to the seeds, the flavor of 
 which makes even the poorest of soups relishable. The seeds are 
 now commonly ground for the making of "celery salt" or "celery 
 pepper," as the same product is variously called. A variety of 
 celery, called celeriae, is cultivated in certain European countries, 
 notably Germany, the root only, which is large and fleshy, being 
 eaten. The famous "wild celery" of Chesapeake Bay is simply "eel- 
 grass," an aquatic plant which bears no relationship whatever to the 
 umbelliferse, of which order celery is a species. 
 
 Fennel is an umbelliferous plant, native to portions of temper- 
 ate Europe and Asia, especially Portugal. The fruits possess an 
 aromatic flavor while the tender shoots are used for salad. The 
 
 Basil. 
 
FOOD PBODUCTS OF THE WOBLD. 
 
 93 
 
 plant and its culinary value was weU known to the Bomans, and it is 
 to-day cultivated in both Europe and America. The fruits of the 
 European fennel are used in the making of an aromatic drink, 
 while in America the plant is chiefly cultivated for its leaves. It 
 has been said that fennel is to fish what mint is to lamb, and in cer- 
 tain of the southern states mackerel is considered of too strong a 
 flavor to be eaten unless cooked with fennel. The fennel thus used 
 grows wild, the green leaves being tied in bunches and boiled with 
 the flsh. 
 
 Bay leaves are the 
 leaves of a shrub be- 
 longing to the laurel 
 tribe, which grows wild 
 in the Mediterranean 
 countries. Among the 
 Greeks the bay leaf was 
 consecrated to the uses 
 of poetry, heroism and 
 religion. Not until later 
 times was it used as a 
 Bay Leaves. flavoring for foods and 
 
 for the decoration of various dishes. It grows wild in certain of the 
 the southern states but the leaves are usually exported from 
 Europe, dried. The leaves are used in soups, stews and pickles and, 
 although the average housewife finds it next to impossible to procure 
 them, scarcely a recipe for these articles of food but includes bay 
 leaves among its flavorings. 
 
 Summer savory is a hardy little annual which has long grown 
 wild in southern Europe and is now largely cultivated for culinary 
 use. Both the summer and winter savories are fragrant and are 
 valuable in the seasoning of sausages and gravies. 
 
 Parsley is a native of the island of Sardinia and, having been 
 improved in both fragrance and appearance by culture, is more val- 
 uable than any other herb for the garnishing of dishes. Its curled, 
 crisp, green leaves give the poorest salad or meat a tempting ap- 
 pearance, well sustained by the fineness of flavor it imparts. 
 Its flavor somewhat resembles that of celery. The little herb 
 may be seen in nearly every garden during the summer months 
 and often in a pot, or kitchen window-box during the winter, from 
 which it may be plucked fresh daUy. The experienced cook would 
 
94 
 
 FOOD PKODDCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 part with any other half dozen condiments more willingly than 
 with parsley. The plant belongs to the uvibelliferce, which order in- 
 cludes the carrot, parsnip and celery. It is said to have come 
 originally from Egypt and mythology represents Hercules as adorn- 
 ing his head with its curled leaves. 
 
 Thyme. 
 
 Thyme, a little under shrub native to the Mediterranean coun- 
 tries, is allied botanically to sage, summer savory and sweet basil. 
 It possesses very small leaves and whorls of tiny, lilac-colored 
 flowers, from which thymol or oil of thyme, a valuable germicide, is 
 distilled. In flavor it is fragrant and aromatic and it may be 
 readily cultivated in gardens. The wild thyme of our banks "where 
 ox-lips and the nodding violet grows," is a difiPerent variety of the 
 same order. Its name is derived from the Greek word thumos, 
 meaning incense or perfume. 
 
 Sage is a small plant of the order labiatce, and is native to 
 southern Europe. It has been so greatly changed by cultivation 
 that little semblance of the original plant now remains in the sage 
 of our gardens excepting the flavor. It was known to the ancients 
 and to-day its fragrant, grayish green leaves constitute one of our 
 commonest flavorings. 
 
 It was an Englishman who once said that "mint made lamb out 
 of an old sheep"! Perhaps he loved it also because of the legend 
 that it once existed in the form of a beautiful maiden, transformed 
 by Persephone into the modest aromatic of our gardens. The mint 
 designated is that member of the labiate family knov/n as spear- 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 B5 
 
 mint, native to Europe but grown in all portions of the United 
 States and largely marketed. It is a small, green herb, the leaves 
 
 Mint, 
 being highly aromatic and, when bruised, yielding a valuable essen- 
 tial oil. It is equally liked in the mint sauce so indispensable to 
 mutton and the mint- julep — 
 
 " This cordial julep here, 
 That flames and dances in his crystal bounds." 
 
 Sweet marjoram grows wild in Spain and Portugal and, in a 
 cultivated state, throughout Europe and the United States. It is a 
 member of the mint family and, like spear mint, possesses aromatic 
 leaves. 
 
 Tarragon is a small, aromatic herb, native to 
 Liberia. It is cultivated in Europe and is the 
 estragon of the French, who use the young 
 plants largely for salads. It is hardy, and is 
 grown extensively in America, being used for 
 flavoring vinegar, mustard and pickles. Tarra- 
 gon vinegar, from the excellence of its flavor, 
 should have a place in every household. 
 
 The onion is believed to have originated in 
 Egypt although it was known in very early times 
 in India. In the former country it was wor- 
 Tarragon. shiped as a deity. "Cucumbers, and the melons, 
 
 find the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick" formed the daily 
 
96 FOOD PBODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 food of the Israelites in Egypt. Italy and Spain are now noted for 
 the immense size of the onions grown there, as also are the Bermuda 
 Islands. Those of the latter place possess a far milder flavor, a 
 condition due to soil and climate. The flavor of onion, when strong, 
 is unpleasant to some people to a nauseating degree and it is hard 
 to see in it any resemblance to its dainty cousins, the lily and the 
 hyacinth. But when skillfully used it is a valuable and wholesome 
 culinary condiment and is more largely employed by the average 
 cook than the uninitiated ever suspect. Says one author: "The 
 onion is the sheet ancho^, of the skillful cook. It is impossible to 
 prepare the delicate Bordelaise sauce without resorting to the use 
 of onions and a shade of garlic, .... and it is the judicious use 
 of these two seasonings that stamps the expert cook." 
 
 The leek is a member of the onion family, similar in flavor, 
 although milder, and the leaves of which are flat instead of tubular. 
 It has been stated that in England the leek was once considered to 
 be the typical plant, both onion and garlic being but species. The 
 diet of the soldiers of ancient Greece was at one time leeks and 
 cheese, a custom which Bulwer has satirized in a Neo-Greek out- 
 burst of rhyme: 
 
 " Away, away, with the helm and greaves, 
 Away with the leeks and cheese ! 
 I have conquered my passion lor wounds and Wows, 
 And the worst that I wish to the worst of my foes 
 Is the glory and gain 
 Of a year's campaign 
 On a diet of leeks and cheese!" 
 
 Garlic possesses an onion-like bulb around which smaller bulbs 
 cluster, the whole covered by a membranous outer layer. 
 Each bulb is described as a "clove'' of garlic and in 
 flavor is far more demonstrative than onion. Shallot, 
 on the contrary, is the daintiest of the onion tribe, 
 growing from a cluster of roots and never forming a 
 compact bulb. 
 
 Saffron, a plant of the crocus family, was largely 
 used in mediseval Europe as a condiinent, although to- 
 Garlic. day its value as a coloring substance is considered of 
 most account. The coloring matter is obtained from the stigmas of 
 the flower, which are of a deep orange hue. The plant grows wild 
 in Asia Minor, is possibly native to Arabia, and has long been ex- 
 tensively cultivated throughout the Mediterranean countries, That 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 exported from Spain is considered the finest. At one time in Ger- 
 many the adulteration of saffron was held criminal and punishable 
 by death. History records the burning, in 1444, of a man with his 
 adulterated saffron and, a dozen years later, the burning of two men 
 and a woman for a similar offense. The salutary effect of this pen- 
 alty was not permanent, however, as it is to-day extensively adulter- 
 ated with a cheaper article known as safflower. In the Orient, a few 
 nations still add saffron to their rice both for flavor and color 
 while in Europe it is now most largely used for coloring macaroni, 
 vermicelli and other pastes. Saffron is mentioned in the Old Testa- 
 ment in connection with spikenard, cinnamon and other spices, and 
 appears to have been used by the early Greeks medicinally, and as 
 both dye and perfume. 
 
 Capers are the unopened flowers of a 
 low, trailing shrub which grows wild in 
 Africa and southern Europe. It is native 
 to Italy and is said to have grown wild 
 upon the walls of ancient Rome. It is 
 cultivated in Prance, only the small, gray- 
 ish green, flower buds being of commercial 
 value. They possess an aromatic and 
 slightly pungent flavor and, when pre- 
 served as is usual in either salt or vinegar, 
 are used for flavoring gravies, being well- 
 nigh indispensable in the serving of roast 
 mutton. Four or five grades of capers 
 are exported, the finest grade consisting 
 of the tiniest and most perfect buds 
 which gradually diminish in value as they 
 increase in size. 
 
 Turmeric, while classed with condiments owing to its pungent 
 and aromatic properties, is most extensively used as a coloring 
 agent. It is obtained from the root of the curcuma longa, a plant 
 allied to the ginger lamily and native to India and Annam. It is 
 used as a condiment only by the Orientals who fiavor their rice with 
 it, its greatest value to the cooking world being due to the fact that 
 it is one of the chief ingredients of curry powder. 
 
 Curry powder is a manufactured condiment, one of the most 
 aromatic and highly seasoned used. It originated in the East 
 Indies, through the skUl of whom it is not known. The story goes 
 
 Capers. 
 
98 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 that the famed and delicious cookery of the Orient came about in 
 this fashion. The early English, French and Dutch, when setting 
 out for the East Indies, each determined to seize and appropriate 
 the islands, spices and all; for fear of being compelled to eat poor 
 and unappetizing food took with them their most accomplished 
 cooks. Prom the friendly concourse of these chefs arose certain 
 of the celebrated eastern dishes, and from its ingredients it is easy 
 to believe that curry was one of them; for in it are united, with the 
 herbs of the temperate zones, the spices and fruits of the tropics. 
 The ingredients used vary in character and in proportion according 
 to the difEerent houses or localities manufacturing it. One recipe 
 calls for the following: turmeric, black pepper, cayenne pepper, nut- 
 meg, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, allspice, cardamon seeds, coriander 
 seeds, cumin seeds, caraway seeds and fenugreek. In India the fol- 
 lowing ingredients are sometimes used, besides those above named: 
 anise, almonds, asaf oetida, butter (ghee), cocoanut and cocoa oil, 
 cream and curds, various nuts, garlib, lime juice, mangoes, saffron, 
 salt, and tamarinds. In India alone there exist nearly forty 
 different methods of preparing curry, to which list might be added 
 the recipes of the numerous spice houses of Europe and America. 
 The ingredients of cun-y are always finely ground and well mixed. 
 When lime-juice and butter or oil are added to the curry, a paste is 
 prepared. This is preserved by being packed in earthen jars. The 
 curries and curry pastes of Ceylon and Java (these being often com- 
 bined with garlic) are quite as celebrated as those of India, while 
 the English and American preparations rank enviably high. 
 
 The mustard of commerce consists of the pulverized seed of the 
 mustard plant, which grows wild in England and which may be 
 cultivated in nearly every part of the globe, even in India. The use 
 of mustard as a condiment dates from the Elizabethan age, although 
 it was used medicinally by the most celebrated physicians of 
 antiquity. \Jt was first compounded in its present form for table 
 use by an old lady of Durham, frbm which circumstance it came to 
 be widely celebrated as "Durham mustard." One of the merchants, 
 to whom this industrious old lady sold her mustard, is credited with 
 saying that he owed his wealth, not to the mustard which people 
 ate but to that which they left on their plates. Two varieties of 
 mustard are cultivated, ^ne producing white_seeds, the other, seeds 
 which are tiny and black. Both varieties of seeds are used, whole, in 
 the spicing of pickles. iFis requisite that mustard possess good keep- 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 ing qualities, that it be of a bright yellow color, and have an aro- 
 matic as -well as pungent flavor. 
 
 Mustard. 
 
 Horse-radish is a plant allied to the nasturtium and, like the 
 
 seeds and stems of the latter, possesses a sharply pungent flavor. It 
 
 is native to England and western Europe 
 
 although cultivated in nearly all portions of 
 
 the temperate zone. The root, which is large 
 
 and fleshy, is grated, mixed with salt and 
 
 vinegar, and used as a condiment. It may be 
 
 prepared in season and bottled, either with 
 
 vinegar or dessicated, keeping for use during 
 
 the remainder of the year. 
 
 Ginger is a flag-Uke plant, probably native 
 
 to the Bast and West Indies, the rhizomatous 
 
 root of which is the only portion commercially 
 
 valuable. According to some authorities ginger 
 
 was known to the earliest of the Greeks and 
 
 Romans and has been a common spice among 
 
 the nations of Europe,including England, since 
 
 the eleventh century. Under the Plantagenets 
 
 and Tudors ginger was used as a flavoring for 
 
 meats, unlike the modern custom of using it 
 
 only in curries, cakes and beverages. To-day 
 
 Ginger. ginger is exported from both the Indies, that 
 
 8 
 
1(10 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 from Jamaica being particularly fine, from Africa, from China, from 
 India and from Borneo. The African ginger is of excellent flavor 
 but of dark color. It is chiefly sold to bakers. That from Borneo 
 is good for household use, having a sweet and aromatic flavor and con- 
 taining very little fibre. From Calcutta the "race" or "hand" ginger 
 is exported, so called because of the palmate shape of the root. 
 It is exported before being decorticated and is not a high grade 
 ginger. The root is often preserved in sugar, being taken when 
 young and succulent. It may be preserved whole or cut into 
 cubes or slices. Both preserved and dried it is largely exported 
 from China and Japan. 
 
 Chili is the Spanish name for the p od of the cayepne. 
 the Guinea pepper, and other species of capsicum . 
 Capsicum is a me mber of the night shade family, i n no 
 way relat ed t o the true ^pepper. It is native to tropical 
 America,~"aIthough now found in nearly all of the 
 warmer countries. Cayenne is the pod of the capsicum 
 pulverized to extreme fineness. It should be of a dull, 
 red color and, if very red, is quite likely to be adulter- 
 ated, often with red lead or vermilion. Cayenne pep- 
 Chill Pepper, per is, perhaps, the most acrid and pungent aromatic 
 used and is also valuable medicinally. There are many varieties of 
 capsicum, the most noted being the capsicum annum, cultivated in 
 the East Indies, in Mexico and southern parts of the United States, 
 and from which cayenne pepper is made; and the capsicum frutes- 
 cens, the Guinea or bird pepper, a much smaller pod and which, 
 dried whole, is most often used in cookery. "Chilis are used in enor- 
 mous quantities by natives of hot countries, a paradoxical custom it 
 appears to be, and the hottest, most "peppery" dishes known have 
 originated where the sunbeam is nearest vertical. Those best 
 known to Americans are the chili con came and the chicken tomale 
 of Mexico. In the southern states cayenne is customarily added to 
 all meats, soups and stews.\. Capsicum is an agreeable and valuable 
 stimulant, having the medicinal effect of alcohol without disastrous 
 results from its use. 
 
 Mixed seasonings are now to be found in nearly aU markets and 
 in point of convenience deserve to be popular. They consist of the 
 aromatic herbs and spices, mixed and prepared by experts and in- 
 tended for the seasoning of poultry and meats of all kinds. 
 
 Penang or mixed spices, are also a modem preparation and are 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 101 
 
 useful in cooking, pickling and preserving. They consist of aromatic 
 and pungent spices mixed in varying proportions. 
 
 Among condiments prepared from animal foods, those of the 
 anchovy, lobster, shrimp, and Yarmouth bloater are the most com- 
 mon. The anchovy is a tiny, silvery fish, caught in the Mediterranean 
 sea in vast quantities. The most famojas come from Gorgona, a 
 small island near Leghorn, where they are caught in nets as they 
 come in from the deeper waters for the purpose of depositing spawn. 
 Anchovies were used as a condiment by the most luxurious of the 
 Romans, one preparation, called "garum," consisting of the partly 
 decomposed intestines of this fish mixed with spices. They are now 
 exported for use as a condiment to all parts of the world, being pre- 
 served whole as well as in the form of pastes and essences. The 
 pastes are prepared by pressing the fish through a sieve, simple 
 flavorings and some oil being added. The essences consist of the 
 fish steeped in a highly spiced brine or pickle, then strained and 
 bottled. Essences of lobster, shrimp, and various fish are similarly 
 prepared. 
 
 Various appetizing mixtures intended to give relish to meats, 
 fish and soups, and composed of vegetables, fruits and divers spices, 
 are known as sauces. "Roots, herbs, vine fruits and salad-flowers, 
 they dish up various ways and find them a very delicious sauce to 
 their meats, both roasted and boiled, fresh and salt." No other 
 sauce made compares with genuine East Indian chutney. It is a 
 thick sauce, made from the mango apple, chilies, spices, lemon juice, 
 raisins, figs, salt and sugar. Those most celebrated are the Bengal 
 Club, Terhoot, Sweet Lucknow and a number of club chutneys. 
 Trinidad chutney is particularly fine. Ceylon chutney is often 
 slightly fiavored with garlic. Another kind is "mango, chutney, a 
 iharacteristic S ingalese cond iment, among the ingredients of which 
 are fresh, grated cocoanut and chilies carefully brayed together in a 
 mortar. This chutney is of a rich roseate hue; and after eating it 
 with his prawn curry the epicure feels like the Grand Turk." 
 
 Carachi is a sauce little known in America, although, as it iu 
 much liked abroad, I give a recipe for its making, which sufficiently 
 defines its character: one head of garlic, one dessert spoonful of 
 cayenne pepper, three table spoonsful each, of soy, mushroom 
 ketchup, walnut pickle, and mango pickle, five anchovies and a pint 
 of vinegar. 
 
 Cassareep consists of the inspissated juice of the root of the 
 
102 FOOD PKODDCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 bitter cassava, flavored with various spices. From the cassava, or 
 manioc, is prepared tapioca and also cassava flour of which bread 
 is made. The root is poisonous because of the prussic acid con- 
 tained, this, however, being dissipated by heat. After the juice is 
 extracted, it is boiled down to the color and consistency of molasses, 
 after which spices are added. It is the basis of Worcestershire and 
 many other sauces and is valuable iiflhe flavoring of soups and 
 ragouts. It is largely exported from British Guiana and is used 
 throughout the tropics. ^ "" 
 
 Worcester shire sauce is one of the commonest of table condi- 
 ments. It is prepared from cassareep and varying proportions of 
 spices, garlic, peppers, and lime-juice, according to the tastes of the 
 various houses majiuf acturing it. 
 
 Both lime-juice and Devonshire sauces are similar in prepara- 
 tion and flavor to Worcestershire, the former being quite acid, owing 
 to the greater proportion of lime-juice used. 
 
 Ketchup is a sauce made variously from tomatoes, mushrooms, 
 walnuts, oysters, etc. It should be semi-fluid, about the consistency 
 of a good pur^e and, although spices may be added, the original 
 flavor of the basic ingredients must always be preserved. Color is 
 one desideratum. ^•" tojpato ketchup the sauce is always made of 
 the ripe tomato fruit, sHthough, as the color is sometimes produced 
 artificially, the only safeguard lies in purchasing of reliable manu- 
 facturers. The tomato ketchup is a typical American sauce, corre- 
 sponding in our dietary with the mushroom ketchup of the English. 
 
 Soy or shoyu is in general use throughout the Bast, particularly 
 in Ciiiha and Japan, that from the latter country being acknowledged 
 the finest made. One authority states that our word ketchup is de- 
 rived" from the Chinese name for soy, Mtjap. The basis of soy, 
 the soy bean, has been cultivated in Japan since the earliest 
 dynasties, and is to-day one of their important crops. The different 
 varieties of the soy bean produce three kinds of soy known as the 
 black, the green and the white. The process of making soy consists 
 in first boiling the beans and mixing them with parched barley and 
 wheat, coarsely ground. This barm is fermented and when the 
 whole mixture is covered with fungi it is mixed with brine of a cer- 
 tain strength, which has already been boiled and allowed to cool. 
 This mixture is then kept for fermentation about twenty-flve 
 months. It is stirred with a wooden paddle twice a day during 
 winter, three times a day in summer and, when suflEiciently fer- 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 103 
 
 mented, is put through a soy press. It is then heated to 130 degrees 
 Fahrenheit and, after becoming cold again, is put up in bottles and 
 casks. It may be preserved for any length of time. In appearance 
 it resembles Worcestershire sauce and from a nutritive point of 
 view is superior to any other sauce in our markets. 
 
 Soy is manufactured in every part of Japan, no fewer than 
 10,682 firms being engaged in making it in 1891. It is eaten by the 
 entire Japanese population with every meal and, besides being a 
 sauce, is sufficient as a salt. Used upon fish, beef -steaks and meats, 
 generally, it gives a relish that is impossible to the choicest of cook- 
 ery otherwise. In Japan it is used by all classes excepting the 
 extremely destitute, who cannot afford to buy it. 
 
 Tabasco is a popular sauce, the chief ingredient of which is the 
 pulp of the red pepper. This, a species of chili, came originally 
 from Central America and through cultivation, largely carried on in 
 the South, its strength and flavor have been greatly improved. The 
 sauce is extremely hot with chilis and, as it keeps well in any cli- 
 mate, it is liked by connoisseurs. 
 
 There are on the market numerous preparations known as salad 
 dressings. They are useful in cases of inexperience or emergency, 
 but are by no means equal to the freshly ma(Je mayonnaise of the 
 home kitchen. There is real art in prepafang- a good mayonnaise 
 and a Spanish proverb reads: "Four persons are necessary to the 
 making of a salad dressing: a spendthrift for oil, a miser for vine- 
 gar, a counsellor for salt and a madman to stir it all up." 
 
 Pickles are those articles of food, fruit or vegetables, which are 
 preserved by immersion in vinegar, with or without the addition of 
 salt or spices. Cucumber and green tomato pickles are the com- 
 monest varieties. When vegetables are mixed, as with chow-chow, 
 piccalilli and "mixed pickles," cucumbers, small onions, green beans, 
 cabbage, pepper-pods, cauliflower and various spices are used. 
 Fruits, such as apple, melon, peach, crab-apple and pear are also 
 pickled. 
 
 One of the choicest of condiments is the olive. It is the fruit of 
 an evergreen tree, native to Syria and lower Asia but now cultivated 
 extensively in southern Europe and California. Unlike most 
 pickles it may be classed as a food, owing to the oil contained. The 
 fruit is picked by hand and carefully sorted about six weeks before 
 it would ripen. It is first placed in strong lye for about twenty- 1 
 four hours, then removed to fresh water where it may remain several ; 
 
KM 
 
 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 Candle-nut. 
 
 days. After several washings in fresh water the olives are removed 
 and packed in brine. They are ready for use in from one to three 
 months. The residents of the olive districts 
 both in Greece, Spain, and in California often 
 prefer the olive preserved after it has ripened, 
 the oil having then matured and the flavor 
 being finer. Among the export trade there is 
 much prejudice against it owing to its dull, 
 black color. Olives should be of good color, 
 crisp and firm, but never tough. The Spanish 
 and Italian olives are widely popular but are 
 really no finer than the best California products. 
 The candle-nut, used as a relish and some- 
 1 what resembling a green walnut, is the fruit of 
 ' a tropical tree. It is chopped fine, packed in 
 jars, or bottled, with salt added. As a relish 
 it is highly prized, specially by the natives of 
 the Sandwich Islands. 
 Pickled samphire, although at one time popularly used as a con- 
 diment, is now little known outside of England. It is a variety of 
 sea-weed and growsjipon dangerous and rocky cliffs. Shakespeare 
 refers to "the samphire gatherer's dangerous trade," and another poet 
 has apostrophized the 
 
 " Green girdles and crowns of the sea gods, 
 Cool blossoms of water and foam," 
 
 quite omitting to mention the fact that the "girdles and crowns" 
 make, when chopped and packed in vinegar, a most delicious pickle. 
 Unlike most condiments, this is, as are all seaweeds, nutritious. 
 The people of the Sandwich Islands, as well as the English, consider 
 samphire, both the true and false varieties, a choice condiment. It 
 is specially liked when served with mutton. 
 
 Flavors are used almost entirely in the making of sweetmeats, 
 candies and pastry. Vanilla is perhaps the most choice, being 
 invariably used in the preparation of chocolate and cocoa for the 
 market. The vanilla vine is an orchidj native to Central America, 
 and cultivated in South America, the West Indies, Mexico, and 
 upon the islands of the Indian and southern Pacific oceans. The 
 vanilla of commerce is made from the delicate, volatile oil ex- 
 tracted from the seed-pods. These are several inches in length 
 and great care is exerted in curing that the fiavor be not destroyed. 
 
FOOD PKODUOTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 lOB 
 
 Hie curing process occupies about six months. The vanilla plant 
 bears fruit when about three years old, remaining productive for 
 thirty or forty years. The best vanilla is exported from Mexico, 
 while that from Brazil is of an inferior quality. 
 
 The Tonka bean, called also 
 Tongua and Tonquin bean, is fre- 
 quently sold as a substitute for or 
 adulterant of vanilla. It belongs to 
 the leguminoscB, producing thick, 
 short pods from which an oil, re- 
 sembling vanilla, is extracted. The 
 tree is common in British Guiana and 
 the tropics and grows to an immense 
 size. It is much cheaper commer- 
 cially than vanilla. 
 
 The extract of bitter almond con- 
 sists of a tincture made from the 
 kernel of the nut. The tree of the 
 bitter almond originated, it is believed, 
 in Persia, although now growing wild 
 in southern Europe. The flavor ob- 
 Vanilla Vine and Bean. tained from the kernel is due to the 
 
 prussic acid developed in the process of making the tincture. A sim- 
 ilar flavor exists in the kernel and leaves of the peach, a tree allied 
 botanically to the almond. Flavoring extracts are also made from 
 the orange, lemon, strawberry and other fruits. They are also pro- 
 duced chemically, as many alleged fruit-flavors found upon the 
 market prove, from the coal-tar products. 
 
 The pistachio or pistache nut is particularly liked by confec- 
 tioners because of its delicate flavor, resembling that of the almond. 
 It is the kernel of a sumac is small and of a light green color. 
 It is native to Europe and the far Bast. 
 
 Cordials or liqueurs are used, both for flavoring pastries and 
 ices and, in the way of beverages, as aids to the digestion. In 
 the latter case they are taken in very small quantities just at the 
 close of a meal. 
 
 Cura^oa is one of the most celebrated of cordials. It was 
 originally made in the island of Curagoa, whence its name, and is 
 prepared from limes, orange peel and spices. It is still an important 
 source of revenue to its native island. 
 
106 FOOD PKODXICTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 Noyau is a liqueur made from brandy, flavored with bitter 
 almond^ 
 
 Kataflb, is a liqueur similar to Curagoa and noyau, which is 
 flavored with peach and almond extracts and spiced. 
 
 Anisette and kflmmel have been already mentioned, the former 
 a cordial made by the French and Italians and flavored with aniseed; 
 the la<tter, a German dnd Russian liqueur, flavored with kammel or 
 caraway seed. 
 
 Absinthe is a bitter and aromatic cordial, the bitterness being 
 due to the use of wormwood in its preparation. It is' particu- 
 larly pernicious and treacherous to use if taken before meals, as is 
 often the custom, instead of afterward. It is largely used by the 
 French. 
 
 Maraschino is an aromatic cordial, the flavor of which is pro- 
 ducedT)y^he use of the bitter almond and the Italian cherry. 
 
 Chartreuse was originally prepared by the monks of a 'monas- 
 tery of that name in France. For obvious reasons the Pope pro- 
 hibited its manufacture by them in 1864 and the original receipt 
 was lost. There are f ourkinds now made, of which the green is per- 
 haps the most popular. Chartreuse possesses the fragrance of 
 garden herbs, the aroma of various spices, flowers and nuts, and even 
 the balsamy fragrance of the young, green tassel from the pine tree. 
 These cordials are more largely used in France and Italy than any- 
 where else. Owing to a growing sentiment against their use, they 
 are tolerated to only a limited extent in America although, because 
 of their common use as flavorings, they are here mentioned. 
 
 Vegetable acids are also largely used for the flavoring of foods. 
 One of the oldest known is verjuice, used by the ancients as a bever- 
 age. Its use in cookery is believed to have originated in mediasval 
 France. It is made from the juice of crab-apples and of unripe 
 grapes. 
 
 Vinegar is a developed acid. The word comes from the French 
 ■ym-aigrre, meaning sour wine. If simple cane sugar be mixed with 
 water and some ferment, it will turn to grape sugar, then to alcohol, 
 then to vinegar. However, the best vinegar now used is a fruit acid, 
 either from apple or grape. It is also made from the red and white 
 wines and from sour beer, the latter being known as malt vinegar. 
 In England the law allows a per centage of sulphuric acid to be 
 added to malt vinegar while in America both sulphuric and muriatic 
 acids are considered adulterants. Vinegar is the one indispensable 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 107 
 
 ingredient of pickles and various sauces as well as a valuable 
 condiment. 
 
 Limes and lemons, similar fruits, contain large quantities of 
 acid which is thoroughly wholesome and agreeable. To some extent 
 these acids are displacing vinegar as condiments, being considered 
 both more health giving and more palatable. 
 
 The most complete and instructive exhibition of condiments 
 and spices ever given was held in the Agricultural Building during 
 the World's Columbian Exposition. The nations of all the earth 
 contributed. There were capers and olives from Italy, spices from 
 Java, chutney from Trinidad, Calcutta, and the far away island of 
 Ceylon; ketchup from both England and America, cassareep and 
 pickled limes from British Guiana, soy from China and Japan, and 
 pickles from lands galore. The long, daintily curved, vanilla bean 
 was exhibited side by side with its short, fat, plebeian looking 
 adulterant, the tonka bean. Cordials were sent from every 
 country exhibiting. There was in one portion of the building a 
 small conservatory filled with growing spice plants, among them 
 pimento, ginger, clove, nutmeg, pepper, cassia and cinnamon. 
 
CHAPTER Xin. 
 
 MILK AND MILK FOODS. 
 
 ^ri 
 
 •I 
 
 Milk is perhaps the most perfect of all foods 
 since it is the only one containing all the elements of 
 nutrition in an easily assimilated form. It was pri- 
 marily intended to promote health and growth in the 
 young animal during the first months of its life but 
 has come into use as an universal and appropriate 
 food for the entire human race. Wherever man and 
 animals together have inhabited any part of the 
 earth, there milk is a common article of diet. Be- 
 sides the cow, the camel, horse, bison, reindeer, sheep, 
 and goat yield milk for man's use, and many peoples-, 
 including the inhabitants of Scandinavia, of Norway, of the Nether- 
 lands, of Ireland, of America, even the Bedouins of the desert, de- 
 pend largely upon it for food. Dr. Edward Smith, while investi- 
 gating the dietaries of the laboring classes of the European nationsj 
 discovered that the English workman consumed about thirty-two 
 ounces of milk weekly, the Welshman, eighty-five ounces, the Scot, 
 one hundred and twenty-five ounces, while the Irishman consumed, 
 during the same length of time, one hundred and thirty-five ounces. 
 In all stages and conditions of life milk is a valuable and whole- 
 some, often a necessary, food. It is specially valuable to the 
 young, and Dr. Willard Parker was fond of saying, "If you would 
 have your children lambs, give them milk, if lions, feed them upon 
 meat." 
 
110 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 The constituents of milk are classed, as in other foods, &=> pro- 
 tein, carbohydrates, fats, salts and water. Of these, water is by far 
 the greatest in proportion, comprising eighty-seven per cent in an 
 average sample. It serves to hold the other constituents in solution 
 and favors metabolism, the process by which the nutritive elements 
 are assimilated by the plastic tissues of the human system. To this 
 rapid and easy process of assimilation is due the great value of milk 
 as a food for the invalid or the young. It is generally the exclusive 
 diet of the fever patient when nothing else will be tolerated by an 
 enfeebled digestion. The protein or nitrogenous matter comprises 
 both the casein and albuminoids. The carbohydrates consist of the 
 milk sugar which, while classified with the fats as a heat-producer, 
 has still its peculiar value as a food. Dr. Aitkin, chemist of the 
 Highland Society of Edinburgh, has shown that it assists rather in 
 the storing up of fat in organized tissue as well as in effecting a 
 saving in the assimilation of the^lbuminoids. 
 
 The fats, instead of being held in solution as are the other ele- 
 ments, are diffused throughout the liquid in the form of minute oil 
 globules, visible only with the aid of the microscope. These tiny 
 globules, being lighter than the fluid, rise to the surface and, there 
 accumulated, are known as cream. The heat equivalent of fat is 
 two and one-half times that of milk sugar. The amount of cream 
 contained is usually the test quality of milk although, from a nutri- 
 tive standpoint, this is of minor importance. The amount of casein 
 and albuminoids, which are the flesh forming elements, should be- 
 come the desideratum rather than the cream, which is chiefly im- 
 portant in the manufacture of butter. The oil globules of milk by 
 chemical analysis consist of many fats which undergo change im- 
 mediately upon exposure to the atmosphere. 
 
 The proportion of fats in milk may be increased by regulating 
 the quality and quantity of the animal's food and, as is well known, 
 differs in amount in different breeds of cattle. The Jerseys have 
 long been famous for producing milk which contains a large per- 
 centage of fats and the contest held at the Columbian Exposition 
 between the Jersey, Guernsey and Shorthorn breeds established the 
 reputation of the former as cream producers. The famous Ida 
 Marigold, in her record of producing flf ty-two pounds of butter in 
 fourteen days, not only outranked all cows of other breeds but also 
 all other Jerseys. 
 
 That both the casein and fats of milk are held in suspension in 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. Ill 
 
 the fluid and not in solution has been proven by filtering the milk 
 through porcelain. Only a clear fluid, known as milk serum, 
 passes through, holding the salts in solution, -leaving as a residue 
 on the fllter most of the casein and fats. The ash left after burn- 
 ing the evaporated milk contains the minerals, or salts, which are 
 held in solution, potash, soda, lime, iron and magnesia. The specific 
 gravity of mUk is determined by the hydrometer, which also indi- 
 cates the proportion of solid alimentary substances. Other tests 
 determine the proportion of fatty matter contained but none of 
 these can be relied upon to detect adulterations with accuracy. 
 The food value of milk varies according to the quantity of solid 
 matter contained, this being variable in different grades of milk. 
 Milk which is to be used for butter is tested by the lactometer, an 
 instrument used for ascertaining the quantity of cream contained; 
 if for cheese it is tested by evaporation for the amount of solids, or 
 casein. 
 
 The character of milk is perceptibly changed, both in flavor 
 and nutritive value, by the food and surroundings of the cow. 
 Turnips, onions, leeks, or any rank weed of the pastures, when 
 eaten by the cow, ruins the flavor of the milk. One of the largest 
 dairies in Chicago habitually refuses to receive milk from aU farm- 
 ers who feed their cows upon ensilage, or malted food, knowing that 
 any fermented food changes both the quality and the flavor of the 
 mUk. This house employs a physician, who is regularly a health 
 officer, to test all samples of milk brought in for the percentages 
 contained of cream, of albuminoids and casein and of salts. Besides 
 this a rigid system of inspection is enforced upon the farmers sup- 
 plying this mUk in regard to the pasturing, feeding and watering of 
 their stock as well as in regard to cleanliness in milking and taking 
 care of the mUk. DifiEerent pastures determine the constituents to 
 a certain extent, one furnishing a butter-producing milk, another, 
 mUk which is valuable to the cheese maker. Cows which are kept 
 away from pasturage in stalls or in unwholesome surroundings, 
 which are fed upon unsuitable food or have access to water con- 
 taminated by sewage or surface drainage, produce milk which is 
 wholly unfit for food. It is not only poor in nutrition but likely 
 to be contaminated by disease. The compulsory inspection of milk 
 which is carried on in many of our great cities sufficiently proves 
 that such diseases as typhoid fever, diphtheria and particularly tuber- 
 culosis may be the direct result of using infected or unclean milk. 
 
112 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Milk, while variable in the proportion of its constituents, should 
 yet yield about the following analysis (Dr. Letheby): 
 
 Nitrogenous matter 4.1 
 
 Fats 3.9 
 
 Sugar (Lactine). 5.2 
 
 Salts 0.8 
 
 Water 86.0 
 
 100.0 
 There is no food more susceptible of change than milk, none 
 better adapted to conveying dirt and disease into the human sys- 
 tem, if care and cleanliness be not exercised in the care of the 
 utensils which contain the milk. Unwholesome change in milk is 
 caused by two substances, the unorganized or chemical ferments 
 and the organized or bacterial. The latter class contains divers 
 micro-organisms known' as bacteria, which are present in all sub- 
 stances to a certain extent as well as in the atmosphere. No 
 medium is more favorable to their growth and development than 
 warm milk. In a recent bulletin issued by the Agricultural depart- 
 ment at Washington a simple experiment in bacterial culture was 
 made with the following result: a specimen of milk was placed for 
 four days in a cool atmosphere, at the end of which time it was 
 found to contain about ten millions of bacteria to the quart. The 
 milk was then placed for seven hours in a warm room, at the end of 
 which time the bacteria had increased in number a hundred fold. 
 This is quite enough to frighten the average person were it not for 
 the fact that non-poisonous bacteria can be digested without harm 
 by one in good health. Only in young children and invalids are 
 they likely to produce gastric disturbances. One variety, the 
 bacillus lactis, produces lactic acid, that is, causes the milk to be- 
 come sour; another bacillus causes it to become bitter; others, 
 blue; others, slimy, etc. Their names and numbers are legion, each 
 variety capable of producing or furthering some change. Climatic 
 conditions influence the development of bacteria in milk, e. g., the 
 rapid souring of milk' during thunderstorms and during the sultry 
 weather of "dog-days." 
 
 Bacteria may be farther classified as those which are innocuous 
 and those which are poison-producing. Although it is a half cen- 
 tury since Fuchs discovered bacteria, the science is yet in its infancy, 
 and chemists are still dccupied'with the discovery of new varieties 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 113 
 
 and with determining their influence in producing changes in milk 
 as well as other foods. Two tacts are known, one, that if milk be 
 lowered in temperature immediately after being taken from the cow, 
 the chances of rapid development of bacteria are reduced to a mini- 
 mum; and the other, that if milk is Pastejirizedj^that is, sterilized, 
 by being heated to^ the boUing point, there maintained for a few 
 minutes and then quickly cooled, the germs are killed. Milk so 
 treated can be preserved for an indefinite period of time if kept 
 from contact with the atmosphere and is quite as palatable and far 
 more healthful than before being rendered sterile. When we re- 
 member that cows often suffer from tuberculosis and other diseases, 
 and also that milk from a healthy cow is liable to infection from 
 careless or unclean handling, the necessity of sterilization is obvi- 
 ous. Sternberg, in his work on bacteriology, has given the thermal 
 death-point of various poisonous bacteria, of which the bacilli of 
 tuberculosis, of typhoid fever, of diphtheria, the micrococci of pneu- 
 monia and of cholera, may be conveyed in milk. Heat destroys the 
 bacilli of typhoid fever at 140° P.; tuberculosis at 160° P.; diph- 
 theria at 140° P.; the micrococci of pneumonia at 160° P.; cholera 
 at 140° P. (Sternberg.) 
 
 The necessity of absolute cleanliness in the care of milk should 
 be impressed upon every housewife, particularly upon those 
 who have the care of children. Various chemicals, such as borax, 
 and salicylic acid are used as preservatives, but the results from 
 their use are unsatisfactory, not to mention the injuripusjeffects of 
 these chemicals when taken into the human system. Nothing is so 
 valuable as that ounce of prevention, cleanliness, and nothing, except- 
 ing actual infection, is more conducive to the development of 
 disease than dirt. It should be remembered that, while heating 
 to the boiling point is suflBcient to sterilize the milk, it by no means 
 destroys aU danger from milk which is infected or unclean. The 
 only safeguard aside from this lies in securing milk from a healthy, 
 well-fed cow, chilling it immediately in well cleansed vessels. 
 
 Another organic ferment, which produces what is chemically 
 known as alcoholic fermentation when placed in milk, is yeast. 
 Milk so treated is known as koumiss or kumyss. From time im- 
 memorial the nomadic tribes of Tartary have used mare's milk so 
 prepared as a beverage, and within the last generation or two 
 koumiss, prepared from cow's railk with the addition of sugar and a 
 small quantity of yeast, has become a valuable liquid food for in- 
 
114 FOOD PEODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 valids. Another and similar drink is the "Keflr" of the Caucasus 
 mountains. Matzoon is"aSothe'r milk preparation, which is the re- 
 sult of bacterial culture, caused by the addition of a ferment. The 
 name is simply an Armenian word, meaning "fermented milk," and 
 in the country of its origin all milk is' so treated before used as 
 food or for the making of butter. There is an Armenian legend 
 that the ferment was first obtained from heaven, that an angel pre- 
 sented some of it to Father Abraham who divided it generously 
 among his kinsfolk, and it has been used in the Orient ever since. 
 The Matzoon is evidently the result of a pure culture of bacteria 
 which is introduced as a ferment after the miflihaSlBeen thoroughly 
 sterilized by heating to the boiling point. This is necessary lest the 
 effect of the introduced ferment should be counteracted by other 
 bacteria which inevitably develop in unsterilized milk. The milk 
 is cooled and then agitated, making a light, creamy, most delicious 
 drink, valuable to invalids and somewhat resembling a superior 
 quality of butter-milk, but more nutritious as it contains all the 
 constituents of milk. This was exhibited at the World's Columbian 
 Exposition by two firms. No fresh milk was exhibited excepting as 
 tested for its butter producing quality. 
 
 Condensed milk has for many years been manufactured both at 
 home and in European countries. At the Columbian Exposition 
 there were five large exhibits, notable alike for the size and beauty 
 of their pavilions and for the excellence of the milk displayed. 
 The method of preserving milk by evaporation, that is, con- 
 densing it, is thoroughly excellent. The milk, in process of evapor- 
 ation, is sterilized and, if sealed from the air, will keep for almost 
 any length of time and in any climate. In condensing, the milk is 
 first cooled to about 60° P. for the purpose of dissipating all animal 
 heat. It is then quickly heated to a temperature of 185° at which 
 point evaporation of the water takes place. The temperature is 
 not lowered beyond 160° F. until the process is completed, which 
 occurs when four gallons are reduced in bulk to one gallon. The 
 best white sugar is then added, ih'TEe proportion of one and one- 
 fourth pounds to one gallon of milk, after which it is sealed in cans. 
 Condensed milk is palatable in coffee and in cookery in which 
 its "scalded" and sweet taste is not objectionable. Its reduced 
 bulk adapts it to transportation and for use on ship-board. It is far 
 too sweet for general use and is objectionable as a food for young 
 children owing to the excess of sugar. It is fattening and the con- 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOULD. US 
 
 tinued use of it may give a child a plump, healthy appearance. But 
 this appearance of health is deceptive for, instead of building up 
 muscular tissue, the flesh becomes less firm, there is an excess of 
 adipose tissue and a child so fed is more liable to sticcumb to 
 disease than one which is fed rationally. There is a certain Swiss 
 brand which is specially advertised as suitable for children but 
 which, owing to the surplus of sugar, is no more so than the Amer- 
 ican brands. There is now in the market an unsweetened, con- 
 densed milk, which has not only the absence of sugar to recommend 
 it but also the fact that in the process of evaporation it becomes 
 thoroughly sterilized. 
 
 The French have a process of condensing milk, a process also 
 used by the Swiss and the product of which is known as soUdifled 
 milk. To 112 pounds of fresh milk they add twenty-eight pounds of 
 sugg,r and one teaspoonful of common soda. This is evaporated to a 
 consistency which admits of its being put up ia the shape of small 
 bricks. It is preserved simply by a wrapping of tin-foil. 
 
 The name of "evaporated cream," an article recently put upon 
 the markets, is a misnomer and one quite likely to mislead pur- 
 chasers, as such a thing as an evaporated cream is a chemical im- 
 possibility. It is simply mUk evaporated to the consistency of a 
 thick cream. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 BUTTER. 
 
 UTTER has been used in the countries of the 
 far East for many centuries and is still consid- 
 ered by the descendants of the early Syrian and 
 Israelitish peoples a most necessary food. Both 
 cheese and butter are mentioned in the Hebraic 
 scriptures, the ancient Jewish method of making 
 them being still used by the Arabians and by 
 many of the modern inhabitants of Palestine. 
 For the making of butter the milk is placed in 
 a copper pan orer a fire, to it being added 
 either a small quantity of sour milk or the dried 
 intestines of a lamb, the latter used evidently 
 for the pepsin contained, which causes the milk to coagulate. 
 When this is accomplished the milk is gently agitated in a goat 
 skin bag until the butter separates. It is then placed by itself 
 in another pan and, after the addition of a ferment made from 
 wheat, is boiled. The butter collects upon the surface of this mix- 
 ture from which it is skimmed, a white, iU-flavored article, bearing 
 no resemblance to the fragrant product of an American dairy-farm. 
 Among the ancient Greeks butter was rarely, if ever, used upon 
 the table as their olive oil must have satisfied the demands of the 
 system for fats. Herodotus relates that the Greeks first learned 
 the use of butter frogi the noma<}io and pastoraL Scythians, and, 
 
118 FOOD PEODCJCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 half a centuiy later, we find the physician Galen recommending its 
 use as an ointment. He informs us that cow's milk produces the 
 best Butter for such use, goat's milk an inferior quality, while that 
 made from asses' milk is poorest of all. Other writers refer to 
 butter made from sheep's milk as well as to elephant's butter, used 
 by the natives of India for the anointing of wounds. In the second 
 century the Romans learned from the Teutonic races the use of 
 butter as a food. 
 
 The butter of the modern dairy farm is almost universally made 
 from cow's milk or, to be more definite, from the floating oil globules 
 contained in the milk. These oil globules, being lighter than the 
 serum of the milk, rise to the surface and may be skimmed off as 
 cream. They are so extremely minute that fifteen hundred of them 
 placed in a row would scarcely reach the distance of an inch. They 
 have no covering, membranous or otherwise, each remaining intact 
 and separate in the form of a drop or tiny globule. Churning or 
 agitation of the cream causes them to adhere to each other, a pro- 
 cess that may be facilitated or retarded according to the temper- 
 ature at which the cream is churned. When the cream takes on a 
 granular form, the agitation should be stopped, the granules 
 gathered and separated from the butter-milk. 
 
 Butter is made from milk in two conditions, each method having 
 its adherents. The older and more popular method consists in allow- 
 ing the milk to stand from twenty to thirty-six hours, the cream 
 being removed when sufllciently "ripened" or soured. The other 
 consists in separating the butter from the whole milk while 
 sweet, butter so produced having a flavor very different and gener- 
 ally not so well liked as that churned from sour cream. There is 
 great diversity of opinion as to whether butter should or should not 
 be washed, recent investigations going to prove that its peculiar 
 and agreeable flavor resides chiefly in the butter-milk, for it is well 
 known that butter may be washed until almost flavorless. The best 
 butter-maker I ever knew was a woman who was reared in the dairy 
 business in Herkimer county. New York. Her butter was uniformly 
 good, had a wide reputation for good keeping qualities and always 
 brought the highest market price. Yet she never washed it nor 
 even allowed water to touch it after it left the churn. In this re- 
 spect her methods were similar to those used in the Scandinavian 
 countries and the Netherlands, nations world famous for their dairy 
 products. According to the report of the United States consul at 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 119 
 
 Copenhagen upon the creameries of that country, in one of which, 
 that of Ourog, the average weekly yield is 1,512 pounds, no water is 
 ever used in the churning, the butter being rinsed with skimmed 
 milk. The churning is stopped when the butter coheres in tiny 
 granules, and the butter is taken up on a sieve from which the milk 
 is drained. In pieces of about one pound each it is pressed with the 
 hands against the sides of a tub, then placed in layers, three drams 
 of salt being used to each pound of butter. It is then cut into 
 pieces perpendicularly through the layers and subjected to the 
 same pressing as before. This operation is repeated ten times be- 
 fore the butter is placed in the cooling box. In these creameries, 
 extensive as many of them are, the butter-milk is all removed by 
 the hands, differing from the method used in American creameries, 
 of pressing it out by machinery. The latter method often destroys 
 the "grain" of the butter, owing to too much working, giving it a 
 greasy appearance. 
 
 Butter, like milk, is liable to infection from unoleanliness or 
 disease, as well as vitiation from a foul atmosphere. It is hardly 
 necessary to state that care and cleanliness are absolutely essential, 
 the first essential being mUk obtained from a perfectly healthy, 
 well-pastured cow. Just as milk may be infected when taken from 
 a tuberculous or otherwise diseased cow, so is butter, made from 
 such milk. Several years ago German scientists proved that butter 
 made from tuberculous mUk was infected and capable of producing 
 disease. Since then Professor Roth of Zurich has investigated the 
 butter made in twenty different cantons in Switzerland. He found 
 that ten per cent of it contained tubercle baoiUi. About the same 
 time Dr. Brusaferro of Italy investigated the butter of Italian 
 markets, and found eleven per cent of infected butter. It is not at 
 all probable that so large a proportion of tuberculous butter could 
 be found in American markets, because of the recent systematic 
 efforts made by the bureau of animal industry to root out the 
 disease among cattle. But these examples serve to show with what 
 intelligent and scrupulous care the process of butter making should 
 be carried on, beginning with the food, water and pasturage of the 
 cow and ending only when the butter is deposited in the cooling 
 rooms of the markets. At Copenhagen all butter must pass inspec- 
 tion before judges, whose influence has been inestimable in further- 
 ing cleanliness and attention among the dairy population. 
 
 But if the American people do not run so great a risk of infected 
 
120 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 butter as the poorer classes of Italians, they do run an enormous 
 risk in eating the unclean products which many of our packing 
 houses send out. Many a so-called "packing-house" consists of a 
 single, dirty, damp, and f oul-smeUing room. To this place butter of 
 every shade and quality is brought and dumped into a large wooden 
 vat. Near by stands a pail half -filled with coloring material (an- 
 nato), in which is a short-handled broom. After the various kinds 
 of butter are worked into a somewhat homogeneous mass, the color- 
 ing liquid is sprinkled in by means of the broom, until the desired 
 color is obtained. The contents of this vat are then worked and 
 packed in jars or tubs and go forth as "June grass" or "Orange Co." 
 butter. I once knew of a creamery which perpetrated this identical 
 fraud upon its customers by mixing various grades of farmers' 
 butter; and the "hash" or "ladle" butter which was sent out was 
 labeled "best creamery butter." Besides the uncleanliness of much 
 of such butter it wiU not keep a month without deteriorating in 
 quality and flavor. Such frauds are the worst enemies with which 
 the legitimate dairy business has to contend. The wealthier and 
 more intelligent people can more or less easily avoid these gross 
 frauds, but not so the poor, the ignorant, and the inmates of various 
 state institutions, such as our work-houses, poor-houses and certain 
 of our insane asylums, who are frequently fed on inferior meat and 
 worse than inferior butter. As yet no systematic investigation has 
 been made among the eleemosynary institutions of America and, as 
 an inspiration to some would-be investigator, I quote the following 
 report, made by F. W. EosweU of England after investigating the 
 quality of butter furnished to the various workhouses in the 
 vicinity of London. It is scarcely necessary to say that good butter 
 should not contain more than from one-half to one ounce of water 
 to the pound, while one ounce of salt per pound produces salt butter: 
 
 Workhouse. Percentage of Water. Character of Butter. 
 
 St. Saviors 12.6 Fair. 
 
 Stepny 16.5 Nasty. 
 
 St. Pancreas 12.8 Bad. 
 
 Poplar 12.9 Very bad. 
 
 Shoreditch 13.2 Bad. 
 
 St. Giles 13.2 Tolerably good. 
 
 Lambeth 13.2 Exceedingly bad. 
 
 Fulham 13.1 Good. 
 
 Wardsworth 15.3 Bad. 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE JVOBLD. 121 
 
 Workhouse. Percentage of Water. Character ot Butter. 
 
 City of London 13.7 Good. 
 
 Hackney 16.6 Tolerable. 
 
 St. Olave's 14.3 Fair. 
 
 St. Luke's, Chelsea 14.5 Fair. 
 
 Camberwell 14.7 Exceedingly bad. 
 
 St. George's in the East 15.4 Bad. 
 
 Marylebone 18.2 Tolerable. 
 
 Greenwich 19.4 Fair. 
 
 Holborn 19.7 Middling. 
 
 Paddington 23.6 Rather rank. 
 
 Kensington 23.7 Wretched. 
 
 Salt hutter. 
 
 White Chapel 24.9 Very bad. 
 
 We might do as the Bedouins, to improve the flavor of butter. 
 They boil aromatic herbs with it, when it is known as Hedjaz. I 
 doubt, however, if any condiment could destroy the flavor of some 
 butter which flnds its way into cheap boarding-houses or into 
 certain institutions where the inmates have no choice of foods. 
 
 There is evidently far greater need of educating dairy people 
 and farmers to see the necessity of making a uniformly good and 
 pure quality of butter and then of placing it directly into the 
 hands of consumers instead of consigning it to the dubious mercies 
 of a packing-house, than there is in legislating against a wholesome 
 imitation of butter by prohibiting its sale or by placing a tax upon 
 it. For, contrary to the belief of many, butter or a wholesome fat 
 of some kind is an absolute necessity to the human system and has 
 a distinct, nutritive value. 
 
 The question of uniformity in butter is a serious one. It is 
 rarely produced twice in succession of uniform quality and flavor 
 by indifferent butter makers, and even the most skillful sometimes 
 fail. Such failure is variously attributed to "dog-days," thunder 
 storms and other atmospheric conditions, occasionally to general 
 "contrariness," never to lack of cleanliness in atmosphere or uten- 
 sils. But of late years science has come to the rescue. It is now 
 known that to the development of certain bacteria is due the flavor, 
 good or otherwise, of butter. If the butter be made from sour 
 milk, tMs development begins before churning; if from sweet milk, 
 afterward, in which case the flavor is not generally so well liked. 
 But these bacteria are of divers and manifold varieties and, when 
 
122 FOOD FBODDCTS OF THE WOBLD. 
 
 the wrong varieties develop, the result is butter of poor, sometimes 
 wretched flavor, and consequently of poor keeping qualities. Chev- 
 reul claimed that the stearine, margerine and oleine of butter, with 
 minute quantities of butyrine and caprine, gave the desired flavor 
 and fragrance. Other scientists believed it to be due to the volatile 
 acids contained, a theory which has been discarded recently by some, 
 owing to the fact that the characteristic aroma of butter has been 
 produced in solutions which contain no fat of butter. But the first 
 reliable investigations made along this line were due to the efforts 
 of the Swedish scientist, Storch, who, after patient research, was able 
 to isolate the bacillus ofSTighfiy sour cream which was believed to 
 produce the required butter flavor. Wiegmann later isolated the 
 same class of organisms and introduced them as a ferment into the 
 creameries of Germany with satisfactory results. In Jutland the 
 souring of cream is produced artificially and the dairy-maid is held 
 responsible for the result. \ A ferment is prepared by allowing sweet 
 milk to become sour, adding this to other cream in small quantities 
 that the souring process may be developed by the action of the re- 
 quired variety of bacteria. By this means the characteristic flavor, 
 of "sweet butter" is developed and is always uniform. Still, this very 
 fermentation, if allowed to continue too long, will ultimately destroy 
 all fine flavor and will render it impossible to make the best butter." 
 Certainly, if culture of certain bacteria can be introduced into 
 cheese -with success (witness the numerous and widely different 
 varieties of cheese upon our markets), it is not improbable that 
 the fermentation of cream for butter-making can be as success- 
 fully accomplished. When that day comes, when to the cleanliness, 
 tact, and housewifely skill of the dairy maid are added the scientific 
 methods of the chemical laboratory, simple though they may be, 
 the day of "all sorts and conditions" of butter will have passed 
 away. It is not too much to predict that, within a few years, the 
 butter of our markets v/ill be more wholesome, clean, and uniform 
 in quality. 
 
 •'^Cc# 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 CHEESE. 
 
 O THE cheese-maker the organic or bacterial 
 ferments are an absolute necessity for upon 
 them depend the ripening of the cheese, it's 
 flavor, in a word, its commercial value. When 
 milk coagulates, either by the action of thij 
 bacteria of lactic acid or by the development 
 of some added ferment, a substance called 
 "curd" is formed. This is composed of most 
 of the casein, albumin, fats, sugar and salts?, 
 of the milk. In this form it is often eaten 
 ice cold with sugar and nutmeg and, called, 
 "junket," is regarded as a great delicacy. 
 Dryden refers to "curds and cream, the flower of country fare." 
 
 When the liquid portion or whey is well separated the curds 
 may be pressed by the hands into a home-made cheese, known vari- 
 ously as "Dutch" and "cottage" cheese, a variety made and used in 
 nearly every household where milk may be had in abundance. It 
 is customary to make it of skimmed milk, that butter also may be 
 made in the household, and after the curds are well pressed to add 
 butter and cream, with salt and a dash of black pepper. Such 
 cheese is very nutritious, is the result of a natural process of 
 fermentation and was probably the earliest cheese known. That of 
 modern Palestine is similarly made, but, as it is first exceedingly 
 
124 FOOD FKODUOTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 well salted and then allowed to dry to utter hardness in small, 
 round cakes, it compares most unfavorably with the American 
 home-made product. 
 
 Cheese is customarily made by the addition to the warmed milk 
 of an organic or digestive ferment known as rennet. This is pre- 
 pared from the stomach of the calf, and, containing large quantities 
 of pepsin, has the property of coagulating the casein of the milk in 
 a short time, providing the milk be kept at a temperature of about 
 80° P. In the best or "full crMm"^heeses the wholejmlk^ is used, 
 the handling and curing of them determining largely their market 
 value. The curd forms in from thirty to fifty minutes, providing 
 the milk be maintained at the proper temperature, and is then 
 ready to be separated from the liquid or whey Extreme care must 
 be observed in the cutting or breaking of the curd that it may not, 
 owing to the undue pressure or over manipulation, lose a portion of 
 the cream contained. Some cheese makers use a sort of rake for 
 breaking the curd, others a wooden knife, while many prefer the 
 fingers. The curd is allowed to shrink somewhat by the separation 
 of the whey when it is drained and pressed into various shapes in 
 cheese hoops. It is then set away to "cure" or ripen, for a freshly 
 made cheese is far from palatable and has almost no market value. 
 
 The ripening process is now known to be due to the action of 
 bacteria. It was Cohn who first discovered these micro-organisms 
 in cheese in 1875. Five years later he found, after experimental ob- 
 servations, that there were numerous varieties and also that if the 
 curd be sterilized or treated in any way with a disinfectant the 
 cheese would fail to ripen. To make cheese without the aid of 
 bacteria is therefore impossible. They exist in fresh, warm milh 
 and multiply rapidly at the temperature necessary for coagulating 
 the curd, now one variety and now another, depending upon at- 
 mosphere and surroundings, becoming most numerous. Certain 
 varieties produce a poison, first described by Dr. Vaughan and 
 named tyrotoxicon. Says Dr. Vaughan: "Tyrotoxicon may originate 
 in milk on long standing in closed vesseK^ owing to jputrefactive 
 change, which is due to minute organisms. The introduction of 
 these organisms into milk hastens putrefaction and consequently 
 the formation of ptomaines. Milk coming from cows kept in filthy 
 stables is likely to undergo speedy putrefaction, and poisonous 
 germs may also adhere to the sides of any vessels which are not 
 kept absolutely clean." He says further, "any cheese which is acid' 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 125 
 
 in its reaction should be regarded with suspicion. The old, foul- 
 smelling cheeses, such as Limburger and Schweitzer, are alkaline 
 in reaction and poisoning does not seem to result from their use." 
 In Limburger, as is well known, the bacterial growth is allowed to 
 develop to the verge of putrefaction. At the Arabian encampment 
 upon the Midway Plaisance I was one day invited to taste some 
 cheese made from camel's milk and brought by the Arabs from 
 their desert home. It was hardly pleasant either to taste or sight 
 and must have contained even more bacteria to the ounce than the 
 one hundred and sixty-flve millions which ordinary cheese is esti- 
 mated to contain. These, too, were Arabian bacteria, of wholly 
 characteristic odor and flavor. 
 
 Cheese is a highly concentrated and very nutritious food. It is 
 composed almost wholly of protein and, according to Mattieu 
 Williams, there is in every pound of cheese twice 
 as muchjgutriment as in a pound of the best 
 
 meat, while, if 
 bones and ten- 
 dons be included 
 
 in the weight, 
 cheese has the ad- 
 vantage of three to 
 one. There is much 
 diflEerence of opin- 
 ion as to the digestibility of cheese, but the 
 fact remains that to the average person it is 
 fully as digestible as it is nutritious. The 
 Scotch and Swiss, who eat it in the place 
 of meat, experience no trouble in digesting it, nor would any 
 one who ate it as rationally as they do. But the American usually 
 considers it a condiment to be eaten at the close of a full dinner, 
 where it often adds to the burden already placed upon an overloaded 
 digestion, not to mention the added nitrogenous matter which the 
 system has no use for and must discard as waste. It is not surpris- 
 ing that the Americans are coming to be known as a nation of dys- 
 
136 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 peptics when one considers their universal ignorance of the uses of 
 foods and the needs of the human system. A poor cheese requires 
 longer time for digestion than a good one owing to the smaller 
 amount of fat and the larger amount of casein contained in the 
 former. When used in cookery, as in cheese fondu, custard or 
 souffle, cheese is rendered more digestible by the addition of a little 
 carbonate of_gotash to the inilk Before the cheese is added. This is 
 fe"e result of experiments made by Williams. 
 
 The cheese making countries are Great Britain, France, Italy, 
 Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United States and 
 Canada. The Laplanders make cheese from reindeer's milk, the 
 Bedouins from the milk of sheep. Certain of the French and Swiss 
 cheeses are made from the milk of the sheep and goat, but the ordi- 
 nary article of export is made from cow's milk. 
 
 Perhaps the most famous of all English cheeses is the Cheddar, 
 pale in color, nutty and delicious in flavor. In the process of mak- 
 ing a quantity of sour whey is added to the curd just before it_isput 
 into the press, the whole being maintained at a temperature of from 
 " C0° to 65° F. After being pressed it is placed in a temperature of 
 70° F. in the curing room, is coated with fat and turned daily. It is 
 cured in from three to six months although said to improve indefl- 
 iiitely with age. At the Columbian Exposition there was a specimen 
 of Cheddar sent by an English firm, which was labeled "Cheddai- 
 Cheese, made in 184.5." To all appearance it was by no means 
 past its prime. Cheeses similar to the Cheddar are made in Amer- 
 ica and Canada. 
 
 Cheshire cheese, made in the county of Cheshire, resembles 
 Cheddar in appearance although it is stronger^ in flavor. ":^ " " 
 
 The double Gloucester is a cheese which, containing much fat, 
 is excellent Tn cookery, especially in making Welsh ' rarebits, and is 
 mild in flavor. "*~ 
 
 Banbury is a rich cheese about half an inch thick, not so popu- 
 lar now as a few generations ago. It has been described as being 
 "nothing but paring" and, in "Merry Wives of Windsor," Slender is 
 compared to it. 
 
 Stilton is one of the choicest of English cheeses and was first 
 made by a Mrs. Paulet who regularly supplied with it an innkeeper 
 of Stilton, a little town in Huntingdon. From that the cheese takes 
 its name. It is a rich cheese, its pale-colored substance marked 
 with greenish veins, and is never eaten until exceedingly well cured. 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 127 
 
 It was some of this "line, ripe Stilton'' which Charles Lamb pur- 
 chased and then asked the shopkeeper for a bit of string that he 
 might lead it homel Stilton is small and d rum-shaped , and as a 
 dessert cheese is rivaled only by Roqueforfor the Italian Gorgon- 
 zola. 
 
 It is said that no cheese better pleases the true gourmet than 
 Gorgonzola and, although an authority declares it to be "sadly indi- 
 gestible," it has inspired at least one cheese lover to drop into verse: 
 " I have enjoyed it from of old. 
 
 That product of the sunny south— 
 The cheese that wears the dainty mould. 
 
 And melts lUce butter in the mouth ; 
 And whose consumption oft is graced 
 By such a pleasant after taste." 
 Gorgonzola is a rich, creamy cheese made in the mountainous 
 regions of Italy. It is cured always in exceedingly damp caves, the 
 floors of which are usually covere d with wate r, and the process of 
 curing occupies not less than a year. When cut it is veined with 
 greenish streaks of mold, said to be accomplished by introducing 
 layers of moldy bread crumbs into the curd just before pressing. 
 If this be true the Italian mountaineers well understand 
 the method of introducing a certain culture of bacteria 
 into their cheeses and also how, by dampness and a 
 certain temperature, to best further this bacterial 
 growth. 
 
 The Cachio Cavallo di Napolio is a soft, rich cheese 
 which is cured after being put into the stomachs of 
 small animals. It is considered a great delicacy by the 
 "Italians and was exhibited in the Italian section at the 
 Columbian Exposition. 
 Cavallo. Perhaps the best known of Italian cheeses is the Par-_ 
 
 mesan as it is used the world over in cooking. It is a skimmed milk 
 cheese, containing very little fat, and so hard that it is used only after 
 being grated. It is inade at Parma, Italy, from the milk of cows which 
 are carefully fed upon grass all the year round, and is saidTo owe its 
 delicious, sweet flavor to the superior quality of the pasturage along 
 the banks of the Po. Parmesan cheeses are of large size and re- 
 quire three years for ripening. However, they may be kept for 
 years without deteriorating, as was proven by the fine flavor and 
 perfect condition of one exhibited at the exposition which was 
 eleven years old and, it is needless to add, as hard as a stone. 
 
K8 .1» FOOD PKODUOTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 Macaroni is never at its best without Parmesan cheese, and certain 
 soups are improved in flavor by its use. 
 
 Prance produces more than forty varieties of cheeses, the most 
 famous among them being Eoquefort, Gruy^re, Port du Salut, Brie, 
 Camembert and Neuf chatel. 
 
 Gruyfere is a thick, firm cheese useful in cooking. It is also 
 made in Switzerland, in which country it is usually flavored with 
 herbs. 
 
 Neufchatel is a rich, creamy, white cheese, made in tiny rolls, 
 each wrapped in tin-foil. It is an appropriate dessert cheese. 
 
 Port du Salut is a soft, delicately-flavored cheese, made at Bor- 
 deaux. It is not considered at its best, the epicures tell us, until it 
 has ripened almost to the verge of decay. It is of a light coffee 
 color and is rarely seen excepting upon club house tables. 
 
 Camembert is a small, hand-made cheese_ covered with blue 
 mold, under which is a white mold. It is made chiefly in Normandy, 
 the dampness and temperature developing the fungous growth upon " 
 the outside. After the cheeses are made into shape they are placed 
 upon shelves and turned daily until covered with a white mold, then 
 removed to different atmospheric surroundings until the blue mold 
 is fully developed, when they are ready for use. 
 
 Brigiajarge, soft cheese, made in the vicinity of Paris, resembles 
 Camembert. It also is covered first with a white, then with a red 
 or blue mold. The development of red mold is the thing desired, 
 Brie of a blue color being less esteemed. This peculiar species of 
 bacteria is due in part to the osier strainers used, which are never 
 washed! Brie ripens in six or eight weeks after pressing. — 
 
 Roquefort has for many generations been noted for the pro- 
 duction of the well known Roquefort cheese. The whole country 
 about this little French town consists of f ertUe pasture lands which 
 support thousands of sheep, and from the milk of the ewes is pro- 
 duced this famous cheese. It is a rich, creamy cheese, made by the 
 peasantry in their homes. It is made in layers, between which are 
 sprinkled the pulverized crumbs of brown bread, which have been 
 allowed to develop a species of fungous growth. This cheese is there- 
 fore the result of direct culture of bacteria. After the loaves of 
 cheese are made the peasant farmers dispose of them to the matur- 
 ers, who own the caves. After reaching the caves the cheeses are 
 brushed over with fat and, with a machine, are pierced with several 
 minute holes to admit the air, a process which would prove destruQ- 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. ^ 139 
 
 tive to most cheeses. It is stated that in no other place than these 
 caves are the conditions, atmospheric and otherwise, favorable to 
 the growth of the species of bacteria which gives to the Roquefort 
 its characteristic flavor. When cut, the cheese presents a veined 
 appearance, owing to the mold. 
 
 The cheeses of Holland are the spice, Gouda and Edam, of 
 which Go u^^ somewhat resembles the English Cheddar. Edam is a 
 round cheese, the outside of which is artiflcially colored red, after 
 which it is wrapped in tin-foil. It is a rich though rather hard 
 cheese and of a yellow color, differing from other cheeses in that 
 an acid is used, instead o f jm net. for forming the curd. 
 
 Limburger cheese has made the little town of Limburg, Belgium, 
 known over most of the globe. It is a rich cheese, ripened until actual 
 putrefaction has set in, and the odor of which is offensively strong. 
 It is disliked by the majority of people and in consistency and general 
 appearance is not unlike new soap. By the uninitiated one article 
 would be as much relished as the other. It is wrapped in tin-foil, 
 probably to facilitate handling it as well as to conceal its fragrance. 
 
 Lipton is a famous Bohemian cheese, made from goat's milk. 
 It comes to this country wf apped in tin-foil. 
 
 Schweitzer, Ulmetzer and Tyrolean are all well known cheeses 
 made in Germany. 
 
 That cheese is a staple food in nearly every land was plainly 
 evidenced by the exhibits made at the Columbian Exposition. 
 Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Argentine 
 Republic, Ecuador, Uruguay, Mexico, Canada, our own states and 
 many other countries carried the number of cheeses far into the hun- 
 dreds. Canada has a reputation for making an excellent cheese, 
 similar tothe Cheddar of England. But, not content with this 
 feme, she must needs add to it by making one of enormous size; and 
 there it was, in the center of the Agricultural building, eleven tons 
 in weight and with a spiral stairway leading to its expansive top. 
 The state of Wisconsin ranked first in the number of her cheese ex- 
 hibits, New York, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Maine and Iowa each 
 adding their quota to the total display. New Jersey has long been 
 known to make largo quantities of cheese in imitation of the 
 special, imported brands, but this state made no display at the expo- 
 sition. In Pennsylvania there is made a cheese which is an excel- 
 lent imitation of Neufchfttel. It is called sehmierkase, is made from 
 sour milk, well drained, mixed with cream and butter before press- 
 
130 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 ing, and afterwards ripened. There is also a soft cheese on the 
 market which sells for something like seventy-five cents a pound 
 and which is made from three parts of butter and one part of cheese. 
 [t is put up in earthen jars and is a palatable lunch or dessert cheese. 
 America at the present time has an unenviable reputation for 
 making what are known commercially as "filled" cheeses. They are 
 made of skimmed milk, sufllcient fat, either of lard or cotton seed oil, 
 being added to the warm milk to take the place of cream. This mix- 
 ture is thoroughly emulsified before the curd and whey are separ- 
 ated, and the cheeses are then colored and pressed. When new they 
 can scarcely be distinguished from the honestly made article but 
 they do not cure well and when ripened can easily be detected by 
 their lack of flavor. The consumer gets in such cheese a flavorless 
 and indigestible article of food, and the makers who produce a good 
 cream cheese suffer equally through the reputation which the 
 American product has in foreign markets. That may be one reason 
 why Americans themselves depend so largely upon imported cheese, 
 and this condition will continue until the people realize the value 
 of cheese as a substantial food and until they so thoroughly under- 
 stand the science of cheese making that results will always be uni- 
 form. The curing of cheese is not yet wholly understood but it is 
 probable that before long bacteriological science will make it possi- 
 ble to produce numerous varieties with always uniform results, and 
 that some day the product known as poisonous cheese will be 
 wholly unknown. What the Roquefort peasantry, the makers of 
 Edam, Gruyfere, and Camembert, have accomplished after gener- 
 ations of tedious and blundering experiments, the cheese makers of 
 America will at no late date be enabled to accomplish through a 
 scientific understanding of the nature and development of the in- 
 visible micro-organisms known as bacteria. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 BUTTEBINE. 
 
 ONSULTING history, we find that for 
 many decades prior to 1870 the poorer 
 classes of the French, the members of 
 both army and navy, and the inmates of 
 many public institutions, had been the 
 ■ unwilling victims of poor butter; butter 
 so rank and wretched that its only stable 
 quality was its unfailing inferiority. In 
 that year a certain French chemist, one 
 Hyppolyte M6ge, awakened to this fact. 
 He determined to give the people a sub- 
 'I stitute for this intolerable butter, which 
 
 should be clean, of good flavor, palatable, 
 nutritious, in short, which should possess all the characteristics of 
 the best butter. For he realized that butter or some wholesome fat 
 was by no means a luxury that people might do without, but an ab- 
 solute necessity as food. Hyppolyte M€ge should be accounted one 
 of the benefactors of the human race. 
 
 He had observed that poorly fed cows still furnished excellent 
 butter, which, he reasoned, must therefore have been supplied from 
 their own fat instead of from their insuflBcient supply of food. This 
 led him to establish, just before the Franco-Prussian war, an exper- 
 imental factory at Poissy. From freshly killed beef he took the 
 
 10 
 
132 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOBLD. 
 
 kidney and caul fat and from it produced an article which was 
 agreeable to taste, which melted at the same temperature as butter, 
 which did not become rancid nearly as soon as the original article 
 and which was just as useful in cookery. This wa^he prototype of 
 our modern butterine. The fat thus ob ~" ^^^known to be 
 
 identical with that of milk and the whoiSSSi^]f^iP'i?king was 
 far more cleanly than that of the average butter. Tnemethod, which 
 was in 1873 finally adopted by M. M^ge, was as follows: The best 
 quality of fat from freshly killed beef was obtained, finely cut to 
 separate the membranous or connective tissue, and thrown into a 
 steam-heated tank. To 1000 parts of fat were added 300 parts of 
 water, one part carbonate of potash, and two she&p's or pig's 
 stomachs (the latter containing pepsin and alw«i''?a'^ised for form- 
 ing the curd in the making of cheese). A-tter two hours, aided by 
 a temperature of 103° P., the pepsin of these stomachs had digested 
 or made soluble the membranous tissue and the melted fat had 
 risen to the surface. That was the basis of his butter. 
 
 The fat thus melted away from the membranes is known in 
 some countries as "bosch," in Paris as "siege butter," because it was 
 used during the famous siege. It is pure and wholesome and, from 
 a nutritive standpoint, an adequate substitute for butter, although " 
 not to be compared to the later product known as butterine. Butter 
 itself is a raw fat, of a peculiarly sweet taste, but the fat of good 
 beef, when liberated by heat or in water at a low temperature, de- 
 velops a similar sweet and agreeable fiavor, which it does not pos- 
 sess in the raw state. 
 
 The modern methods of making butterine have been simplified 
 and consist in using the fat from f reshly-kUled animals, it being 
 taken only when thoroughly chilled, shredding it finely and heating 
 it by steam to a temperature averaging 150° F. At this point the 
 fat separates and is drawn oflf into other vats where it is quickly 
 chilled, When cool, it is put into the press which separates the 
 stearin? from the olein contained. 'The stearin is that constituent 
 of the fat which has great solidity and a high melting point. Butter 
 from' Jersey cows is characteristically hard because of the large 
 aimount of stearin contained. The olein, called "oleo oil" in the 
 factories, is yellow, granular and sweet to the taste, much resembling 
 butter just as it begins to "gather" after churning. 
 
 The separated fats are then churned with milk and usually 
 mixed with a greater or lesser quantity of butter. Salt js added, 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 133 
 
 also a sufficient amount of coloring material, and the product is 
 known as bvitterine or oleomargerine. The coloring material is an- 
 natto, which is universsilly used in the coloring of cheese and butter. 
 There is also added a substance caUed "neutral" to the olein of the 
 beef suet. It is made from the best leaf lard, which is subjected to 
 the same process as the beef fat and, like it, consists of both oil 
 and a solid fat. The earliest oleomargerine did not contain neutral 
 and it is to-day used because of its value, chemically, when 
 added to the other ingredients. In price it averages higher than 
 beef suet. It improves the grain of artificial butter as well as its 
 quality and reduces the difference between butterine and the best 
 Elgin butter, according to actual chemical analysis, to less than one 
 per cent. I am told on good authority that several creameries are now 
 adding neutral to their butter, finding that it improves the quality. 
 
 The best creamery butterine contains about 25 per cent of 
 creamery butter, 30 per cent of neutral, 25 per cent of olein and the 
 remaining 20 per cent of salt and cream, the latter obtained from 
 the milk with which the butterine is churned. Dairy butterine con- 
 tains a smaller percentage of pure butter. To the cheaper grades 
 of butterine a small quantity of cotton-seed oil is added. This is 
 specially valuable during the winter months, as it renders the but- 
 terine less solid. 
 
 Each prime beef yields, upon an average, forty pounds of olein, 
 while the leaf lard from each animal produces about six pounds of 
 neutral. 
 
 Here is the whole process of making an article of food which 
 many people look upon with horror, which the government taxes 
 outrageously, and yet which, it is well known, is produced in the 
 most cleanly manner and according to the most scientific principles, 
 and which the leading scientists of both Europe and America have 
 pronounced to be clean, wholesome and possessing the same nutri- 
 tive value as the very best butter. Let us examine its constituents. 
 The basis is beef suet which every housewife prizes, the <Jb6 indis- 
 pensable ingredient of her suet puddings. The olein is the ^eHcious 
 granular fat which we call "drippings." In the frugal hoines of 
 England it is commonly salted and eaten upon bread, particularly 
 by the children. Lard is indispensable, so we think, to pastry, pies 
 and doughnuts and is often used upon bread by the Germans in- 
 stead of butter. The cotton-seed oil we daily use, under its at- 
 tractive pseudonym, olive oU, in the preparation of our salads. 
 
134 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Yet no article of food has ever been so persistently fought; its 
 most ponderous and (if the truth must be told) most ignorant oppo- 
 nent, the government of the United States; its most shrewd and un- 
 scrupulous antagonist, the middleman or butter dealer. The gov- 
 ernment endeavors to protect the butter makers of the country; the 
 butter dealer, who makes fifty per cent in the handling of low 
 grades of butter, to protect himself. According to the law, all man- 
 ufacturers of butterine must furnish bonds, pay special and internal 
 revenue taxes, give monthly reports of all material used, and must 
 furnish samples for governmental inspection whenever requested. 
 It is nothing less than a travesty upon the scientific and enlight- 
 ened American people that the makers of a food which is pro- 
 nounced by scientists to be excellent and nutritious and in no re- 
 spect whatever objectionable, and which was first made to give the 
 poor a wholesome food, should be compelled to pay a tax of two 
 cents upon each pound put forth; that each wholesale dealer must 
 pay a tax of §10 per month and each retailer, S4.00. 
 
 In Michigan it is illegal to use butterine in any public institu- 
 tion although it is by no means probable that the criminals, paupers 
 and insane of that state are fed upon the finest and most gilt-edged 
 of dairy products or upon that which is even palatable. In Ohio any 
 hotel keeper who places butterine before his guests is liable to in- 
 dictment, if it can be proven that it is not butter, by no means an 
 easy thing to do. In Massachusetts it is illegal to color butterine 
 yellow. In Now York its sale is all but prohibited. But it is use- 
 less to multiply examples. It were far more to the credit of this 
 nation had it commissioned our chemists, as did the French govern- 
 ment, to produce an adequate substitute for butter, and had then 
 given it the stamp of public recognition and approval. 
 
 But buttei'ine has survived these attacks. Why? Because 
 chemistry has proven it to be all that the manufacturers claimed 
 for it and chemistry is a careful and never bigoted investigator. 
 Let us see what the scientists report: Says the noted Professor 
 Chandler of Columbia College, "It is palatable and wholesome and 
 I regard it as a most valuable article of food." Says Henry Morton 
 of the Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey, "It is essentially 
 identical with the best fresh butter, and is superior to much of the 
 butter made from, cream alone found in the market." Says S. W. 
 Johnson, Professor of Agricultural Chemistry in Yale College, "It is 
 a product that is entirely attractive and wholesome as food, and one 
 
FOOD PKODUOTS OF THE WORLD. 135 
 
 that for all ordinary and culinary purposes is the full equivalent of 
 good butter made from cream. I regard the manufacture of oleo- 
 margerine as a legitimate and beneficent industry." Prof. W. O. 
 Atwater, Director of the Government Experiment Station in Con- 
 necticut, and one of the foremost authorities on foods, states that 
 butterine "contains essentially the same ingredients as butter made 
 from cow's milk. It is perfectly wholesome and healthy and has 
 a high nutritive value." 
 
 From one of the state asylums for the insane where butterine 
 has been recently prohibited the resident physician lately wrote me: 
 "I have myself inspected the entire process of manufacture in the 
 factory and I know of no product of food in which more apparent 
 care and cleanliness were exercised in the selection of material and 
 preparation of the finished product. It is a cheaper article than 
 butter and uniformly more satisfactory in an institution of this 
 character. There was no diflBculty in keeping it clean and sweet 
 in the amount we ordered, usually twelve hundred pounds. (It was 
 used until prohibited.) I believe it to be a wholesome and healthy 
 food product and more desirable than much of the butter that is 
 presented in the markets for sale." 
 
 It is easy to ascertain why scientists and authorities on foods 
 universally approve this article, in spite of popular prejudice against 
 it. Mrst of aU, chemistry has shown it to contain all the elements 
 of the best butter, the nutritive value of both being identical. 
 Next, the process of making is absolutely cleanly. I have known 
 the butter making industry of various rural districts for twenty-five 
 years, I have also visited numerous creameries and butterine facto- 
 ries and, as far as cleanliness is concerned, I unhesitatingly prefer 
 butterine to butter of which I do not know the history of making. 
 No place could be more sweet and clean and odorless, more free 
 from every indication of dirt, than the butterine factories which I 
 have visited. Steam, the best known deodorizer and germicide, 
 is the principle agent of cleanliness. The immense vats, floors, 
 pipes, all are daily cleansed by steam. No dairy-maid as she daint- 
 ily pats her rolls of butter could be more cleanly than the girls who, 
 in white caps and aprons, stand about the tables of the finishing 
 room, wrapping each pound of butterine in oiled paper, preparatory 
 to the final packing. 
 
 WhUe in the South some two years ago, I investigated both the 
 butter and butterine of the markets. Although at that time 
 
136 FOOD PEODUCTS OF THE WOBLD. 
 
 strongly prejudiced, my verdict was unfailingly in favor of the latter 
 article. It is true, however, that the butter of our southern markets 
 is not generally of so good a quality as that of the North. 
 
 Again, the heat which is used to separate the oil from the mem- 
 branous fatty tissues kills many of the germs and renders the pro- 
 duct less liable to changes in flavor than is butter. To this fact is 
 due its excellent keeping qualities and its uniform flavor. The 
 greatest danger of infection is encountered in the milk and butter 
 which are mixed with the best grades of butterine after the heating 
 process. 
 
 During the Columbian Exposition, where butterine was exten- 
 sively exhibited, an experienced hotel proprietor from one of our 
 metropolitan cities said to me: "I am at last converted to the use 
 of butterine, and it happened in this way. We had been having 
 butter not up to the usual standard for some time. I told the stew- 
 ard he m.ust make a change. A month passed and he asked me how 
 I liked the butter. 'Excellent,' said I, 'procure that quality and 
 there will be no complaint.' He then told me that during the past 
 month he had been serving butterine. We have had butterine ever 
 since." The hotel referred to is a wealthy and high class famUy 
 hotel. 
 
 During the year ending in June, 1893, there were produced in 
 the United States, according to governmental report of internal 
 revenues, 67,685,549 pounds. The commissioner reported that "the 
 production of oleomargerine or butterine has nearly doubled dur- 
 ing the past five years," and he further stated that "this has become 
 a recognized article of food and its manufacture is one of the recog- 
 nized industries of the country. There is in nearly all the states 
 an increased demand for it under its proper name and that by per- 
 sons fully informed of the nature of the substance. While it is 
 used as a substitute for butter its production and sale have not, as 
 shown by commercial reports and statistics, reduced the price of 
 the higher grades of butter. The most reliable writers in this 
 country on food products and those who have given the subject 
 careful study state that oleomargerine, if carefully and properly 
 prepared, is a healthful article of diet, a wholesome substitute for 
 butter, and can be furnished at less cost. The special taxes im- 
 posed upon wholesale dealers ($480 yearly) and retail ($48) are ex- 
 orbitant compared with the special taxes imposed upon other occu- 
 pations, and I respectfully submit for your consideration the pro- 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 137 
 
 priety of a reduction of the special taxes imposed upon wholesale 
 dealers in oleomargerine to 1120 and the tax imposed upon retail 
 dealers to $12 per year. I am satisfied that the reduction of the 
 taxes to the sums above named would not result in loss of revenue." 
 It was Brillat Savarin who said: "The discovery of a new dish 
 does more for the happiness of the human race than the discovery 
 of a star." Butterine is certainly a new food, recognized by chem- 
 ists and hygienists everywhere as palatable, wholesome, pure and 
 nutritious. Yet our government persistently places it under the 
 ban. I do not object to the rigid governmental inspection. It were 
 far better if our butter were subjected to the same examination, as 
 well as most of our foods. But the tax is unreasonable and undem- 
 ocratic. It keeps the price of this article beyond the purses of the 
 very people who need it most, the illy-nourished laboring classes. 
 The price of the best butter will never be affected by any reduction 
 whatever in the price of butterine and inferior qualities ought to be 
 swept out of existence, for that the quality of butter will be affected 
 by competition with butterine is certain. It will have to become 
 purer and more uniform in flavor. Certain classes will always eat 
 butter and will pay high prices for it, for the best butter can never 
 be produced as cheaply as butterine. But the unprejudiced and 
 the poor should not be compelled to pay a special tax (amounting 
 to about three cents upon each pound consumed) upon a food 
 which is not a luxury but a necessity. The state laws against but- 
 terine have been enacted, it is very evident, by men ignorant alike 
 of the methods of making and of its food value to that class of peo- 
 ple who are usually the victims of inferior butter. The relentless 
 war which has been waged against butterine has been actuated by 
 commercial and mercenary, not by scientific nor humanitarian 
 motives. 
 
CHAPTEE XVII. 
 
 VEGETABLE FATS AND OILS. 
 
 ONTRAEY to general belief, these consti- 
 tute a large and very important group of 
 food products. It has been already shown 
 that fat of some kind is an absolute neces- 
 sity to the maintenance of health although, 
 if used exclusively, not sufiacient to sustain 
 life for any length of time. The scientists 
 who have most recently investigated the 
 dietaries of the laboring classes have 
 found that about two and one-half ounces 
 of fat should be taken daily in addition to 
 other food, while one ounce or less is sadly 
 insufficient. Various diseases of a scrofulous nature are believed 
 to be induced or furthered by a lack of fat in the foods taken into 
 the system and, as is well known, the time-honored cure for aU 
 such ills is cod-liver oil. The French agricultural chemists have 
 proven by experiments that, however varied and abundant their 
 food, animals more quickly fattened and were put into prime condi- 
 tion more easily by the addition of a small quantity of fat to their 
 food supply. 
 
 All people use fats in a greater or lesser degree, and there is a 
 physiological reason for the natural craving of the system for them. 
 Fats are heat producers and are most largely consumed in the cold 
 climates, e. g., the whale and seal blubber in the Arctic regions. But 
 all people depend upon fats and oils of some kind, and even the na- 
 tives of the tropics are abundantly satisfied by the oUs contained 
 in the nuts which they consume. 
 
140 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOULD. 
 
 The following table by Youmans indicates the percentage of fat 
 or oil contained in average samples of every-day foods: 
 
 Yolkofegg 28.75 Wheat flour, 1 to 2 
 
 Ordinary meat (Liebig) 14.03 Barley meal 2 
 
 Indian com 9.00 Potatoes (dried) 1 
 
 Oatmeal 6.00 Eice 0.8 
 
 Cow's milk (variable) 3.13 Buckwheat 0.4 
 
 Rye flour 3.5 
 
 Vegetable oils are both fixed and volatile, the former compris- 
 ing that class which resembles animal oils in many particulars and 
 which may be subdivided into true and drying oils. Only that class 
 of fixed oils available for food will here be mentioned. 
 
 Nearly every substance belonging to the vegetable kingdom 
 contains more or less fat among its tissues. In some plants it exists 
 in minute quantities, in others it is so abundant as to be easily ob- 
 tained and transformed into an article of commerce. One of the 
 most important of our oils is extracted from a substance that until 
 recently was accounted a waste product. I refer to that pressed from 
 the seed of the cotton-plant. For years the cotton seed of our 
 southern plantations sorely taxed the ingenuity of the owners in its 
 disposal. It persistently accumulated and persistently refused to 
 perish. If thrown into the streams it simply choked them, if used 
 upon land as a fertilizer its slow transformation into soil rendered 
 it practically useless. Quantities were used for feeding cattle, al- 
 though that was but a partial solution of the problem. The dis- 
 posal of this so-called waste product became a grave question, owing 
 to its utter imperishability. But that very quality kept it before 
 the people and finally resulted in an attempt to extract the oil from 
 the fatty seeds. The attempt was successful, the oil being at first 
 utilized in the manufacture of soap, then as a lubricating oil for 
 machinery, then for illuminating, later as a substitute for linseed 
 oil in the mixing of paints. But in no one of these oflQces did it 
 quite give satisfaction, for as yet the subtle and refined character- 
 istics of this product of King Cotton were little understood. Later 
 it was more highly refined with all the skiU. of modem chemistry 
 and behold the result! — a clear, amber-colored, flavorless, odorless, 
 limpid, bland oil, the rival of that other which has held sway for 
 ages in the culinary world, the oil of the olive. How popular and 
 how extensively used it has become, figures can best explain. In 
 1872 the export from the United States amounted to 547,165 gallons, 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 141 
 
 valued at $293,546. During 1893, but little more than a decade later, 
 the quantity exported seems fabulous — almost nine and one-half 
 millions of gallons, valued at nearly 14,000,000. So valuable has this 
 oil become since refining and so universally is it liked as a food, 
 that it is now annually exported to forty-two different nations. It 
 is interesting to note that France last year bought 1,205,108 gallons, 
 Italy 462,244 gallons, and Spain 5,000, when one remembers that 
 these are the countries of the olive tree and the exporting bureaus 
 of olive oiL Just how much of it returns to our shores in dainty, 
 wicker flasks, labeled "huile cToUve" we ^hall never fcjow: yet it is a 
 fact that at all the Mediterranean ports from which olive oil is ex- 
 ported, hundreds of barrels of cotton-geed oil are annually un- 
 loaded. Holland takes nearly two-fifths of our entire supply and 
 uses it in the manufacturing of butter. This butter, so-called, is 
 enclosed in hermetically sealed cans and shipped to Indian the West 
 India Islands, and to Central and South America. Germany buya 
 annually over one million gallons, England nearly that amount, 
 while Austria and the other European countries consume smaller 
 quantities. Each year increases the number of gallons taken by 
 the West Indies, particularly Cuba, by Central and South America, 
 in all of which countries it comes into direct competition with the 
 olive oil from Spain. During the last year Mexico purchased 
 671,000 gallons, Brazil, 304,155, the British and French West Indies 
 more than a quarter million, while Africa and Australia took a like 
 quantity. Throughout the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United 
 States immense quantities are annually used in the canning factories 
 for the preserving of fish, as well as millions of gallons, combined 
 with animal f ats, ii the production of various lard and suet com- 
 pounds, such as cottolene, cotosuet, vegetol, suetol, etc. The com- 
 mercial importance of the cotton seed oil industry of the United 
 States is enormous, to say nothing of its food value. It is one of 
 the most wholesome of fats and, when perfectly refined, a process 
 that has been but recently perfected, is valuable in cookery and in 
 the preparation of salads. It has not the delicate flavor of olive oil 
 although, when skUf ully combined with the other ingredients of a 
 salad dressing, none but an epicure could detect the difference. 
 The fact that of itself it is almost flavorless accounts for the possi- 
 bility of largely adulterating olive oil with it without danger of 
 detection. 
 
 There is something significant in the fact that this distinctly 
 
142 POOD PKODOCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 American product was so scantily displayed at the Columbian Ex- 
 position. The states which produce the largest quantities ignored 
 its existence. Louisiana made a small exhibit, the New York Cot- 
 ton-oil company, which reflnes the oil, one somewhat larger. It is 
 in every way nutritious, pure, wholesome, and palatable, and should 
 have been as largely exhibited by the states producing it as was 
 olive oil by Spain, Italy, Prance and Algiers. It argues a snobbish- 
 ness quite unworthy of democratic America to sell this product to 
 European countries and then buy it from them six months later, 
 transferred from barrel to bottle, renamed, and with the price many 
 times doubled. We should place this oil upon our tables labeled 
 with its light name, proud that it is a distinctively American pro- 
 duct, equal in all essential respects to any oil produced. 
 
 But the oil par excellence is that of the olive. The tree dates 
 back to patriarchal, times, having been one of the special blessings 
 of the Promised Land, and it has always been abundant throughout 
 
 Olives. 
 
 Palestine, although now extensively cultivated throughout the Med- 
 iterranean countries, in Algiers, and in Asia. Its value as a food 
 has increased with the centuries of its usage untU to-day it, or an un- 
 suspected adulterant, is to be found in nearly every household. Its 
 high price alone prevents a more extended use, although in the 
 countries where it is produced the poorest among the peasantry use 
 it daily. Even the soap originally used in Palestine was made from 
 olive oU and from a potash extracted from the alkaline plants about 
 the Dead Sea. The tree was brought to the United States by mis- 
 sionaries who planted it in Mexico and California where, owing to 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 143 
 
 care and cultivation, it has become an important source of revenue. 
 It is claimed that the olive can be grown to perfection in. the south- 
 eastern Atlantic States but, as the fruit ripens at just the time of 
 cotton-picking, it could not be attended to with profit. The tree is 
 an evergreen which attains to great beauty and immense size after 
 cultivation although in its wild state it is small, ungainly, and 
 covered with thorns. It reaches a remarkable age and, as it always 
 produces abundantly, is most valuable. The wood possesses great 
 beauty of grain; and among the historic Greeks no greater honor 
 could be conferred upon an illustrious poet, sculptor or combatant 
 than a simple crown or circlet of the tiny, leathery, dark, grayish- 
 green leaves. 
 
 The olive tree produces fruit at six years of age which, of little 
 value in its fresh state, forms, when pickled, a delicate, valuable and 
 nutritious condiment. From the fleshy pericarp an oil is expressed, 
 clear and beautiful, delicate of flavor and altogether the daintiest 
 known for medicinal, table or culinary usage. The oil of the Euro- 
 pean countries is estimated to keep "sweet" for four years while 
 that from California, when carefully pressed from properly cared- 
 f or, unbruised fruit, has been known to resist damaging changes for 
 an entire decade. This is probably diie to the greater cleanliness 
 and more scientific care used in the modern industry in California 
 than is the case in tradition-bound Italy and Spain. In many of the 
 olive producing countries of Europe the oil is expressed by the 
 present generation much as it was by their fathers, with total lack 
 of labor-saving appliances or of scientific care. One writer (Mr. 
 Hayne of California) describes an olive oil mill recently visited by 
 him in Nice "in which there were two mules, eight people, three 
 dogs, kitchen, manure heap, wash tubs, oil tanks, presses, heaps of 
 olives, and a smolsy fire, all in one cellar, the walls of which were 
 covered with smoky grease. After dinner I sat down in this pen 
 and saw eight well-filled pipes lighted up." This is by no means a 
 typical picture, for cleanliness and skill are and must be inevitable 
 factors in the making of the best grades of European oil. But it is 
 nevertheless true that the people of California have the great ad- 
 vantage of being unhampered by traditional processes which are 
 usually at variance with modem science. 
 
 The methods of producing olive oil differ widely in detail but 
 are yet substantially as follows: The fruit is picked by hand before 
 it is quite ripe, the oil being expressed soon after gathering. Bruis- 
 
1« FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 ing the fruit or leaving it in piles to "sweat" or ferment has a most 
 detrimental effect upon the color and particularly the flavor of the 
 oil. The freshly gathered fruit is first crushed in a mUl, the pulp 
 being then pressed much as is apple pulp in making cider, the oil 
 which first flows from the press constituting the lightest and best 
 grade, known as~virgin oil. This is filtered of impurities by various 
 means, a filter of cotton being used in California, and the beautiful, 
 limpid, delicious oil of our tables is then bottled for sale and export. 
 
 It would be to our advantage if olive oil could be as easily and 
 cheaply obtained in America as is the case in certain localities of 
 Europe, for the superiority of vegetable over animal products is, 
 from the standpoint of health and purity, unquestioned. At pres- 
 ent there is so much prejudice against the home product that the 
 general public prefers to pay a double price for the foreign article, 
 the customary adulteration of which is well known. During a recent 
 visit in California I was told that the best olive oil could not be 
 produced at any profit in that state for less than two dollars per 
 gallon. At the same time the retail stores in San Francisco were 
 selling "best imported olive oil" for one dollar and twenty-five cents 
 per gallon. The inference made is obvious. But it is our own fault. 
 We have two distinctively American products, both excellent from 
 a chemical as well as from a nutritive standpoint; one, the product 
 of the stately western tree, the other, of the invaluable cotton plant 
 of our southern states. Both should be found in every household 
 and in every market throughout the land, sold unadulterated and 
 under their own names, one oil of course being much higher in price 
 than the other. We should be loyal to both, and not, by unreason- 
 able demands for "genuine" olive oil at a low price, tempt our own 
 makers to adulterate their product as the makers of Europe have 
 done. The olive growers of California are working enthusiastically 
 along scientific line's and it is not too much to predict that if they 
 are encouraged by the good sense and loyalty of the American people 
 the olive oil of our far western state will come to be known as the 
 purest and most superior in the world. 
 
 The largest exhibit of olive oil made at the World's Columbian 
 Exposition was in the California state building. No one who saw 
 it can forget the great columns of the bottled oil, clear as crystal, 
 and of most delicate color and flavor. 
 
 If California led in the immensity of her exhibit, Spain excelled 
 in number of exhibitors, of which there were nearly one hundred. 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 145 
 
 Spain has a well earned reputation for producing excellent oil. 
 
 Italy made a fine exhibit of Lucca oil, which was put up in dainty 
 flasks. This is reputed to be the best in the world. 
 
 Algiers sent twenty -two exhibits of oil which, while good, was 
 not equal to the Spanish or Italian, owing probably to the crude 
 method of extracting it. 
 
 France exhibited largely of a very superior oU. 
 
 Peanut oil is produced from the fatty, subterranean nut of a 
 
 leguminous plant, believed to have been native to Africa. It is very 
 
 generally cultivated in warm climates and there are allied species 
 
 in the southern states of North America where it is an important 
 
 agricultural product. It is largely 
 eaten, having a high nutritive value, 
 but is of greater importance in the pro- 
 duction of oil. The peanut contains 
 from forty to fifty per cent of oil, clear, 
 odorless, colorless, resembling olive oil 
 in many respects, and having the prop- 
 erty of resisting change under all ordi- 
 nary exposure for a great length of 
 time. The fact that it is largely ex- 
 ported to European countries fully 
 warrants the suspicion that quantities 
 of it are returned to us as "pure olive 
 oil" for table use. While it is one of 
 our most important southern industries 
 it was not exhibited at the Columbian 
 Exposition excepting by certain of the 
 Peanut. French colonies; and many a fastidious 
 
 American who could never have countenanced oil made from, 
 the plebeian southern "goober," expressed wholly epicurean admira- 
 tion for the dainty bottles filled with amber oil and labeled "Huile, 
 pistache de terre'' 
 
 Both Argentine Republic and Eussia exhibited largely of turnip 
 seed oiL It is produced from the seed of the turnip plant, growing 
 wild inparts of Eussia, and Scandinavia, and which is, as Grant 
 Allen would say, first cousin to both cabbage and mustard. It is 
 cultivated in nearly all temperate climates and, where greatly im- 
 proved by cultivation, the root,. a succulent vegetable, is used for 
 food. The seed is rich in a bland, almost colorless, oil which posses- 
 
146 FOOD PEODaCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 ses many of the properties of the oil of the cotton-seed. In the 
 countries in wliich it is produced it takes important rank as a food, 
 and much resembles the oil produced from rape seed. 
 
 The rape seed, a plant of the turnip family, is to be found in 
 abundance throughout Europe, where it is cultivated. When young 
 and succulent the tender green leaves are used much as is 
 spinach, both in the making of salads and as a pot-herb. It is 
 largely used as a forage plant, although its greatest value lies in the 
 oil expressed from the seeds. Both Japan and Russia exhibited 
 quantities of rape-seed oil, which was tasteless, odorless, and a 
 wholly desirable oil for table or kitchen use. 
 
 The sunflower, although a tropical plant, is extensively culti- 
 vated in temperate Europe and America, and is a garden favorite. 
 In Russia it is cultivated for the seed, which produces about forty 
 per cent of oil and which, v/hen refined, is useful for culinary pur- 
 poses. A large exhibit was sent to the Columbian Exposition by 
 Russia. 
 
 Almond oil is produced from the kernel of the nut of the 
 almond tree, common to southern Europe and Asia. There are two 
 varieties, known as the bitter and the sweet, from the latter being ex- " 
 pressed the almond oil of commerce, although oil from the bitter al- 
 mond is also produced,a cheap- 
 er product commercially. 
 The sweet almond oil is clear, 
 odorless, and valuable medi- 
 cinally as well as in the prep- 
 aration of foods for the table. 
 The tree is now extensively 
 ^ grown in southern California, 
 
 Palm oil Strainer. although no oil is expressed 
 
 from the nuts, owing to the great demand for them as a table 
 nut. 
 
 Oil is also obtained from the fibrous second coatjog^jf^ the fruit 
 of a species of palm, allied to the cocoanut palm and native to 
 Africa. The oil is clear, limpid, agreeable to the taste and having . 
 the odor of violets. In Liberia it is clarified of the fibrous particles 
 contained in it after being expressed by straining through a dipper 
 of woven twigs. The fibrous residue is boiled down and from it is 
 obtained a palm butter, used by the poorer classes. 
 
 One of the most valuable of oils is that of the cocoa-nut, the fruit 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 147 
 
 of a palm indigenous to Ceylon but common to most ttopical coun- 
 tries. It is 3eIicrdus'ot" flavor and useful both for cooking and as a 
 table oU. It is usually not entii-ely extracted f ronTthe nut, a small 
 quantity being retained that the edible portion may be further util- 
 ized by drying and desiccating. The desiccated cocoanut exhibited 
 at the Exposition by Ceylon was far superior, in points of nutrition 
 and flavor, to the American product, owing to the fact that none of 
 the oil was extracted. The cocoa-nut palm tree grows luxuriantly 
 and is an article of absolute necessity to the natives of the tropics. 
 Without it they could scarcely manage to exist. The tender, green 
 fruit or "cabbage" is eaten. From its juice is made a drink called 
 "toddy," which, by boiling, is converted into the native sugar, "jag- 
 gery." The trunks, small and large, are used for nearly everything 
 from water pipes to posts; the leaves for thatching; from the 
 fibrous covering of the fruit are woven ropes, mats and garments. 
 Whittier, in his beautiful little poem on the palm tree has sung its 
 praises more justly than I can do: 
 
 Is It the palm, the cocoarpalm. 
 
 On the Indian Sea, by the isles of balm? 
 
 Or is it a ship in the breezeless calm? 
 
 A ship whose keel is ot palm beneath, 
 Whose Tibs of palm have a palm-bark sheath, 
 And a rudder of palm it steereth with. 
 
 Branches of palm are its spars and rails, 
 Fibres of palm are its woven sails. 
 And the rope is of palm that idly trails ! 
 
 What does the good ship bear so well? 
 The cocoanut with its stony shell 
 And the milky sap of its inner cell. 
 
 What are its jars so smooth and fine, 
 
 But hollowed nuts, fiUed with oil and wine, 
 
 And the cabbage that ripens under the Line? 
 
 Who smokes his nargUeh, cool and calm? 
 
 The master, whose cunning and skill could charm 
 
 Cargo and ship from the bounteous palm. 
 
 In the cabin he sits on a palm-mat soft, 
 From a beaker of palm his drink is quaffed, 
 And a palm-thatch shields from the sun aloft! 
 
 His dress is woven of palmy strands, 
 And he holds a palm leaf scroll in his hands, 
 Raced with the Prophet's wise cpmmssds ! 
 U 
 
118 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 The turban folded about his head 
 
 Was daintily wrought of the palm-leaf braid, 
 
 And the fan that cools him of palm was made. 
 
 Of threads of palm was the carpet spun 
 Whereon he kneels when the day is done, 
 And the foreheads of Islam are bowed as one! 
 
 To Mm the palm is a gift divine. 
 Wherein all uses of man combine,— 
 House, and raiment, and food, and wine ! 
 
 And in the hour of his great release, 
 His need of the palm shall only cease 
 With the shroud wherein he lieth in peace. 
 
 "Allah 11 Allah!" he sings his psahn. 
 On the Indian Sea by the Isles o£ bahn ; 
 "Thanks to Allah who gives the palm !" 
 
 Cocoa butter is a fat which at ordinary temperatures is solid 
 but which melts at about 90 o p. It is obtained from the seeds of the 
 Caeoa theobroma, a tree native to Mexico, from the seeds of which 
 chocolate and cocoa are also produced. This fat has the excellent 
 quality of keeping "sweet," and of retaining its fine flavor much 
 longer than oils in general. It constitutes nearly fifty per cent of 
 the cocoa seeds or beans and is expressed from them by 
 crushing, grinding and the application of heat. The use of cocoa 
 butter is very general throughout the countries in which it is 
 produced, but it is high priced in foreign markets, owing to the 
 fact that its use is almost wholly medicinal. Like all of the vege- 
 table fats and oils it deserves recognition and more extended use 
 because of its nutritive value. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 OEBEALS. 
 
 ^"~^ HEN Sir Richard Bannister of London, judge upon 
 agricultural products at the World's Columbian 
 Exposition, was asked to give his opinion of Amer- 
 ica, he replied: "The agricultural resources of 
 your land, particularly of the great West, have 
 surprised and interested me more than all else. In 
 these rest the future, the marvelous future, of 
 America." He was right. If Ceres hovers over 
 any land to-day, that land is America, with her astonishing crops of 
 vegetables and fruits and her millions of acres of grain. She pos- 
 sesses the greatest agricultural district in the modern world, if 
 greatness be measured by advanced methods in the planting, tillage 
 and harvesting of cereals as well as by extent. She has profited 
 richly by the experiences of the older nations; Egypt, the land of 
 com and wheat; Rome with her wealth of agricultural interests, 
 immortalized by Virgil and Cato; Saracenic Spain, Saxon England, 
 and peasant Italy, France and Germany. No country possesses soil 
 and climate more appropriate to the growth of cereal crops than 
 America and none other promises so lavishly for the future. 
 
 The greatest food crops of the world are cereals: wheat, rice, 
 com, oats, barley, rye, and millet, all belonging to the graminece or 
 grass family, the herbage and seed of nearly all members of which 
 are valuable foods for both animal and man. By common consent, 
 wheat takes first rank, .being richest of all cereals in protein, and 
 
150 FOOD PEODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 old Homer was not wrong when he defined it as "the marrow of 
 men." There are now more than one hundred and fifty varieties, 
 due to variation of soil, climate and cultivation, the origin of them 
 all being so lost in antiquity that it cannot be traced. But chemist 
 and botanist have analyzed the tiny kernel until it has divulged to 
 a curious world all the secrets entrusted to its care by the sunshine, 
 the soU and the showers. The botanist alone has revealed the 
 poetic side of its evolution, for he tells us that wheat is simply a de- 
 generate lily, which, away back when the world was young, swung 
 gaily on its stem beside its sister lilies. But, unlike many of its 
 kindred, it depended upon the wind for fertilization and not upon 
 meandering insects. So it needed no brightly colored petals with 
 which to attract these insects, only long, quivering stamens from 
 which pollen would fly at a breath and sensitive, feathery pistils to 
 which the tiniest atom of pollen would cling. As a result not many 
 blossoms became fertile and, that the seeds which did develop 
 should have the best chances for existence, nature stored each little 
 kernel well with gluten, starch and fat for the development of the 
 young plant. Thus this lily came to have an unimportant blossom 
 and a very important seed. Local differences of soil and climate 
 differentiated the species and, after cultivation, our various cereals 
 came into being. Says Grant Allen, the author of this theory as to 
 the origin of wheat: "We thus trace the whole pedigree of wheat 
 from the time its ancestors first diverged from the common stock 
 of lilies and water plantains, to the time when savage man found it 
 growing wild among the untilled plains of prehistoric Asia and took 
 it under his special protection in the little garden plots around his 
 wattled hut, until it has gradually altered under his constant selec- 
 tion into the golden grain that now covers half the lowland tilth of 
 Europe and America." 
 
 Egypt cultivated wheat two thousand years before the Christian 
 era while the Chinese claim precedence of even that marvelous date 
 by seven hundred years. The lake-dwellers of prehistoric Switzer- 
 land have left indubitable evidence of its cultivation and since most 
 ancient oif times it has been carried from one country to another by 
 explorers and hostile invaders as well as by philanthropists. Said 
 Pliny: "The people of Bome for three hundred years together used 
 no other food than groats made from common wheat." It was intro- 
 duced into Mexico by Cortez and into Peru by a Spanish lady. 
 Gosuold, the explorer, brought it to Massachusetts in the seven- 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 151 
 
 teenth century and later we And that enterprising colony exporting 
 quantities of it to Holland. The price, as late as 1635, was sixty 
 cents a bushel, while fifty years later it brought in Maine $1.25. In 
 1611 wheat was introduced into Virginia although, so zealous were 
 the agriculturists in their cultivation of tobacco, the growing of 
 it was almost wholly neglected for fifty years. 
 
 Wheat is most extensively cultivated to-day in the western and 
 northwestern portions of the United States, in Russia, which ranks 
 next to America in extent of acreage, in France as well as in other 
 European countries, and in India. 
 
 A kernel of wheat examined under the microscope is seen to 
 have several integuments or layers upon its surface, the outer one 
 hard, wholly indigestible and therefore of no 
 nutritive value. This is defined as husk or 
 bran. The next layers are rich in nitrogen- 
 ous matter and salts, are composed of gluten 
 cells and constitute the most nutritious por- 
 tion of the kernel. Beneath these are the 
 cerealine cells, giving color and flavor, while 
 the body or interior of the grain is composed 
 Section of Wheat Grain, almost entirely of starch, a substance of 
 Magnified. minor nutritive value. At the lower end of 
 
 the grain is the tiny germ or embryo, for the nourishment of which 
 are provided all these curiously wrought integuments. 
 
 Wheats are variously classified as hard and soft, red and white, 
 spring and winter, and subdivided occasionally into bearded and 
 beardless varieties. The hardness and softness of the grain depends 
 both upon its maturity and upon the amount of gluten contained. 
 In either or any variety an unripiened grain is less hard and far less 
 nutritious than if fully matured. The hard wheats are relatively 
 more nutritious than the soft, being more largely composed of 
 starch. In general the hard" wheats are produced in climates in 
 which long summers allow the grain to perfectly mature, while the 
 wheats of colder climates are softer and more fragile. 
 
 Any variety may be either a spring or a vfinter wheat, depend- 
 ing upon the time of sowing. The other subdivisions depend upon 
 the color of the grain, whether red or white, and upon whether or 
 not the variety contain awns or beards. 
 
 Besides the value of wheaten preparations in the making of 
 bread and macaroni, it has various minor uses. The whole grain 
 
152 FOOD PBODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 may be cooked until soft, a lengthy process, and eaten with milk or 
 sugar. It may also be combined with milk and eggs into a pudding, 
 which is palatable but rather indigestible, owing to the tough outer 
 coating of the grain. Cracked wheat, rolled wheat, germ meal and 
 various other wheaten preparations now upon the markets, attest to 
 its wide usage as a breakfast food. A recent preparation is made 
 from the shredded grain formed into oblong cakes and slightly baked. 
 Almost numberless wheaten preparations are to be found in the 
 market described as infant's or invalid's foods. Unfortunately, 
 many of them contain little if any gluten, the strength-giving and 
 easily digested substance, while consisting almost wholly of starch, 
 a food most taxing to an already enfeebled digestion and which 
 does not contain tissue-building elements. 
 
 The display of wheat at the Columbian Exposition was marvel- 
 ously complete. The varieties sent from Russia, from our own 
 northwestern states, from Venezuela, and from the Mediterranean 
 countries, particularly Italy, were conceded to be the finest. That 
 from the latter country possesses a long, slender grain, and is of the 
 hard, red variety, specially used in the manufacture of macaroni. 
 
 Indian corn, Zea Mays, or more commonly maize, is indigenous 
 to America, particularly, it is believed, to Central Mexico. The 
 earliest explorers found it a staple food of the Indians and recent 
 investigations of the Cliff Dwellers' homes in Colorado indicate 
 that it was grown also by these prehistoric people. Specimens of 
 ears of corn, three and four inches in length, were exhibited among 
 the relics of Peruvian mummy pits at the Columbian Exposition, 
 proving it .to have been quite as anciently a South American product. 
 
 According to the Indian legend, maize was a gift from the Great 
 Spirit who came to earth ages ago as a youth dressed in splendid 
 garments of green and yeUow and promising them great good should 
 he be wrestled with and overthrown. Hiawatha, fasting, leaped 
 from his bed of branches and for seven nights contested with the 
 youth in physical combat. At last he slew him. Ho buried the 
 wrestler and tenderly watched his grave for many moons, keeping 
 away the raven and all insects, 
 
 " Till at length a small, green feather 
 From the earth shot slowly upward, 
 Then another and another. 
 And before the summer ended 
 Stood the maize in all its heauty 
 With its shining rohes about it, 
 
FOOD PKODUCXS OF THE WOKLD. 153 
 
 And Its long, solt yellow tresses. 
 
 " And still later, when the autumn 
 Changed the long, green leaves to yellow, 
 And the soft and juicy kernels 
 Grew like wampum, hard and yellow. 
 Then the ripened ears he gathered. 
 Stripped the withered husks from off them 
 As he once had stripped the wrestler, 
 Gave the first Feast of Mondamln, 
 And made known unto the people 
 This new gift of the Great Spii-it." 
 
 In appearance the maize plant is tall, stately, of extraordinary 
 beauty and tropical luxuriance of growth. Nothing could be more 
 beautiful than the plant in full bloom, crowned with its waving, 
 feathery tassel of staminate flowers, while below, nestled among a 
 profusion of rustling leaves, hang out the long pink and green, 
 silken styles of the com ear. The ear varies greatly throughout the 
 three hundred species cultivated, both in color, size, and size of 
 grain. The grain may be white, yellow, red, purple or occasionally 
 mottled, and may also vary in nutritive value. Some varieties re- 
 quire also a much greater length of time for growth than do others. 
 
 From a nutritive standpoint corn is inferior to hard wheat, al- 
 though containing about the same amount of nitrogenous matter as 
 the soft varieties of wheat and fully five times as much fat. Owing 
 to the lack of gluten it cannot be used in making a "light" or yeast 
 bread. But its usefulness, nevertheless, is wide-reaching. When 
 green it makes an excellent and nourishing food for cattle, for 
 which purpose it is often planted in drills like wheat that the ears 
 may not develop, leaving the stalks richer in sugar. The sweet 
 varieties are used green as table corn, and "sugar corn" is exten- 
 sively put up at many canning factories. In Mexico the stalks are 
 utilized in extracting a syrup by pressure, which, when fermented, 
 is made into a drink called "chica." Probably upon no food product 
 is there put such a premium for misappropriation as upon corn. 
 Prom a western paper I clip the following: "Corn in Nebraska sells 
 f or twenty-flve cents per bushel. This, distilled, makes four and 
 one-half gallons of spirits. After being manipulated by the distill- 
 ers, this makes nine gallons of whiskey. This pays to the United 
 States government ninety cents a gallon, which is a revenue of $8.10 
 from one bushel of corn. This retails to the customer at ten cents 
 a drink. Thus the nine gallons of whiskey bring $54, all from one 
 
154 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 bushel of com at twenty-flve cents." For many years the corn of 
 our western prairies had so low a market value that it was 
 raised at a profit only when utilized for feeding hogs, which thereby 
 brought a higher market price. This is much to be regretted, as 
 com meal or flour, properly prepared, is one of our most valuable 
 cereal foods. Corn starch is an important product of the grain as 
 well as com flour. But com meal, rich, yellow corn-meal, sung of 
 poets and honored of sages, is the homespun dish which is common 
 to all lands wherein corn is grown. The "pone" and "hoe-cake" of 
 the south, eaten alike by negro and planter, the northern "johnny- 
 cake" or com bread, the Boston brown bread of the east, the 
 tortilla and pinole of Mexico, the mush, hasty pudding and samp of 
 New England, all bear eloquent, even though silent, testimony to its 
 homely value. Says Whittier: 
 
 " There, richer than the fabled gift 
 Apollo showered of old, 
 Fair hands the broken grain shall sift, 
 And knead Its meal of gold. 
 
 " Let vapid idlers loll in silk 
 Around their costly board; 
 Give us the bowl of samp and milk, 
 By homespun beauty poured." 
 
 Effort has been made to introduce com and corn flour into 
 Europe. It is grown but little there, as, owing to its extreme sus- 
 ceptibility to frosts or even cool weather, it could not be grown 
 profitably excepting in the Mediterranean portions. In England 
 "com" refers to wheat, in Scotland, to oats.' But it is exported only 
 to a limited extent, owing to the fact that if not well cured, either 
 in the ear or the meal, it deteriorates in flavor; while, if not thor- 
 oughly dried before being ground into meal its sweetness is lost. It 
 is at its best only when perfectly cured and freshly ground, and few 
 American housewives will order it even in small quantities, unless 
 certain that it is "new" or fresh. It is said that the North American 
 Indian kept the flavor of corn unchanged by carefully drying the 
 ears, then, after shelling, drying the grain. After this process was 
 finished it was carefully stored away in the ground, -protected by 
 various mats or covermgs. The Mexican method of parching corn 
 Is also unique, and is as follows: "An iron pot filled with sand is 
 heated over the fire until very hot. Into this hot sand are placed 
 two or three pounds of the com which is mixed with the hot sand 
 by stirring until each grain bursts and throws out a white substance 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 155 
 
 of twice its bigness. It is separated from the sand by sifting." 
 Eiglit ounces of this is considered quite sufficient for one day's food 
 supply. The variety used must be analogous to the variety known 
 in the United States as "pop-corn." The bursting is due to the ex- 
 pansion of the stai'ch granules and also, probably, to the generating 
 of a gas which causes the explosive sound. 
 
 The origin of the barley plant is related only in legends and to 
 what land it is indigenous is therefore unknown. The Egyptians 
 hold that the art of cultivating this grain was imparted to them 
 anciently by the divine Isis, who herself brought it to them in a 
 wild state, teaching them how to improve it in quality by care. In 
 Exodus they are described as cultivators of flax and barley, of wheat 
 and rye. 
 
 Barley has been found in the lake dwellings of Switzerland, and 
 is mentioned by Pliny as the first grain to have been used for the 
 nourishment of man. Hippocrates and Galen both prescribed it 
 medicinally, for its nourishing and soothing qualities. 
 
 According to the Indian legend, related by a chief of the Sus- 
 quehanna tribe to Dr. Franklin: "In the beginning, our fathers 
 subsisted only upon the flesh of animals and, if the hunt was unsuc- 
 cessful, they had but one alternative, starvation. One day, two of 
 our young hunters having killed a deer, they cooked it over their 
 Are and were preparing to eat when a beautiful young woman ap- 
 peared from the clouds. She seated herself upon the hill which 
 you see yonder, among the blue mountains. They said to each other, 
 'It is a spirit who has smelted our venison and wishes to eat of it. 
 Let us give her some.' So they gave her the tongue. She was 
 greatly pleased and said, 'Your kindness shall be rewarded. Come 
 to this place in thirteen moons and you will find something that 
 will be for the nourishing of yourselves and your children unto the 
 latest generation.' They came, thirteen moons later, and there 
 found growing barley and maize." 
 
 The cultivation of barley may be extended over a wider range 
 than that of any other cereal, as it bears well both heat and cold 
 and matures rapidly. It may thus be planted later and harvested 
 earlier than wheat and in warm climates two crops a year may be 
 produced, one in the spring from winter-sown grain and one in the 
 autumn from seed sown in the spring. 
 
 Barley contains more starch and less gluten than wheat, being 
 for the latter reason unadapted for making light bread, and also 
 
1S6 
 
 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 contains seven parts in a hundred of saccharine mattef not f OOnd in 
 wheat. It has been highly valued as a food since most ancient 
 periods, in Greece, Kome, and countries of the Orient. According 
 to Pliny the Roman gladiators were called hordearii from their use 
 of this grain as food. In Japan one of the staple foods, miso-miso, 
 ia prepared by combining the soy-bean and a preparation of barley. 
 In Great Britain, particularly in Scotland, both a coarse barley 
 meal and a finer cr patent barley meal are extensively used. Pearl 
 barley, the preparation best known in America, consists of the 
 whole grain, decorticated, rounded, and polished by attrition. 
 Barley broth and barley water are widely commended as nourishing 
 and refreshing drinks for invalids and children. 
 
 Like all cereal foods, barley is made the basis of alcoholic 
 drinks, an industry which began with the Egyptians and was con- 
 tinued by the Greeks. It is not to be wondered at that poverty and 
 famine inevitably follow in the train of so perverted a usage. 
 
 Dr. Johnson, in his dictionary, characteristically defined oats as 
 
 "a grain which in England is given to horses, but which in Scotland 
 
 supports the people." This definition, although the grouty old 
 
 doctor did not so intend it, speaks volumes for the wisdom and 
 
 economy of the Scotch people in recognizing 
 
 the value of so important a food. Like wheat, 
 
 it is a member of the grass family, differing, 
 
 however, in that the spikelets grow in the 
 
 shape of a loose panicle, each tiny, closely-.. 
 
 husked grain having a long beard or awn. 
 
 Its origin either as to native place or spe- 
 cies is unknown. According to De Gandolle it 
 was unknown to the Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks 
 or ancient Romans, although in all probability 
 cultivated by the aboriginal Swiss and perhaps 
 by the ancient Germans. It is now grown, a 
 plant of num^erous varieties, over most of the 
 temperate zone. 
 
 Nutritively, it stands high in the list of 
 cereal foods, although it is unsuitable for mak- 
 ing into a light bread because of the lack of 
 gluten. Its chief use is in the form of a por- 
 ridge, in preparing it for which the husk is removed and the grain 
 then crushed by rollers or cut by steel knives. When left whole 
 
 Asiatic Millet, 
 
FOOD PEODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 157 
 
 it is called "groats" or "grits." There is an oven-baked preparation 
 which is specially fine. The best American preparations are partially 
 cooked by steam after which their adaptation in the household is 
 a comparatively easy matter. If slowly cooked in boiling water, the 
 mixture being kept rather thin, a delicious porridge of jelly-like 
 consistency is the result. If strained and allowed to cool, you have 
 a nutritious jelly or blanc mange. Oatmeal, chiefly a breakfast 
 dish, is more extensively used in America by the well-to-do classes 
 than by the poor, a fact to be regretted, for it is the latter class which 
 most needs cheap, nourishing foods. 
 
 In Ireland oatmeal is combined with corn meal in a porridge. 
 In Scotland it Is truly the national dish. It is there frequently 
 boiled in beef-stock when it is called "beef-brose," or in water in 
 which cabbage has been cooked, making "kale-brose." It is the 
 chief and typical food of the peasantry. Said a Scotch mother 
 when asked how she persuaded her children to eat oatmeal, the de- 
 spair of many an American mother, "I tell them that if they first 
 eat their bowl of porridge they may have whatever else they wish. 
 By the time that has been eaten they are satisfied." 
 
 The consular report of 1889, relative to the condition of the 
 poor of the great cities of Scotland, is significant. It states that 
 porridge had so long been the main food of the poorer Scotch that 
 the eating of it came to be considered a mark of poverty. So the 
 city poor began substituting for it baker's bread and tea without 
 adding sufficient of either milk or meat to their diet to bring it to a 
 health-giving standard. The result: diseases of childhood, traceable 
 directly to the lack of nutritious food. The report further states 
 that projects are on foot to famish the poor a bowl of good por- 
 ridge and milk for a penny, and it closes with these words: "What- 
 ever else is done for the redemption of the 100,000 poor, and much 
 is certain to be done, nothing will be wholly efficacious without a 
 return to the diet that made their ancestors the finest soldiers and 
 the most stalwart workers in the British Islands." 
 
 MiUet is indigenous to the East Indies but has been cultivated 
 in southern Europe since the days of the Greeks. It is almost un- 
 used in America excepting as a food for animals, but in Russia and 
 India forms a staple article of diet. During the recent Russian 
 famine millet bread was for a long time the only food remaining be- 
 tween the peasantry and starvation. MUlet flour, although very 
 white and nutritious, does not make good bread unless combined 
 
158 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOEL0. 
 
 with wheaten flour. The flour is, by the Orientals, made into a 
 paste with fat, called kaddel, althongh. the grain is also eaten whole 
 in the form of groats. 
 
 Millet ought to be a profitable cereal crop as the plant is very 
 prolific, capable of yielding per acre five times as much as would 
 wheat. The Asiatic millet reaches even a. greater height than the 
 American maize and is a plant of great beauty, owing to its delicate, 
 feathery, profuse infloresence. The name comes from the Latin 
 mille, a thousand, owing to its numberless tiny seeds, of which one 
 kind, containing black seeds, is most used for the feeding of birds 
 and poultry. Edwin Arnold describes the self -torture of a Yogi of 
 ancient India, who 
 
 " Meted a thousand grains of millet out, 
 Ate it with famished patience, seed by seed. 
 And so starved on." 
 
 Rye is a cereal of comparatively recent cultivation, and is grown 
 extensively only in northern Germany, Russia and Scandinavia, 
 north of the wheat limit. It is lower in nutritive value than wheat, 
 although containing sufficient gluten to enable it to 
 be made into bread, the rye bread, ktimmel-brod and 
 ''pumpernickel" of the German bake-shop. In Amer- 
 ica rye, excepting as an ingredient of Boston brown 
 bread, is used chiefly by~lhe foreign element. The 
 sour taste developed when made into bread is due 
 to the rapid fermentation of the sugar contained. In 
 appearance the rye plant resembles both wheat and 
 barley. In Great Britain the plant, while green, is 
 used as forage for cattle and horses. Its chief use is 
 in the distilling of liquors. 
 
 Buckwheat is not a cereal but a showy, herbace- 
 ous plant, related to the rhubarb and sorrel, the 
 name of which was originally beech wheat, owing to 
 the three-sided, angular shape of the seeds. The 
 meal is used much as are the cereal flours. 
 Bice. although suitable only for the making of small 
 batter-cakes, owing to deficiency in gluten. In Russia the seeds 
 are used in the form of groats, particularly by the soldiery, and 
 are cooked with butter or oil. The flour of buckwheat compares 
 unfavorably with that of wheat in point of nutrition. 
 
 Rice, the origin of which is variously ascribed to India and 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 159 
 
 to China, has been for thousands of years one of the most widely 
 used cereals of the world. It is not alluded to in the Bible and was 
 anciently unknown to the Greeks, Eomans and probably to the in- 
 habitants of the Holy Land. But for thousands of years the chief 
 nations of the Orient have partially subsisted upon it, from the 
 divine Buddha who begged it from house to house after the custom 
 of the hermits of ancient India, to the poorest of his brothers. It 
 was ^thrown to the blue and purple fish of the lotus-pools, and, 
 "boiled with sandal and fine spice," was laid upon sacrificial altars. 
 In China, more than four thousand years ago, was established a cus- 
 tom according to which, once in every year, the Emperor sows the 
 seeds of rice with his own hands. China, Japan, India, Java, Siam 
 and Ceylon to-day regard rice as their staple food. 
 
 In appearance the rice grain resembles barley, and the plant 
 itself, the other cereals and grasses to which it is allied. The grains 
 possess each separate pedicles springing from a branching main 
 stalk. Each is enclosed in a rough, yellow husk which, in the 
 bearded varieties, terminates in an awn. There are numerous 
 species, Japan alone claiming more than one hundred, although 
 they may be classified simply aslarina rice, composed almost wholly 
 of starch, and a second variety containing a larger proportion of 
 gluten. Chemically, rice contains far less gluten than wheat, oats, 
 barley or maize and therefore ranks much below these cereals, 
 nutritively. Professor Atwater states that a rice-fed people are 
 invariably weak physically, and it has been demonstrated by others 
 that they lack invention and enterprise, a condition certainly true 
 of the poorer classes among the Orientals. To counteract the f ault- 
 iness of a diet composed of so much starch and so little protein, 
 rice is usually combined in cooking with fat, salt and curry, and 
 those of the Orientals who can procure other food consume large 
 quantities of fish and poultry. 
 
 The cultivation of rice in America is of recent origin. In 
 1761, in a treatise written upon the British plantations of America, 
 it was recorded that the first seed rice which found its way into 
 America was left by the officers of a brigantine from Madagascar, 
 which happened to put into port along the Carolina coast. The rice 
 was given to a gentleman named Woodward, who began the cultiva- 
 tion of it. A little later a Mr. Dubois of the East Indian Company 
 sent to the colonies a small bag of seed rice. It is believed that 
 from these two sources came, our twp varieties of Carolina rice, the 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 white and the red. This classiflcation is due to the color of the 
 inner husk, the grains of both varieties being similar when cleaned. 
 But, however it came to the "rice-swamp, dank and lone" of the 
 Carolinas, the lowlands, periodically flooded by tides and rivers, 
 were well adapted by nature to its growing. From its revenues the 
 states of North and South Ct:.ji>lina, 
 Georgia, and Louisiana have become 
 greatly enriched. 
 
 It is fortunate for the people of rice- 
 growing states that this cereal was not 
 introduced until an abundant and varied 
 diet had already been established. Even 
 in case of total failure of the rice crop, 
 there could be no danger of famine 
 owing to the abundance of other foods, 
 while in those countries in which it 
 forms the main dependence of the poorer 
 classes, failure of the crop 
 means the gravest famine and 
 destitution. As said Eicardo, 
 one of the earliest of political 
 economists, "When the labor- 
 ing classes have fewest wants 
 and are contented with the 
 cheapest food, the people are 
 exposed to the greatest vicissi- 
 tudes and miseries. They have 
 no refuge from calamity. On 
 any deficiency of the chief 
 article of subsistence, there 
 are few substitutes of which 
 they can avail themselves, and 
 dearth is attended on all sides 
 Javanese Elce Cooker. ^^ famine." 
 
 No people cook rice so deliciously as the nations of the Orient. 
 At the Columbian Exposition the Javanese not only brought their 
 own rice, which they think superior to any other, but their own 
 cooking utensils. They customarily prepare it by steaming, the rice 
 being placed in a conical basket^ of k)osely woven twigs, the basket 
 being placed over a tall brass vessel half filled with water. Placed 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 161 
 
 over the Are, the steam from the heated water penetrates every por- 
 tion of the basket and its contents, and a fragrant, snowy dish, each 
 grain separate and dry, is the result. It is commonly eaten with 
 curry or chilies and a meat gravy of some kind. The largest exhibit 
 of rice was made by the Japanese. Each preparation was accom- 
 panied ' -^ its analysis, made at the Agricultural College at Tokio. 
 Several of the most unique merit description. Shir-a-ta-ma is made 
 from the glutinous varieties, which are first steeped in water, then 
 ground and washed through fine sieves. The residue obtained is 
 dried over a coal fire, then made into small, round balls of dough 
 which, when steamed, are eaten both with soups and with sweets. 
 Ame^reTpaied from malt and the flour of glutinous rice, greatly re- 
 sembles glucose. It is a delicious sweet-ineat. Its making dates 
 from one hundred years, B. C, when sugar was unknown. Do-rtw-ji is 
 rice steamed, dried and then ground into flour. It may be prepared 
 for use whenever wanted by the addition of water and is eaten with 
 sugar. It is specially valuable to travelers and to an army on long 
 marches. Kori-mochi is made from steamed rice, beaten into a 
 paste and then frozen. Water is poured upon it to soften it, and it 
 is served with sugar. It was quite surprising to the American to ob- 
 serve the varied and dainty preparations of so homely an article as 
 simple rice. Like our own cereals, it is fer mente d by the Japanese 
 and distilled into a liquor called sake, which is highly intoxicating. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 BBEAD, MACARONI AND PASTES. 
 
 If HE bread of the modern world is an evolution; its 
 making, the result of centuries of experiment, begin- 
 ning with the crudest of materials and most primitive 
 of methods, and ending with the modern bakery of 
 automatic, thousand-loaf capacity. The "raised" or 
 light loaf of to-day was unknown to the ancients, 
 theirs being an unleavened bread or cake. The 
 Egyptians, long before the Christian era, made a loaf 
 of wheat and meal; in what proportions history does not state. The 
 jarly Britons made cakes of crushed acorns long before cereals 
 were grown upon their island. The bread of the ancient Syrians 
 was made from mulberries, dried and ground to flour. 
 
 But the Greeks were the best bread-makers of antiquity, as be- 
 came a race whose tables were considered to be sumptuously laden 
 when containing plain meat, "roasted on a spit and dusted with 
 flour," wheaten bread, and wine. Both barley and wheat were used, 
 ground in small hand mills by the women slaves of each household, 
 and made into a well-salted, unleavened dough. Plato's ideal of 
 barley-pudding and bread, the sole food of the dwellers of the 
 Republic, was well nigh realized in his own Greece, for bread was as 
 indispensable a food among the aristocrats as among the poor and 
 it was publicly vended in all markets. 
 
 By the citizens of the Roman republic bread was universally 
 used in all households, partly owing to the fact that machinery for 
 grinding the wheat had superseded the primitive hand-mill. All 
 classes, patrician, plebeian and slave, could be supplied with this art- 
 icle from governmental bakeries. When the Romans first visited the 
 islands of Great Britain they found the Scotch in both the highlands 
 and lowlands making oaten cakes which they baked upon flat stones, 
 
 12 
 
164 
 
 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 heated in front of the Are. To these stones the Romans gave the 
 name of grerdiol, from which our word^lgriddle" is evidently derived. 
 It was written, "when the soldier hath eaten meat so long that he 
 begins to loath it, he casteth the stone (which he always carried 
 with him in his wallet of meal) into the fire; he moisteneth the meal 
 with water and when the plate is heated he layeth the paste thereon 
 and maketh a little cake; the which he eateth to comfort his 
 stomach.'' In later days, Bobbie Burns pronounced "the oat 
 cake, kneaded out with the knuckles and toasted over real embers 
 of wood, on a gridiron," to be remarkably fine eating. The Scots 
 did not know the wheaten loaf until the end of the sixteenth 
 century, cakes or "bannocks" of oat, barley and peas meal consti- 
 tuting their house- 
 hold bread. 
 
 In Wales the peo- 
 ple of those times 
 used a baking utensil 
 similar to the Scotch 
 griddle and known as 
 the bake-stone. Their 
 bread was close and 
 heavy, resembling in 
 shape, extent and 
 thickness, a small cart 
 wheel. 
 
 Oaths were form- 
 erly sworn by bread, 
 possibly because i t 
 Apache Grain Mortars. symbolized the neces- 
 
 sities of life. Says Rich, in describing the customs of old Ireland: 
 "I will trust him better that oflereth to swear by bread and salt 
 than him that offereth to swear by the Bible." 
 
 England was indebted to the Romans for the first knowledge of 
 the art of making wheaten flour into a loaf. For centuries this was 
 a wholly domestic occupation, and even as late as 1804 the city of 
 Manchester did not contain a single public bakery. Until the last 
 two or three centuries there was lack of the best material for bread- 
 making. Wheaten bread was a luxury to be enjoyed by the rich, 
 only, and, in a book published in 1576, it is stated that the poor of 
 that time contented themselves with rye and barley' bread, with 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 165 
 
 bread of peas, beans or oats, and sometimes with that made from all 
 these ingredients, to which were added acorns; food more nutritious, 
 probably, than palatable. 
 
 Bread of some sort and savor is a universal food among even 
 the primitive nations of to-day. The North American Indian com- 
 bines berries, pemican, and the bark of certain trees into a cake or 
 loaf. The Bedouin woman makes from finely crushed grains and 
 water a dough, which is manipulated before baking untU the thin- 
 ness of a wafer. It is then baked upon the concave surface of a 
 shallow iron pan which is turned, face down, over the smoky fire. 
 The result is a very tasty bit of toast, not quite relishable because 
 of a lack of salt. Tortilla, a cake made from, corn and baked in the 
 ashesjjs still the natfon al bread of the Mexican. In Sweden, Nor- 
 way, Lapland, and Iceland there is made a nutritious loaf from 
 crushed grains and flour of fish, dried and then finely ground. In 
 times of distress the Irish and Icelanders, as well as the Russians, 
 have utilized a species of nutritious moss which makes not an infe- 
 rior nor unpalatable food. The natives of South America, Jamaica, 
 and British Guiana have long made a bread from the dried and 
 ground root of the cassava or tapioca plant. It is known as cassava 
 bread and is very nutritious. Several countries exhibited this at 
 tEeTJblumbian Exposition. 
 
 But the bread of modern America and much of Europe is pri- 
 marily wheaten. This is as it should be for wheat contains a larger 
 proportion of protein, the purely nourishing element, than any 
 of the other cereals. Other constituents are starch and dextrine 
 (carbohydrates), fatty matter, and important mineral substances, 
 such as the phosphates of lime and soda, salts of potash and silica. 
 
 The following table by Payen compares the nutritive value of our 
 principal cereals: 
 
 COMPOSITION OF VAEIODS DRIED CEREALS. 
 
 Hard Wheat. 
 
 Soft Wheat. 
 
 Oats. 
 
 Maize. 
 
 Eice. 
 
 Barley. 
 
 Eye. 
 
 Protein... 22.75 
 
 12.65 
 
 14.39 
 
 12,50 
 
 7.55 
 
 12.96 
 
 12.50 
 
 Starch.... 58.62 
 
 76.51 
 
 60.59 
 
 67.55 
 
 88.65 
 
 66.43 
 
 64.65 
 
 Dextrine.. 9.50 
 
 6.05 
 
 9.25 
 
 4.00 
 
 1.00 
 
 10.00 
 
 14.90 
 
 Cellulose.. 3.50 
 
 2.80 
 
 7.06 
 
 5.90 
 
 1.10 
 
 4.75 
 
 3.10 
 
 Fats 2.61 
 
 1.87 
 
 5.50 
 
 8.80 
 
 0.80 
 
 2.76 
 
 2.25 
 
 Salts 3.02 
 
 2.12 
 
 3.25 
 
 1.25 
 
 0.90 
 
 3.10 
 
 2.60 
 
 l5o.OO 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 
 
166 
 
 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 The protein or nitrogenous matter of wheat is known as gluten 
 and upon this its commercial value is based. If you visit the Chi- 
 cago Board of Trade you will see there men testing flour. They 
 do this by mixing with it a suflQcient quantity of water to form a 
 stiff dough, their mixing pan being usually the palm of the left 
 hand while the mixing is done with a finger of the right. They first 
 puU the dough, to "test its strength," they will teU you, and then 
 break it forcibly into two parts. If it is tough, tenacious and 
 leathery it contains a high per cent of gluten and is therefore ex- 
 cellent, nutritious and "strong." If it is soft, non-elastic and breaks 
 apart with a short fracture it is starchy and non-glutinous, prob- 
 ably from soft wheat, or because the gluten has been taken from it 
 during the process of milling. 
 
 But the selection of a hard or glutinous wheat is not the only 
 requisite for a nutritious quality of flour, for the modern miller 
 
 produces many sorts of 
 flour from the starchiest of 
 grains and many more sorts 
 from the most glutinous. 
 The miller of ancient days 
 crushed and ground the ce- 
 reals in little hand mills, or 
 grinding mortars. The pro- 
 duct was given to the con- 
 sumer filched of none of its 
 strength-giving elements. 
 To-day, milling is a compli- 
 cated industry; and the honest little grain, crushed and divided, 
 hurried through spout-like conveyors and over rollers, elevated, 
 purified, sifted, and bolted to astonishing fineness, is resolved at the 
 end of its astonishing journey into many grades of fiour. Four dif- 
 ferent grades are made in all mills — often more — first and second 
 patent, and first and second baker's. The reasons forTEis division 
 are, that consumers in general demand a white fiour; that one quality 
 is superior for bread, quite another for pastry; and that by this sep- 
 aration and division there is greater profit to the producer. Flour 
 for the best bread making should contain a large quantity of gluten, 
 a condition easily ascertained by its creamy tint and by testing the 
 tenacil^ of the dough. That for pastry should be starchy, as little 
 tenacious as possible and thus of course less nutritious. A glutin- 
 
 Bedonln MQl-stones. 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOULD. 167 
 
 ous flour will invariably make tough cake and pie-crust. The first 
 patent contains more gluten than the second, and both confain 
 more than the first and second baker's. 
 
 To the bread maker of the present age yeast seems to be as in- 
 dispensable as flour, and it is hard to believe that such has not 
 always been the case. PUny teUs us that the Gauls leavened their 
 bread with a yeast made from the lye of beer, although the use of 
 this ferment was early abandoned and not revived until the seven- 
 teenth century. When the bakers of France re-established its use 
 physicians universally denounced it as deleterious to health and in 
 1666 it was finally prohibited by law. The bakers waged such in- 
 cessant war against the decree that it was at length repealed, with 
 the proviso, however, that only beer freshly made in Paris or 
 vicinity should be used. Since then the use of yea^t has spread 
 over all lands in which wheaten bread is made. 
 
 Yeast, scientists have determined, is a plant, a microscopic 
 fungus, with capacity for marvelous growth if nourished amid favor- 
 able surroundings. It deserves the same consideration as the 
 geranium in your window. Warmth, moisture and nourishment are 
 as necessary to its growth as to that of your plant. Hot water will 
 Mil it, a low temperature will arrest its development.' Just as your 
 plant can be forced so rapidly as to injure or kill it, so can the 
 yeast pla'nt. The nourishment to be supplied is flour, upon which 
 it develops by multiplying its own cellular growth with marvelous 
 rapidity. Carbonic acid gas is developed, the mixture "rises," and a 
 so-called lively sponge is the result. It is essential that yeast be 
 fresh to produce rapid alcoholic fermentation. The best known is 
 c^mpressed_jeast, obtained from the distillation of rye7~It consists 
 of the scum, drained upon cloths and pressed into cakes, the action 
 of which, when fresh, is rapid and uniformly satisfactory. The 
 action of all yeast is somewhat quickened by the addition of a 
 spoonful of sugar. Too high a temperature induces the develop- 
 ment of an acid ferment in yeast, a temp erature toqj gw retards its 
 action and causes sour breads Yeast best develops at 70° to 80° P. 
 
 Now when to water and flour, in proper proportions, is added 
 yeast, the latter, if maintained at the proper temperature, feeds 
 upon the flour and begins to rapidly multiply its cells. The gluten 
 of the flour, becoming hydrated, i. e., well mixed with water, causes 
 the dough to become tenacious and elastic; carbonic acid gas is de- 
 veloped by the action of the yeast and endeavors to escape. But, 
 
168 FOOD PEODDCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 entangled in the glutinous fibres of the dough, the gas is held. 
 Heat causes it to still further expand and the sponge "rises." That 
 is the philosophy of the process, in which, if allowed to continue too 
 long, the yeast plant ceases its rapid development, owing to the ex- 
 haustion of its food supply, the elasticity departs, and the sponge 
 "falls." That means failure. So at the critical point the housewife 
 or baker adds a quantity of flour to the sponge, making a dough, and 
 the kneading process is begun. This has a two-fold object: to in- 
 sure uniform distribution of the gas and to develop the gluten of 
 the flour. It requires two kneadings, each usually from twenty to 
 thirty minutes in length. The uncouth old Bedouin woman of the 
 Midway Plaisance furnished a daily object lesson to hundreds of 
 visitors on the possibilities of the development of gluten by kneading. 
 By rapid and deft manipulation she con- 
 ' verted a small piece of unleavened dough 
 into a flat, tenacious and immense wafer, 
 round as a pie tin and twenty inches in 
 diameter. The housekeeper uses her 
 hands in the kneading process and the 
 A Bedouin Oven. baker, machinery. The result is the 
 
 same in both cases. 
 
 The next essential to good bread is prolonged baking at not too 
 high a temperature. This is to assist the transformation of the 
 starch, of which the bread is so largely composed, into dextrine, 
 which must occur to all starchy foods either within or without the 
 body before they can be assimilated. Heat is one agent for this 
 conversion without the body. The brown crust on a loaf is almost 
 pure dextrine, of which a good example is the crust of Vienna 
 bread, nutty, fragrant and sweet, by all odds the most delicious part 
 of the loaf and by far the most easily digested. This may explain 
 why toast and crust coffee are such appropriate invalid dishes. If 
 the bread has been well baked there is incipient conversion of 
 the starch throughout the entire loaf. 
 
 In the making of leavened bread, water and flour are first mixed 
 into a thin sponge and allowed to stand until fermentation sets in. 
 A portion of this leaven is then added to new dough, the slight acidity 
 being corrected by the use of carbonate of soda, a substitute for 
 the wood ashes of former days. A delicious loaf is the result. 
 Parts of the leavened dough are always saved to be used as leaven 
 for the next baking. A treatise written long before yeast was 
 
FOOD PKODTJCTS OF THE WOELD. 169 
 
 known to the bread-making -world runs as follows: "It must be well 
 leavened, for without leaven it is good for no man; it ought to be 
 light, for thereby the clamminess is gone; it ought to be well-baked, 
 otherwise it is indigestible; it must be temperately salted for bread 
 over sweet is a stopper and bread over salt is a drier; finally, this 
 ideal bread should be made of wheat, hard, thick, heavy, yellow, 
 light, full ripe, clean, and grown in a fat soil." 
 
 Salt rising bread is leavened by means of a ferment developed 
 from salt, flour and water, combined. If these ingredients are 
 left in a warm temperature for a few hours a gas is formed, 
 resulting from the chemical reaction between the flour, water and 
 salt. By the addition of more flour it is made into a dough, kneaded, 
 and allowed to rise a second time, after which it is baked. If fer- 
 mentation be not checked at just the proper time a highly offensive 
 odor will result, hence the great care necessary in using this kind of 
 ferment. One author denounces it as bread in the highest stage of 
 putrefaction and wholly unfit to eat. 
 
 Aerated bread is lightened by carbonic acid gas which is forced 
 through the dough by means of machinery. The process is the in- 
 vention of a Dr. Danglish of Edinburg. The bread is light and 
 sweet, though without the agreeable fla,vor of the best yeast bread, 
 and is very popular in England. All fermentation, with its possible 
 evils, is avoided and, as bread can be made by this process in one 
 haul and a half (not including the time consumed in baking), it is 
 much to be commended. For some reason it has not become popu- 
 lar in America excepting, to a limited extent, in the East. 
 
 Germ bread is another variety of local fame and which, consist- 
 ing ai it does of the germ or embryo of the wheat grain, is very 
 nutritious. The germ is separated from the kernel in all mills be- 
 cause it not only darkens the flour, if ground, but affects the flavor. 
 It is more commonly knownas a Ti'reakf ast f ood, under the names of 
 germina, semolina, wheatena and others. 
 
 In the eastern states a most famous food is "Boston brown 
 bread," made from rye, corn meal, and graham flour, well sweetened 
 and usually served smoking hot. It is nutritious, not quite as 
 digestible as wheaten bread, but the accoro^nimeht,' always and 
 ever, of baked beans. 
 
 Fifty years ago Rev. Sylvester Graham of Boston waged moral 
 war against the ordinary wheat bread of the bakeries, doubtless 
 with good reason, for at that time the nutritive value of flour was 
 
110 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOULD. 
 
 pretty generally considered of secondary importance to its white- 
 ness. He advocated the grinding of the whole wheat kernel and _. 
 "Graham bread]^as the result. His idea was excellent but he was 
 not enough of a scientist to carry it to perfection, and it is certainly 
 true that neither himself nor his followers brought glory to his 
 cause by reason of superior health or great longevity. It is, on the 
 other hand, also true that many a person has been made dys- 
 peptic by its constant .jisOj^ and for the following reason: In his 
 effort to retain all the nourishing qualities of the little brown kernel 
 Mr. Graham retained the tough, outer layers of the wheat grain which 
 are not only innutritions but wholly indigestible. CheihicaUy, they 
 are soluble only in strong solutions of acid and alkali, while the 
 acid and alkaline secretions of the human system, the saliva, gastric 
 juice and biliary fluid are very weak, only sufficient, in fact, to 
 digest or make soluble the pure starches. These tough coatings or 
 "bran" therefore act only as irritants upon the tender mucous 
 surfaces of the digestive tract, and cause a large proportion of the 
 food to be simply hurried through the system before assimilation 
 can take place, thus promoting waste of nutritive material. This 
 has been proven but recently by the experiments of Atwater in 
 America and Voit in Germany. Says one authority, "The ardent 
 dietetic morality which extolled the bread that was coarsest, brown- 
 est, stalest and most truly home made, and caused fine, white bread 
 to be swallowed as if it were a sin against nature is classed among 
 the 'isms' of forty years ago." However, I by no means advocate 
 the abolition of graham flour, although it should be well sifted be- 
 fore being used. ' 
 
 Flour is, generally speaking, one of our purest foods, although 
 it has at times been adulterated with such articles as peas, beans 
 or peanuts, dried and pulverized. These are whoUy healthful and 
 more nourishing than the whitest grades of flour, although, if such 
 adulterations are introduced into wheaten flour the consumer 
 should not be deceived. In old Pompeii, as exploration has proven, 
 it was not unusual to make loaves entirely of pea flour. Alum has 
 been frequently used in minute quantities to produce whiten^s, 
 though just why it has that effect, says WUliams, is stilFa chemicaT 
 puzzle. 
 
 Much has been written pro and con the price of bread at the 
 present time. It is certainly unfair to the tenement house popula- 
 tion of our great cities, which depends largely upon baker's bread, 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 171 
 
 to charge as much for a loaf with wheat at less than fifty cents a 
 bushel as was paid when it cost a dollar and a quarter. A barrel of 
 flour produces, it has been estimated, three hundred loaves of bread 
 and the baker expects to make a clear profit of twelve or fourteen 
 dollars from every barrel he makes up, even at the former high 
 price. A pound of flour absorbs half that quantity of water. It is 
 therefore easy to see that a loaf weighing a pound is sold at a good 
 profit even if the best quality of flour is used, which is rarely the 
 case among bakers. 
 
 A miller from Glasgow, Scotland, while in Chicago, recently, 
 gave some interesting items in regard to the baker's bread of his 
 own land. The flour used in the Scotch bakeries is principally 
 American, although some is imported from Hungary. Certain of the 
 bakeries use three thousand sacks a week, each sack weighing two 
 hundred and eighty pounds. The weight of the bread is regulated 
 by law. The loaf is large and square, known as the quartern loaf, 
 and must weigh ^ur^ pounds _twenty-four hours after it is baked. 
 The family baker gets five pence (ten cents) for the quartern loaf 
 and half that price for the smaller loaf of two pounds. It is baked 
 on the bare floor of the oven. The yeast used is that prepared by 
 the bakers themselves from malt. One wonders how the Scotch 
 people can import American flour and then sell their bread at the 
 above rate, whUe in America, with wheat so low in price at present 
 that it is used for fattening stock, we pay five cents for a loaf made 
 
 in many cases from inferior flour 
 and often weighing less than a 
 pound. The fact that the Scotch 
 bakers do not take back unsold 
 bread, and that wages are lower 
 -abroad, are not satisfactory rea- 
 sons for this difference in price. 
 The wealthy and well-to-do classes 
 Mexican Grlndlns Stone. bake their own bread. It is the 
 
 people with little ready money, no knowledge of foods or their proper 
 selection, who depend upon the frequently innutritions bread of 
 the bakeries. With the possibility of furnishing a good bowl of 
 soup for a penny, at little if any proflt but certainly at no loss, a 
 cheaper loaf of bread is not a distant probability. 
 
 What bread is to the American macaroni is to the Italian, an 
 universal and nourishing food. Macaroni, as we know it, might be 
 
172 FOOD PilODUCTS OP THE WORLD. 
 
 defined as a hollow tube of paste which in American kitchens is all 
 too frequently spoiled in cooking. But originally it consisted of 
 lumps of flour paste and cheese, compressed into little balls. The 
 Italian name, "maccheroni^]jJs derived from "macM,rej'' to crush; 
 vermicelli is, as the name indicates, wornjJike in shape while 
 spaghetti means a cord. These three varieties are the best known 
 of Ttalian pastes, although there are fancy pastes, large and small, 
 whose number is legion. 
 
 It is not known in what land or by what people this paste was 
 originally made, although it was manufactured in China at a remote 
 date. It is believed that the Germans obtained their knowledge 
 from the Chinese, they, in turn, imparting it to "the Italians, who 
 have come to consider it, through centuries of usage, their one in- 
 dispensable food. 
 
 On the other hand, the Japanese claim priority in the making 
 of this paste, having used it for many hundreds^oT years. We first 
 know of its use in Italy in the fourteenth century, and the secret of 
 its manufacture and preparation was confined to that country by 
 its jealous cooks for nearly a hundred years. It was then intro- 
 duced into France and we hear of Louis XIII. ordering it from 
 an innkeeper of Tours, who had established a great reputation for 
 its preparation. From that time its use became general throughout 
 all the Latin countries. 
 
 The favorite dish of Lord Byron, even in the land of the boar's 
 head and sirloin, was macaroni, served with truffles.^ 
 
 At one time the composer Rossini was invited to dine with 
 Prince Napoleon, in company with Dumas fils and Dor6. Rossini 
 was the guest of the hour and in his honor macaroni was served, a, 
 dish of which he was excessively fond. Not long after, Costa, a con- 
 ductor of the Covent Garden opera, wished Rossini's opinion of an 
 oratorio of his own composing and, to win the great musician's 
 favor, sent with it a box of macaroni. Days and weeks passed with- 
 out acknowledgement. At the end of a month Costa received this 
 note, "My dear Costa: Thanks for the oratorio and the macaroni. 
 The latter was excellent. G. Rossini." 
 
 For many years it has been claimed that no country could pro- 
 duce' so excellent a macaroni as Italy, a circumstance long believed 
 to be due to the species of wheat grown there. It is of the 
 hard variety, having a horny grain and containing a large amount 
 of gluten. However, the hard, flinty wheats of Algeria, of Tangarok, 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 17. 
 
 Russia, of Argfentine Republic, of the United States, particularly of 
 the Dakotas, are as rich in the element_needecl for the making of 
 macaroni, i. e., gluten, as the best varieties of the Italian farms. 
 
 The raw material used in making these pastes is a coarsely 
 ground flour, called "semoula" or "farinola," which is chiefly gluti- 
 nous, most of the starch having been eliminated. Macaroni cannot 
 be successfully manufactured from a starchy flour because, in cook- 
 ing, the starch granules so expand as to cause thie pipes of macaroni 
 to break or else to become pasty and cohesive. 
 
 Let us follow the process of making as it is conducted in the 
 large manufactories of the United States, the material being flour 
 from the excellent, hard wheat of Dakota. One hundred pounds of 
 this glutinous flour is placed in a wooden box with a small quantity 
 of warm water, seemingly quite insufficient to moisten it. The mix- 
 ing is done by machinery and when that process is completed the 
 dough has much the appearance as well as the tenacity of India 
 rubber. It is then kneaded for some time under a three-ton press- 
 ure that all the tenacious possibilities of the gluten may be devel- 
 oped. The dough, cut in pieces, is placed into cylinders about two 
 feet in depth by nine or ten inches in diameter, and which are 
 warmed by a jacket of steam. A pressure of one thousand pounds 
 to the square inch is then applied by means of slowly revolving 
 screws and the mass of dough is forced through tiny cylindrical 
 holes at the bottom of the cylinder. Owing to the stiffness of the 
 dough this process is lengthy, occupjdng about an hour. At the 
 core or center of each of the holes with which the copper plates 
 at the bottom of the large cylinders are pierced is a steel pin. This 
 it is that renders macaroni tubular in form; and through these 
 holes the macaroni pipes slowly emerge until the dough in the cyl- 
 inder is exhausted. The macaroni pipes are cut into the required 
 lengths by boys and girls who sort them, laying aside all imperfect 
 pieces, and place them on long frames to dry. These frames are 
 wooden, latticed with twine, upon which is laid heavy manilla paper. ; 
 Upon this the macaroni is placed, the heat from the cylinder having 
 so dried it that there is no danger of its adhesion to the paper. The 
 handling of the long, tenacious, undried tubes, the cutting into ex- 
 act lengths and the carefui' assorting are important details of the 
 work which, if carefully attended to, greatly diminish waste and 
 facilitate the final packing. The drying requires a few days' time 
 during which the greatest care must be observed. The rooms are 
 
m POOD PEODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 large and perfectly ventilated. After the frames of macaroni are 
 placed, tier above tier, the temperature is carefully watched that it 
 may not vary, and all draughts are excluded. Too moist a tempera- 
 ture causes the paste to sour or mildew, too much heat injures it 
 by quick drying; let a draught of air enter and the macaroni cracks. 
 No infant is ever more carefully attended to than is this product 
 by the successful manufacturer. 
 
 When thoroughly dried the pieces are weighed, rolled into 
 pound packages and labeled. In one of our largest American fac- 
 tories I watched this process, standing at the long tables by the side 
 of the deft-fingered girls. Only a small proportion of the daUy out- 
 put was marked in English letters. The greater_£roportion, by far, 
 sported_It^g,n labels, purporting to come from Naples, and a 
 quantity likewise was splendidly labeled in.Prench. Thte is due, as 
 I was told, to the great prejudice existing in this country in favor 
 of the far-famed Italian pastes. 
 
 Vermicelli, spaghetti, and all the fancy pastes are made from 
 the same dough and, excepting the final shaping, pass through the 
 identical process. There is a ribbon macaroni, wide and with fluted 
 edge, a fluted pipe known as "celery macaroni," as well as number- 
 less tiny pastes of fancy shapes, alphabetical, seed, ring, and star 
 shapes, which are a pretty addition to clear soups. The larger 
 fancy shapes are, however, diflBlcult to cook and serve unUfoken, as 
 weU as quite puzzling, at times, to the uninitiated eater o&them. 
 There is also a variety known as the German noodle. It is colored 
 yellow with saflEron, giving it a flavor much liked by certain classes, 
 and imitating the color of the original German noodle which is 
 always made with eggs. It is the tagliarini or lasagnette of the 
 Italians. 
 
 There are several grades of macaroni upon the markets, the 
 cheaper containing a large proportion of starch, a condition at once 
 determined by cooking. The best are made from the same sort of 
 flour used in making the best bread, with, however, part of the 
 starch eliminated; hence the higher price. The foreign^ macaroni^ 
 are sometimes cheapenedjby adulteration with wheaten flour and that 
 of corn, beans.and peas, articles which, as they do not c£ange the ap- 
 pearance nor detract from the weight of the paste, are rarely de- 
 tected until the only infallible test is made, that of cooking. The 
 cooking of macaroni is not often successfully accomplished by the 
 unskilful, for the delicate tubes should come to the table whole. 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 175 
 
 separate, and without any pastiness. The best may be injured by 
 soaMiig, by being washed carelessly, or by being put into cold water 
 to cook. Macaroni should be plunged into boiling water, — plenty of 
 water, — to which there has been added salt. Continue the boiling 
 until the macaroni is tender, from twenty to thirty minutes, when 
 the tubes should have become double their original size. Drain the 
 macaroni and plunge it into cold water f or a moment, to prevent 
 breaking and cohesion, and it is then 
 ' ready to be dressed for the table. It is 
 C'T \2~1./^C2»7^ ~G^|kA ^^ ideal dish when properly prepared, 
 ^/f^!^!!\^^^l^ ^ simple, delicious, nourishing, and cheap. 
 It may be dressed with butter and cream, 
 with Parmesan cheese, although American cheese 
 ^ ^^. ^ is suitable; with tomatoes or with meat gravies; 
 
 X^ /^ it may take the place of rice or barley in 
 sjX v*^^-^ a soup, and is delicious if scalloped with oysters 
 ^=^ or bits of cooked meat. It is to be regretted that 
 macaroni does not enter more largely into the 
 dietary of the working classes in America, not 
 less because of its cheapness and the ease with 
 ^_ which it may be prepared than because of its 
 
 -~^\ ^^^ti^ nourishing qualities. 
 
 >»^»^^^y No food product at the Columbian Exposi- 
 
 ^y\\} O tion created more discussion among the judges, 
 none elicited more careful comparison, none re- 
 ceived more accurate tests than did the macaroni 
 and pastes. This was partially owing to the gen- 
 eral apprehension that no good pastes were pro- 
 duced outside of Italy and France, and partially 
 to the fact that the American macaroni seemed 
 to be equally as good as the IlaJian. This, after tests and analyses, 
 was found to be the case, and I am convinced that our best maca- 
 roni compares favorably with the best Italian. Chemical analysis 
 has long since proven that our hard wheats are as valuable in its 
 manufacture as the best of those grown by the Mediterranean. Our 
 manufacturers are, with scarcely an exception. Frenchmen or 
 Italians, whofSllowed the same business when abroad. One, who 
 has been a maker of pastes for nearly a quarter of a century, as- 
 sured me that the only points of difference between the manufact- 
 uring of macaroni here and abroad lay in the method of drying. In 
 
176 FOOD PKODCCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Italy, owing to the mildness of the climate, all pastes are dried out 
 of doors lathe sunshine, a process which somewhat bleaches them so 
 that the French, Spanish and Italian products are whiter than the 
 American. But the American pastes have the advantage of a pro- 
 cess much more cleanly, for dust from streets and highways has 
 easy access to the foreign pastes, a fact of much account to the con- 
 sumers in this age, with all humanity at war against microbes. In 
 Italy the mixing of the dough is accomplished by hand excepting in 
 a few of the largest manufactories, and nearly the entire amount of 
 macaroni produced in that country is consumed at home. The bulk 
 of the imported article, which we know, comes from France. The"" 
 best quality of American macaroni is in every way equal to the best 
 of the foreign products, and it is much- to be regretted that cheaper 
 qualities are manufactured. It is undoubtedly done to satisfy the 
 demands of the poorer classes of foreigners living here, who prefer 
 it to almost any other food. As yet it is not largely used among the 
 American born population, although to be invariably found in the 
 best restaurants and hotels. 
 
 The largest exhibit of pastes at the Columbian Exposition was 
 made by Italy. Macaroni in most wonderful shapes, vermicelli, 
 spaghetti, fancir pastes of all descriptions, placed the exhibit ahead 
 of all others ih. point of completeness. A large quantity was also 
 sent from Spain. 
 
 Costa Rica presented a great variety of pastes, not, however, of 
 specially excellent quality. Their bright yellow color w as produced 
 by s^ron^ owing probabTy to the impression that the dye is a pro- 
 tection from weevils, the pests of tropical countries. 
 
 The quality of the pastes from Jamaica and those from Mexico 
 was not of the best. They were in the form of vermicelli and, from 
 having been dried on hot plates, consisted of a network of worm- 
 like threads, closely massed. 
 
 The pastes from Russia, as well as from the Argentine Republic, 
 in both o£ which countries excellent, hard wheat is produced, were 
 of superior quality although unattractive appearance. 
 
 The principality of Monaco exhibited very excellent pastes, 
 equal to the best from any country, most of which were put up in 
 fancy shapes. 
 
 Japan made a large exhibit of vermicelli, unlike any other 
 pastes in taste as well as appearance. The dough had Taeen saKed"" 
 in the process of mixing, disproving the European theory that salt- 
 
FOOD PEODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 177 
 
 ing the dough ruins it. The Japanese spin the dough into threads 
 of astonishing fineness, the entire process being accomplished by 
 hand. The threads which, owing to the extreme tenacity of the 
 dough, are of great length, are hung over bamboo sticks to dry, 
 after which they are cut into lengths of six, eight or ten inches. 
 These are tied into bundles about an inch in diameter and are then 
 packed, ready for sale or export, in boxes holding one dozen bundles 
 each. Unlike the other pastes, this vermicelli is peculiarly flexible 
 and the tiny bundles are almost as pliable as a bundle of coarse 
 bristles. If eaten, uncooked, it does not remain hard, but is readily 
 soluble. When cooked each thread expands, retaining its shape 
 perfectly. 
 
 At a dinner given to the judges one summer day at the Japanese 
 Tea House, one course consisted of vermicelli. It had been 
 cooked, by boiling, in unbroken lengths of about eight inches. 
 These, on being served, were dropped into glasses half filled with 
 cracked ice. Accompanying each glass was a tiny bowl of soy, that 
 distinctively Japanese sauce. We were allowed to choose either 
 forks or chop-sticks with which to eat, a process which involved 
 winding a few threads of the glutinous paste upon the fork, dipping 
 Ihem into the soy and conveying them to the mouth. It was quite 
 as diflicult as carrying an armful of eels, and scarcely more suc- 
 cessfully done. In swallowing the paste, the long threads, cold as 
 ice, appeared to slowly unwind as they traveled adown the throat, 
 and were quite suggestive of frozen angle worms. However, the 
 paste is notably superior both in nutrition and flavor. 
 
 Only three American firm.s exhibited at the exposition, although 
 it is claimed that New York alone has thirty. AU these houses 
 presented extensive and creditable exhibits, the capacity of each 
 averaging, it is estimated, flve or six thousand pounds each day. 
 About thirty million pounds is each year manufactured in America, 
 consuming five million bushels of our best wheat. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 EDIBLE FUNGI. 
 
 N MANY respects the edible fungi comprise the most 
 singular and interesting class of substances to be found in 
 the entire range of food products. Their growth is always 
 nocturnal, they are the most delicate and perishable of all 
 vegetables, they assimilate materials and thrive amid sur- 
 roundings that would be absolutely fatal to almost any 
 other species of vegetation. In flavor as well as nutritively 
 they closely approximate animal foods while, if Jcept until 
 decomposition sets in, their odor is similar to that ol decayed meat. 
 They belong, nevertheless, to the vegetable kingdom, and one 
 wonders that naturalists were for so many years undecided upon 
 that point. The writer of a quaint little English book, published by 
 Charles Knight of London in 1832 and entitled "Substances of 
 Pood," says: "Some refer them to the animal, some to the vege- 
 table, others to the mineral world, while one naturalist has asserted 
 that these fungi ought to be excluded from all these divisions and 
 considered as intermediate beings." This scientific indecision ap- 
 pears the more singular when one recalls the fact that mushrooms 
 have been used as food since the early days of Greece and Rome. 
 They are frequently mentioned by Pliny as well as by Galen, the ac- 
 complished old physician of Pergamus. 
 
 The greatest difference between edible fungi and vegetables is 
 to be found in the amount of nitrogenous matter or protein con- 
 tained. Nutritively they rank higher than the cereals, legumes, or 
 even lean beef. The following table (adapted from a&alyses made 
 
 IS 
 
180 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 by both Dr. Letheby and Payen) indicates the comparative vaiue of 
 our principal foods, including fungi, from a strictly strength-giving 
 standpoint: 
 
 Per Cent ol Nitrogenous Matter. Per Cent of Nitrogenous Matter. 
 
 Ijean beef 27.60 Beans 25.50 
 
 Lean mutton 18.30 Potatoes 2.50 
 
 Veal 16.50 Parsnips 1.10 
 
 Calf's liver 20.10 Mushrooms (dried) 52.00 
 
 Dried bacon 8.80 Morels " ilOO 
 
 Hard wheat • 22.75 White truffles " 36.00 
 
 Eice 7.55 Black truffles " 31.00 
 
 Discussion has long been rife as to the digestibility of the edible 
 varieties of fungi, reminding one of the complaints often lodged 
 against cheese as well as occasional other articles rich in proteids. 
 The fact is, complaints of indigestibility are 
 > heard only among certain classes of people who 
 understand nothing of the chemical properties 
 of mushrooms and who usually combine them 
 with other foods in wholly unscientific- pro- 
 portions. Now the system does not demand, 
 neither can it assimilate, more than a certain 
 amount of nitrogenous food; and for that rea- 
 ^•Z""" son mushrooms should be eaten, not as a lux- 
 Conunon Musliroom. urious accompaniment to the more nutritious 
 foods, such as meats, but in the place of them. In America mush- 
 rooms are an expensive luxury, whether home-grown or imported, 
 and are used only by the well-to-do classes. There is no necessity 
 for economy and consequently, at hotels and restaurants even more 
 than in private houses, we see such dishes as beef steak smothered 
 in mushrooms, boned turkey with truffles, ragout of beef with 
 mushrooms, truffled omelet, or the more common "omelette aux 
 champignons." In not a few cases the overloaded stomach rebels 
 and indigestion is the legitimate result. From our own country- 
 people who occasionally gather them, from the European peasantry, 
 or from the people of China and Japan, who use them only in com- 
 bination with such starchy foods as potatoes, bread or rice, we hear 
 no complaints of indigestibility. In individual cases, however, it 
 makes a great difference whether the person be of an active or 
 sedentary habit of life. 
 
 Edible fungi may be gene^rally classified as mushrooms, morels, 
 
FOOD PBODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 181 
 
 and truffles. Of the former, more than one thousand edible varie- 
 ties are known to exist, although a comparatively small number are 
 commonly used as food. They have also been classified according 
 to the color of the spores, as white, pink, iron-color, purple, brown, 
 and black. In describing the best known varieties I have chiefly 
 relied upon reports made by Dr. Thomas Taylor, one of our most 
 careful investigators and leading nomologists, aiidlvho has been for 
 some years connected with the Agricultural Department at Wash- 
 ington. His services, in investigating both the edible as well as the 
 poisonous varieties of fungi, have been Invaluable. 
 
 The common meadow mushroom, agarious campestris, is, always 
 excepting the imported "button" mushroom, the variety best known 
 in America and England. It is usually gathered in the autumn, be- 
 ing most plentifully found just after the early frosts in September. 
 It is delicate in appearance and flavor, is most delicious when 
 cooked, and may be known by its shape, its white color, pink gills, 
 and by the pleasant odor exhaled when it is bruised. Prom it an 
 excellent ketchup may be made. 
 
 The fairy ring champignon, marasmiiis oreades, is to be found in 
 dry meadows, occasiohallyTipon lawns, and is so named because of 
 its peculiar manner of growth. The mushrooms, which are small in 
 size, invariably arrange themselves in rings or circles with astonish- 
 ing regularity. If two rings chance to meet while forming, each 
 elongates in the form of an ellipse. If the ring be interrupted by a 
 stone or stick the obliging little fungi simply 
 unite and continue the ring on the other side 
 of the obstruction. No scientific explanation 
 vof this manner of growth has ever been 
 advanced. 
 
 The giant puff-ball, lyeoperdon giganteum, 
 is well known in country places, owing to 
 ' its commonness, and is noticeable because of 
 its immense size. It consists of a simple ball, 
 white or cream-colored, and from ten to 
 twenty inches in diameter. It is edible only 
 Fairy King Champignon, when unripe, the flesh being white, elastic, 
 and fragrant. If allowed to ripen the mass becomes at first streaked 
 with yeUow, later, transformed into a mass of powdery spores. The 
 puff-ball grows upon prairie lands, particularly throughout the 
 prairies of Nebraska, and should, because of it? nourishing proper- 
 
182 FOOD PKODDCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 ties, become, in that state, an important source of food supply. As 
 the western people are, however, ignorant of its value it is rarely if 
 ever eaten. An Italian mycologist, Vittadini, states that if a giant 
 pufE-ball be found in good condition a slice may be taken off each 
 day for a week, providing care be taken not to disturb its growth. 
 
 A species of mushroom grown in the hot-houses of both Europe 
 and America is known botanically as lepiota cepoestipes. It pos- 
 sesses a delicate flavor when cooked, and is white in color, its 
 surface being covered with tiny projections or 
 tufts. It requires cultivation and has never 
 been known to grow in the open air. 
 
 The morel, or morchella eseulenta, grows 
 ''abundantly throughout the wooded portions of 
 the United States, from Missouri to Maryland 
 and from Virginia to Michigan and Wisconsin. 
 Its use is restricted, however, to a compara- 
 tively small number of people who know its value 
 while in the European countries in which it 
 gi'ows profusely it is greatly esteemed as a food. 
 <m\v vr •B» ^ "^^ °^^ state, Michigan, the morel may 
 
 Lepiota Cepoestipes. be always.gathered in the months of April and 
 May in beech and maple forests and, where it is most abundant of 
 all, in elm swamps, near streams. In appearance it is far from at- 
 tractive, having a somewhat conical head, which is deeply honey- 
 combed and of a light brown color. But, whether stewed or 
 ■saut^ed, it is tender, meaty in consistency, and delicious in flavor. 
 
 It is not generally known in America that nearly all of the 
 edible mushrooms may be cultivated with a minimum of care and a 
 maximum of result, but such is nevertheless the case. Given a 
 quantity of properly prepared compost, a darkened area, such as a 
 cellar, in which the compost may be placed, a temperature not rising 
 above 80° F., occasional watering after the spawn has been planted, 
 and in six or eight weeks a crop of mushrooms wiU appear, reward- 
 ing ten-fold the slight expenditure of trouble and expense incurred 
 in starting the beds. It is quite unnecessary to give specific direc- 
 tions in this place as they will be furnished by any reliable seed 
 house at which the spawn may be obtained. However, information 
 much more complete is to be found in the reports published by Dr. 
 Thomas Taylor, Chief of the Division of Microscopy at Washington, 
 D.' 0. I should advise everyone interested in the subject to send 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 18S 
 
 for these reports, as they embody the most important contributions 
 made during recent years to the science of mycology. They may be 
 obtained by addressing the United States Department of Agriculture. 
 There is probably not a grocery house of any account in our en- 
 tire land which does not display upon its shelves "Imported Button 
 Mushrooms from France," indicating that in that country, at least, 
 the cultivation of the mushroom has reached astonishing propor- 
 tions. They are usually cultivated in caves, the quarries and even 
 the catacombs about Paris being thus utilized. One cave alone 
 contains more than twenty-three miles of beds, which produce 
 thousands of pounds of these delicious fungi daily. One can never 
 be certain, when eating a .iuicy fillet of beef or a tenderloin, garnished 
 with mushrooms, that the innocent little "buttons" did not draw 
 their sustenance from the ashes of some Ulustrious Gaul I These 
 fungi are analogous to the common meadow mushroom of England 
 and America, and are gathered for export long before they are fully 
 matured. The consumer thus gets an article which is leathery in 
 texture, undeveloped in flavor, and ridiculously high in price. It 
 seems little .Ifess than farcical that we should persist in importing 
 a product which is indigenous to our own soil, which may be cheaply 
 ^_^ and easily cultivated, and which 
 
 might thus be obtained with its 
 growth matured, its flavor fully de- 
 veloped, and its delicacy of texture 
 unimpaired. In China the govern- 
 ment has recently published an 
 "Anti-famine Herbal" of six volumes, 
 , containing descriptions and illustra- 
 Jtions of over four hundred edible 
 plants. It is to be deplored that 
 our government does not emiilate so 
 good an example, giving the edible 
 mushrooms special recognition. I 
 do not mean to say that mushrooms 
 have never been cultivated in this 
 country, for a small number of 
 market-gardeners, particularly in 
 the vicinity of the large eastern cities, have long cultivated them, 
 more or less extensively, at enormous profits. But the secrets ol 
 their trade have been jealously guarded and, until the last decade, 
 
 Morels. 
 
184 FOOD PKObUCTS OF THE #01110. 
 
 the growers have been regarded by the mass of people as exponents 
 of a science that, from a horticultural point, of view, was thoroughly 
 occult. The government reports issued from time to time have 
 been the principal agents in disposing of this fallacy. 
 
 The uninitiated gatherer of mushrooms is likely, to become sorely 
 perplexed in the endeavor to distinguish the true from the false 
 varieties, particularly if guided only by the popular theories or so- 
 called "tests." But neither the onion nor the silver spoon tests are 
 in all cases infallible. It is well to remember that poisonous varie- 
 ties have usually an offensive odor; that the gills of the edible 
 varieties are_never perfectly white but have usuaHy'iryellow or 
 pink tinge. The only safe-guard'is perfect familiarity with the ap- 
 pearance of certain species, which may be gained from the fungi 
 themselves, or from colored drawings, such as those contained in 
 Dr. Taylor's reports. 
 
 Truffles, from the standpoint of natural science, are even less 
 understood than mushrooms. They possess neither root nor 
 branch, neither flower nor seed, growing in subterranean clusters 
 without attaching themselves to any support. They develop a few 
 
 inches below the surface of the soil 
 and can be detected only by their 
 aroma, which, when powerful, is slight- 
 ^ ly nauseating. Dogs and pigs have long 
 been trained to burrow for them, 
 guided by the odor, and, although the 
 reason for it is not known, they 
 
 Black and White Truffles. flourish best in oak forests. The most 
 famous of the few truffle-producing localities of the world is Peri- 
 gord, France, although they aro also found in other portions of 
 France, in Italy, in England, and in Japan. Unlike mushrooms, 
 they have never been produced under cultivation, and they are as 
 yet unknown in America excepting in bottles, with their flavor 
 much impaired and their price correspondingly high. Those of 
 finest flavor come from Perigord; the English or Hampshire truffle 
 is somewhat inferior-, while still less delicate varieties arg eaten by 
 the natives of Algeria and the Bedouins of western Asia. 
 
 The truffle was earliest mentioned by Theophrastus, who de- 
 scribed it as a rootless plant, engendered by the thunderstorms of 
 autumn. It was known to the epicures of Greece and Borne, but 
 was apparently lost sight of during the Middle Ages to be revived 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 185 
 
 in France only after the dawn of the Renaissance. Said a famous 
 French gourmet of recent days, "There must be two at the eating of 
 a truffled turkey, the eater and the turkey.'' 
 
 In appearance the truffle is far from attractive. It is spherical 
 in shape, light in color when quite young but dark, nearly black, at 
 maturity, and having a rough, warty exterior. Of the two varieties, 
 the white and black, the latter is most valuable, owing to its more 
 delicious fiavoiV and is the variety known to fame as "Truffe au 
 Pei-igord." The best_are the size of an English walnut, while those 
 weighing three or four ounces are considered large. Truffles are 
 still occasionally found which weigh a pound and it has been stated 
 that specimens from ten to fourteen pounds in weight have been 
 gathered in Italian forests. As may be readily believed, the 
 scarcity of this product as well as the uncertainty of its harvests 
 are quite as important factors in the esteem with which it is held 
 by the epicurean and the wealthy as are its marvelously delicate 
 aroma and flavor. As Brillat-Savarin, high-priest of epicureanism, 
 once remarked, '"Perhaps if they were not expensive, but were within 
 reach of everybody, we should not prize them so highly." It is 
 almost unnecessary to state that," owing to their chemical composi- 
 tion which approximates that of meat, all the edible fungi require 
 cooking. They are unfit to be eaten in the raw state. 
 
 V.'hoever investigated the foods exhibited by the Japanese at 
 the World's Columbian Exposition must have been astonished at 
 the immense quantities of mushrogmsjthere exhibited. They were 
 in a dried state, so light in color, so clean and attractive, that the 
 visitor was quite prepared to learn of mushrooms as not only one of 
 the most valued articles of food in the far-off island of the Orient, 
 but one of the chief articles of export. They are cultivated by the 
 Japanese upon decaying logs, a method peculiar to that people, and 
 are^dfied for export. Tons upon tons are exported to China and 
 quantities find their way to the Chinese shops of other Ip'^.ds. In 
 San Fiancisco I found dried mushrooms in all the Chinese groceries 
 selling at fifty cents a pound, an astonisEngly low price when one 
 remembers how considerably drying reduces them in weight and 
 bulk, while the hotels and restaurants of America are paying a 
 dollar a pound for them in a fresh state. 
 
 The Chinese import quantities of mushrooms from Japan, be- 
 sides growing them extensively, thus furnishing to their densely 
 populated communities, which subsist chiefly upon rice, a nitro- 
 
186 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 genous food, taking the place of meat in their dietaries. 
 
 New Zealand also exports large quantities, although none were 
 exhibited at Chicago, and the Terra del Fuegans have long lived 
 upon little besides mushrooms and flsh. 
 
 Models of all the edible mushrooms of America were exhibited, 
 in all the glory of their numerous varieties, at the Government 
 building at the exposition, and about them was always to be seen a 
 wondering, admiring crowd. No exhibits were made by private 
 growers. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 ROM a nutritive standpoint the edible legames 
 are of more importance than any other vegetable, 
 always excepting the esculent fungi. Commercially 
 they rank next to cereals, although much richer 
 than these in protein. They are peculiarly adapted 
 to garden culture and are noticeable for their deli- 
 cate vines and beautiful papilionaceous or butter- 
 fly shaped flowers. The sweet-pea is a variety cul- 
 tivated exclusively for its delicate, fragrant flower, 
 as is frequently the kidney-bean or "scarlet run- 
 ner." Indeed, the latter legume, for fully a hun- 
 dred years after its introduction into England from 
 South America, was cultivated only for use in bouquets, and as an 
 ornamental vine. 
 
 The legumes, under the name of "pulse," which in general in- 
 cludes all the edible varieties, are spoken of in the Old Testament 
 and are known to be of great antiquity. It was simple pulse that 
 Daniel preferred to all the luxuries of the king's table, an example 
 which leads one to exclaim with Milton: 
 "If all the world 
 Should i' a fit of temperance feed on pulse!" 
 The legumes in common use are few in number, comprising 
 only the bean, pea, chick-pea, and lentil. The esculent portion con- 
 sists simply of the fruits or berries, which are eaten both green and 
 dried as well as with or without the seed pod in which they develop. 
 Of them the bean can boast of greatest antiquity as to origin. 
 
M 
 
 FOOD PEODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 although even to-day ranking as a plebeian, rather than an aristo- 
 cratic, food product. 
 
 The bean is believed to have originated in Egypt, probably be- 
 cause of its early mention by the Egyptian priests, who regarded it 
 as an article unfit for food. This prejudice continued among the 
 Greeks for some time after beans were introduced into their laud. 
 Wild beans have long been used in Persia and the inhabitants of 
 Barbary have long eaten them, stewed with oil and garlic. But 
 numerous varieties have been developed from the original wild 
 stock, and to-day we have the navy bean, kidney bean, Lima bean, 
 French or haricot bean, in fact, a hundred species, more or less, all 
 of which, however, possess the same general characteristics. 
 
 Beans are specially valuable to densely populated communities 
 because they furnish so large a proportion of protein to a given 
 area of land. We find them, as well as other legumes, a standard 
 food in the older nations such as China, Japan, India, France, Ger- 
 many and most of Europe. Says 
 one author: "A given area of 
 land cropped with legumes and 
 cereals will support a population 
 more than three times as numer- 
 ous as that which can be sustained 
 J on the same land devoted to the 
 growth of cattle." According to 
 Payen the analysis of beans 
 gives: protein, 25.50; starch, 55.70; 
 cellulose, 2.90; fats, 2.80; salts, 
 3.20; water, 9.90. As will be seen, 
 they contain more protein than 
 the best_hard wheat and twice as 
 much as the soft. Since the six- 
 teenth century it has been custom- 
 ary to substitute beans, or other 
 of the legumes, 'for meat -during 
 Chick-pea. Lent, particularly on the fourth or 
 
 Pas' "on Sunday. According to an old writer, "After the sallad we 
 eat fried beanes, by which we understand confession. When we 
 would have beanes well sooden, we lay them in steepe, for otherwise 
 they will never seeth kindly." 
 
 The Egyptians had a saying that children fed upon beans were 
 
fOOD PBObUCTS OF THE WORLD, "v 189 
 
 well educated, a foreshadowing of the truth later established by 
 science, that no child, unless well nourished, can fully develop 
 mentally. 
 
 At the Columbian Exposition more varieties (about one hun- 
 dred) were exhibited by Brazil than by any other nation, showing 
 how largely beans entered into the dietaries of that country and 
 also how important a factor cultivation is in the differentiation of 
 any species. Japan sent a large exhibit of the soy bean {vide chap- 
 ter on condiments), as well as a bean product called tofic. This was 
 Iso exhibited by China. It consists of the coagulated albumen of 
 the bean, pressed into square cakes. It is white as snow, is sold in 
 all villages and country places in the Orient, and in the Chinese 
 markets in San Francisco. When frozen and dried the tofu be- 
 comes of a spongy texture. All these preparations were accompanied 
 by analyses, showing them to be high in point of nutrition. 
 
 Mexico also exhibited beans. These, called "frijoles," when 
 boiled with fat and flavored with capsicum and garlic, make a 
 savory dish, but one not at all to the taste of the average American. 
 
 The Boston method of baking beans has done a great deal to 
 popularize the use of this food among Americans. The beans are 
 cooked or baked very slowly, with the addition of just the right 
 quantities of water and sugar, and a piece of either fat pork or bacon. 
 The result is a thoroughly hygienic dish, one which in its propor- 
 tions of protein, fats and carbohydrates, is an almost perfect and 
 complete food itself. 
 
 But the use of beans is by no means confined to the dried 
 article, although that is most valuable, especially in the army or on -f 
 shipboard, because it supplies so much nutriment in so little bulk. 
 Green beans contain valuable organic- salts and are cooked either 
 in the pods, as "string beans," or when mature, shelled. One of our 
 finest dishes, a combination of sweet com and green beans, origin-, 
 ated with the Indians, and is known as succotash from the Indian 
 word, "su-sich-qua-tash." The deservedly anonymous author of a 
 little English WOTk, published in 1832, naively assures us that "the 
 bean in its green state is well known as a culinary vegetable; when 
 mature and dried it is never used as human food in this couy jry, 
 but is then considered good, though coarse, nourishment for labour- 
 ing horses." 
 
 Peas have been cultivated for food since the days of the Greeks, 
 and it is believed that they were grown during still earlier periods 
 
100 
 
 FOOD PBODTJCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 in both China and India. The varieties known to-day were intro- 
 duced into England from the continent in the seventeenth century 
 and were long regarded only as "fit dainties for ladies; they come 
 so far and cost so dear." 
 
 Like beans, peas are used both in the green and the dried states 
 and of one variety, grown chiefly in Europe, both pod and seed are 
 used, being gathered when quite immature. 
 
 The green pea, although far less nutritious than the dried, is 
 considered much more of a delicacy because of its finer flavor. The 
 Romans knew nothing about the use of peas green, and it was a 
 
 Frenchman, one Miohaux, who not 
 only discovered that they were edible 
 but food fit for the gods, as well. That 
 rare combination, lamb with mint 
 and green peas, is alone enough to 
 make one heartily thankful for the 
 privilege of living in the modern 
 world. 
 
 Dried peas are most commonly 
 met with in "split-pea" soup, the indi- 
 gestible outer skin having been re- 
 moved. 
 
 Pea flour is also valuable, although, 
 as it may be easily adulterated, it is 
 advisable to buy the split peas when- 
 ever practicable. The flour, when 
 f orrded into small cakes by the addi- 
 tion of a small quantity of fat, is a welcome addition to soups. In 
 Germany, the "erbswurst," so much used by the army, is prepared 
 from pea-flour, fat and condiments. It is so nutritious that but a 
 small amount is suflicient for a long march. Like beans, dried 
 peas require slow and prolonged^ cooking. They contain only 
 .slightly less protein than dried beans. 
 
 The garuanza or chick-pea is little known in America, although 
 it is a cominon'^art'TcIe of diet in all the Mediterranean countries of 
 Europe. It is much larger than the common pea and grows singly 
 in dainty, rouad pods, its wrinkled surface giving it so odd an ap- 
 pearance that one would not at first believe it to be a member of the 
 leguminosce. It is believed that this pea was the "parched pulse" of 
 the ancient Hebrews, and it i.^ still purchased by travelers who are 
 
 Lentils. 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 191 
 
 obliged to carry their own provisions across the wastes of the Ori- 
 ental countries. Parched or dried chick-peas have long been sold 
 in the shops of Cairo and Damascus. 
 
 But the chick-pea of modern days is chiefly famous as an iugro- 
 dient of that distinctively Spanish dish, "olla podrida." As are 
 chowder and Boston baked beans to the New Englander, macaroni 
 to the Italian or cheese to the Swiss, all that and more is the "olla 
 podrida" to the Spaniard. The chick-pea does not become soft and 
 pasty during the process of cooking, but each retains its own assert- 
 ive little individuality so that, besides being an ingredient among 
 others of soups, it may also be placed about meat or vegetables as a 
 garnish. 
 
 Spain exhibited the garbanza quite lavishly at the Columbian 
 Exposition and one of the officials in that department displayed 
 some surprise at my negative reply to the question, "And you 
 never have olla podrida in America?" Said he, "Let me write you 
 the receipt for making, for he who has never eaten olla podrida 
 knows not what is fine eating!" The receipt was at length finished 
 and presented to me with much ceremony. It occupied two entire 
 pages of fool's cap paper. This was the first sentence: "It requires 
 an entire day to make olla podrida for the six o'clock dinner"; and 
 this, the second, "cook very slowly over a charcoal fire." Imagine, 
 if you can, an American woman spending an entire day over a mess 
 of soup, with only the murky and doubtful assistance of a charcoal 
 flre! My Spanish friend must have been a bachelor who, while the 
 peas were simmering, comfortably read, smoked and dozed amid 
 the savory odors, quietly anticipating, perhaps, a trio of friends to 
 share with him the evening meal. 
 
 Lenjtils^although as valuable nutritively as peas and beans, are 
 but little used in America, excepting by foreigners. This is prob- 
 ably due to the fact that our abundant food supply riders the use 
 of them quite unnecessary. Like split peas, they are to be found 
 in nearly all markets, and when used, in soups or stews, are uni- 
 versally liked in spite of their dark and unattractive color. Th,e 
 mess of pottage for which Esau sold his birthright was undoubtedly 
 made from lentils, and, from the earliest times until to-day, 
 they have always been obtained in the shops and from the gardens 
 of the Orient. Three varieties are now cultivated in both Germany 
 and France, one of which closely resembles the common pea; the 
 second is a larger, yellowish variety, and the third, the small brown 
 
192 
 
 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 lentil whose delicate flavor is much prized in soups. Lentil soup 
 should always be made in the form of a pur^e, the indigestible 
 outer skin being removed by straining, and a bit of pork, bacon or, 
 if preferred, butter added to supply the necessaty amount of fat. 
 Lentil meal is also combined with sugar and sold as a sweetmeat, 
 or, under the name of ervalenta AraMca, as an infant's food. The 
 use of the starchy foods, such as rice or lentil meal, as the basis 
 of sweetmeats and candies is peculiar to the Orientals. The plant 
 greatly resembles the pea-vine, the pods, which grow in clusters, 
 containing never more than three or four seeds. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 TUBEKS AND SUCCULENT BOOTS. 
 
 F THE large family of plants which produce 
 tubers, the potato {solanwm, tuberosum) is our 
 best-known type. No plant grown, always ex- 
 cepting wheat, to-day occupies a more import- 
 ant place in the dietary of the nations of the 
 western world, although it is far more valuable 
 commercially than nutritively, and was all but 
 unknown until a comparatively recent date. 
 Authorities difEer as to where the potato was 
 first discovered or by whom first cultivated, 
 although probably in South America, as the 
 Spaniards there found it under cultivation by the natives in the 
 sixteenth century. One author states that in Ireland the potato 
 wp,s used as early as 1565, while Dr. Campbell, la his Political 
 Survey, declares that it was not there introduced until 1610. Not 
 until 1728 was it considered important enough to be cultivated in 
 Scotland. 
 
 It was introduced into that land by one Thomas Prentice, a day 
 laborer, in spite of great opposition from the higher classes, who 
 objected to it on religious grounds. "Potatoes," they said, "are not 
 mentioned in the Bible." But 1742 and 1743 were years of famine 
 and consequently of high prices for the scanty food that was ob- 
 tained. "The destitute wandered in the fields, seeking to prolong 
 the misery of existence by devouring the leaves of pease, bea»s, 
 
194 
 
 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 sorrel, and other wild plants, while not a few perished from abso- 
 lute want. Still more v/ere carried off by the diseases which always 
 follow famine, and this state of things naturally called attention to 
 the cultivation of the potato." 
 
 In England it was not grown outside of kitchen-gardens until 
 after 1770, but it so rapidly grew in public esteem that a quarter of a 
 century later, "seventeen hundred acres were planted with this 
 tuber, in Essex county alone, for the London markets." An English 
 writer of the last century referred to it as "a root found in the New 
 World consisting of knobs held together by strings, and which, per- 
 haps, if you boil with dates, may serve to keep body and soul to- 
 gether among those who can find nothing better." Prom which it 
 may be inferred that a few Philistines were still to be encountered 
 long after the potato won not only popular favor but even the recog- 
 nition of royalty, for, in 1584, Baleigh is said to have obtained a 
 
 patent from Queen Elizabeth "for 
 discovering and planting new coun- 
 tries, not possessed by Christians," 
 with potatoes. 
 
 Bishop Heber, in speaking of its 
 introduction into India, says "it has 
 been attended with most satisfactory 
 results and, by degrees, its cultiva- 
 tion is becoming more and more ex- 
 tended. It is held in much esteem 
 by the Musselmen as a very useful 
 ^absorbent in their greasy messes. . . . 
 A dry season is prejudicial to the rice 
 crop while it is favorable to the po- 
 tato; therefore, nature makes one 
 crop a substitute for the other." 
 
 In 1827 the potato was the most 
 important field crop of entire Poland. 
 For more than a hundred years before that date it had been exten- 
 sively grown in Sweden, where it was commonly used, after being 
 dried and ground, as a substitute for flour in the making of bread. 
 But it did not reach Saxony until 1740, and, half a century later, 
 prejudice continued to be so strong in that country against the use 
 of potatoes that Count Rumford, when desirous of using them 
 for the celebrated soups with which he so long fed the poor of 
 
 Potato. 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 105 
 
 Munich, was obliged to smuggle them into his rooms. They were 
 secreted in the basement and there cooked and reduced to a pulp 
 before being added to the soups. The improvement in his cookery 
 was so marked that when Count Rumf ord at last told of the reason 
 the despised tuber rose immediately in public esteem. 
 
 The Indians of North America have long used the wild potato, 
 although they seem to know nothing of its cultivation. At the 
 Columbian Exposition wild potatoes were exhibited by the Nez 
 Forces tribe, under the direction of Miss Alice Fletcher. They 
 were combined, after having been mashed and dried, with jerked 
 meat and also with berries, very sensible and nutritious combina- 
 tions of food. It is difflpalt to believe that the potato of our com- 
 merce, so universaUy^'dsed as food, and the varieties of which num- 
 ber far into the huiidreds, has been developed from the insignificant 
 wild root of the prairie. 
 
 No vegetable has proven more tractable in the hands of the 
 cultivator. The edible portion develops perfectly only under- 
 ground and comprises the roots or tubers, which are simply the 
 underground stem, greatly enlarged at it^ free end. Prom the buds 
 or "eyes'' of these tubers the plant is ptopagated. New varieties, 
 however, are usually the result of propagation by the seed. Its 
 cultivation is limited by about the same climatic conditions as that 
 of wheat, the lighter soils producing, in general, larger crops than 
 the heavier. This Ts'due to the fact that the tubers have less resist: 
 ance to overcome in the process of their growth in a light soil and 
 are not forced to develop partially above ground as is the case with 
 the wild variety. Prom an English horticultural report I quote the 
 following: "Some careful cultivators pinch oflE the blossoms as they 
 appear on the plant. This increases the yield about a ton an acre. 
 . . . The reason is that the sap which gives sustenance alike to 
 the tuber and blossom will be exerted for the enlargement of the 
 root." Whether this expedient is a common one I do not know. In 
 America the finest potatoes I have ever seen were grown in Montana 
 and Washington, their uniformity in quality and size being due to 
 irrigation. Excellent potatoes are also grown in the lighter soil of 
 Michigan, as well as in most of the other states, although the crops 
 are not always uniform, owing to occasional drouth. 
 
 In regard to the nutritive value of potatoes we have made no 
 comparisons which are, broadly speaking, much more reliable than 
 those made by Sir Humphrey Davy half a century ago in England, 
 U 
 
196 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 According to him, "the nutritive power of wheat to that of potatoes 
 is about as seven to two, or two pounds of wheat aflEord as much 
 sustenance as seven pounds of potatoes. . . . The weight of the 
 two kinds of food from the same extent of land is nearly as one to 
 eight. Now if we assume that the consumption of an individual is 
 480 pounds of wheat, its equivalent in potatoes would be 1690 
 pounds. Then one acre of wheat wiU produce enough food for 
 three persons while one acre of potatoes will feed six and five-sixths." 
 This latter deduction is quite likely to be misleading. For modern 
 dietetic science has clearly proven that a person whose principal 
 food is potatoes, no matter in how abundant quantities they 
 might be consumed, would be far less sufficiently nourished 
 than one whose staple food is wheat. The analysis given by Dr. 
 Lethe by is as follows: 
 
 Protein 2.10 Salts 0.70 
 
 Starch 18.80 Water 75.00 
 
 Sugar 3.20 
 
 Pat 020 100.00 
 
 Potatoes should be considered as an auxiliary to other foods, 
 rather than a food in themselves. Owing to their deficiency in pro- 
 tein they are wholly unable, unless reinforced by nitrogenous arti- 
 cles of diet, to satisfy the needs of the human system, while they 
 contain a wholly dispEQp,ortionate amount of starch. Used alone 
 they cannot sustain the health or strength of the system for more 
 than a short time. It is related, however, that in Saxony during the 
 latter part of the seventeenth century a detachment of French 
 troops was cut off, for a period of ten days, from all supplies. 
 During that time the soldiers subsisted entirely, without inconveni- 
 ence, upon potatoes from neighboring fields. 
 
 But all people who consume them as a daily food, year after 
 year, reinforce their diet with articles rich in proteids. The Irish 
 use quantities of milk, more per capita than any other nailon, ac- 
 cording to Dr. Smith; the Scotch, an abundance of oatmeal and 
 cheese; the Swiss and Germans, cheese and flesh foods, and the 
 English and Americans, quantities of meat. But in no place are 
 potatoes more prized than on shipboard, owing to their anti-scor- 
 butic qualities. They are an invaluable adjunct to the salt meat of 
 a sailor's diet, which, unless accompanied by vegetables or acid 
 fruits of some kind, soon develops scurvy. In the excited days of 
 '49 the value of potatoes becanie apparent when scurvy developed 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 197 
 
 among certain communities of miners on the Pacific coast, who were 
 subsisting almost entirely upon salt meat and flour. The disease 
 yielded readily to a diet of raw potatoes, which at one time are re- 
 puted to have sold at a dollar apiece. 
 
 The starch of potatoes is an important commercial product 
 while j).otato flour is even more valuable as it contains all the 
 chemical constituents of the tuber. In Russia the latter prepara- 
 tion is largely used^f or soups, stews or, in combination with wheaten 
 flour, for the making of bread. Meal is also made from potatoes, 
 pared, sliced, then thoroughly dried and ground. Potato flour was 
 exhibited by Russia at the exposition. 
 
 In the early history of the tuber opinions were rife as to whether 
 it should be converted, in cooking, into a savory or a sweet dish. 
 Certainly the following receipt, given to an inquiring world by cue 
 Hannah Wooley in 1770, should have settled that question forever: 
 "Have your pie-dish lined vrith a crust. Lay in butter and potatoes, 
 boiled until very tender, with whole spice, marrow, dates, the yolks 
 of hard-boiled eggs, blanched almonds, pistachio nuts, candied peels 
 of orange, citron and lemon. Close the pie vfith a crust, bake, and 
 serve with wine, butter and sugar." 
 
 The Irish prefer potatoes boiled with their "jackets on," that is, 
 unpeeled. This has the advantage of retaining all the salts whicJi 
 would otherwise escape into the water in which they were boiled. 
 There are infinite ways of preparing this vegetable for the table 
 which have the cardinal virtues of simplicity and healthf ulness, but 
 in doing which the average housewife is far from skilled. To quote 
 the expressive sentences of Sidney Smith, v/ho depended greatly 
 upon potatoes during a certain period of life when he was too poor 
 to buy meat: "At this moment (1830) there are few French cooks 
 who can boil, mash, fry, pulverize, or roast a loafer in such appetiz- 
 ing forms as necessity, the mother of invention, forced me to learn. 
 It is a thousand pities that BngUsh women know no more hov/ to 
 dress vegetables than I do how to dance on the tight rope." 
 
 Although the use of the sweet potato antedates that of the com- 
 mon potato, its origin is quite as mysterious, as it is not to be found 
 growing in any country in a wild state. It is probably native to 
 both hemispheres and was brought to Spain from the Malayan 
 peninsula long before the white potato was introduced into Europe. 
 That to which Shakespeare has referred is believed to have been 
 of this variety. Botanloally, the two are wholly unrelated, the sweet 
 
198 
 
 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 potato {batatas edulis) belonging to the convolvulus family, possess- 
 ing a delicate, climbing vine and flowers which are only a little less 
 attractive than the garden morning-glory. 
 
 Its cultivation is limited to the warmer parts of our temperate 
 climates and in America it is peculiarly a product of the cotton and 
 tobacco-producing states. Several, although not many, varieties 
 exist. 
 
 Sweet potatoes yield about the same per cent of protein and 
 starch as the white, although containing ten per cent or more of 
 sugar. They are, on account of this excess of sugar, less mealy and 
 somewhat more mucilaginous than the white, when cooked. 
 
 The people of America and Europe regard the sweet potato 
 simply as a vegetable, while those of Siam, Johore and East India 
 preserve it as a sweetmeat. A large exhibit of these preserves, 
 put up in a clear syrup, palatable to the taste and attractive in ap- 
 pearance, was sent to the Columbian Exposition from these coun- 
 tries. Japan exhibited sweet potato flour and also the same vege- 
 table dried. For the latter process the potatoes are first peeled, 
 then immersed in hot water for a time, then taken out, sliced, and 
 placed upon mats in the sun. Drying has 
 been attempted in the South of our own 
 country but has not been done success-; 
 fully as yet. 
 
 It is related that Marion, an American 
 general of the Revolution, once dined an 
 English officer upon sweet potatoes, baked 
 I in the ashes of his camp-flre and served 
 »upon strips of bark. The officer later re- 
 signed his commission and returned to 
 England, saying that it would be impossi- 
 ble to conquer a people who were willing 
 to live upon sweet potatoes! 
 Jerasalera Artichoke. jhe yam is the fleshy, tuberous root of 
 
 an ornamental vine of the dioscorea family, and is probably native 
 to the East Indies. The name is commonly but incorrectly applied 
 to those varieties of the sweet potato which contain most sugar and 
 which are better liked in the South than the starchier kinds. 
 Botanically it is wholly unrelated to either the white or sweet pota- 
 toes, although its root resembles that of the latter and is cooked 
 and used in the same way. The tuber is less delicate of flavor, de- 
 
FOOD PEODUCTS OF THE "WOKLD. 199 
 
 veloping to an astonishing size, some of those gathered in the East 
 Indies weighing twenty-five, occasionally thirty, pounds. The plant 
 was brought to this country from the West Indies in 1733 but not 
 until more than a century later was it generally used as food, and 
 only then (in 1845) on account of the disaster wrought by potato 
 disease. It will probably never be extensively grown on account of 
 the ^treme difficulty of gathering .ihe crop. The tubers, which 
 are larger at the base than at any other portion, grow perpendicu- 
 larly downward and have to be carefully dug out, as, owing to their 
 brittleness, they break if pulled. There are two principal, and 
 more than a hundred minor, varieties. 
 
 Salep is the tuberous root of the orchis maseula, a small plant 
 native to the East Indies, and highly valued throughout Turkey, 
 Syria, Persia and, in fact, nearly all countries of the Orient. It is 
 there regarded as a specific for nervousness, but is really no more 
 than a simple and nutritious vegetable. The root contains about 
 fifty per cent of a mucilage or jelly known as bassorin, and about 
 thirty per cent of starch. It is prepared for use by being heated 
 until transparent, then dried, usually in the sun. When needed 
 for food the little, bulbous roots are either immersed in boiling 
 water or crushed into a powder. A century ago it was commonly 
 used by the working classes in the Orient, but "the salep-staU has 
 long been replaced by the cofEee-staU." It is but little known in 
 either Europe or America. 
 
 Taro is the Hawaiian name for the root of the colooasia escu- 
 lenta, which is cultivated by the natives of the Sandwich Islands for 
 ths sake of its large, fleshy tubers. Like our potatoes, they are 
 eaten both roasted and boiled, and are an important ingredient of 
 the national dish, pot, a muSlaginous, slightly fermented dish, tast- 
 ing quite like sour paste, eaten with the fingers from the calabash 
 and prized beyond all oSier food. The leaves of the taro, which 
 rise directly from the root, are used much as we use ^piHach. The 
 taro has recently been introduced into southern CalifdrmaTwhere 
 it grows well, but, as yet, the demand for it is not extensive. 
 
 The Jerusalem artichoke is not the artichoke proper but a 
 plant of "the sun-flower family, which is cultivated for its edible 
 tubers. It is native to Brazil and, possibly, Mexico, but is cultivated 
 to only a small extent either in America or England, probably be- 
 cause other foods are so abundant as to make the use of it quite 
 unnecessary./ The plant produces large numbers of tubers which, 
 
200 
 
 iFOO0 PRODUCTS OF THfi WOfeLD. 
 
 although extremely ugly in shape, resemble potatoes. They are 
 not injured by freezing and are usually allowed to remain in the 
 ground all winter. Chemical analysis shows them to contain but a 
 very small percentage of starch but nevertheless to be slightly 
 more nutritious than potatoes. The tubers may be cooked or eaten 
 raw as a salad. 
 
 The arrow-root, a plant native to both the East and West Indies, 
 is chiefly valuable for the starch extracted 
 from the fleshy roots. It is particularly 
 useful in the preparation of invalid dishes, 
 although often adulterated with the starch 
 of the cassava or the potato. It is credited 
 by the native East Indians with various 
 medicinal virtues which it does not actu- 
 ally possess. 
 
 One of the most remarkable of our 
 products is the cassava or manioc plant, 
 the fleshy, starch-producing tubers of which 
 furnish food for so large a proportion of 
 our tropical and sub-tropical nations. It 
 is known botanixsally as jatropha manihot. 
 The two principal varieties are the sweet 
 cassava, which may be known by its flve- 
 cleft palmate leaves, and the bitter or 
 poisonous, the leaves of which are seven 
 parted. The bitter variety is most com- 
 mon in the tropics. It is fit for food only 
 laJter the poisonous properties of the root, 
 which are due to the prussio acid con- 
 tained, are dissipated by heat. From the 
 pulp, well washed and heated, the tapioca 
 Sweet Cassava. of commerce is prepared. The maSioc 
 
 which poisoned Stanley's rear-guard in Africa was simply the root 
 of the bitter cassava which was eaten raw. Prom the juice of this 
 variety a substance known as cassareep is made (vide condiments) 
 and from the flour, a delicate, palatable bread, not, however, as high 
 in nutritive value as the best wheaten bread. From it an alcoholic 
 drink is prepared which is, unfortunately, too highly esteemed by 
 the natives of the cassava-producing countries. 
 
 The native method of extracting the juice is unique ^ho 
 
POOD PEODtCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 m 
 
 Indians weave from, reeds a curiously shaped, tubular press or 
 strainer, closed at the bottom. Into this the ground pulp of the 
 root of the bitter cassava is placed, and the press is suspended with 
 a stone tied to the handle shaped bottom. The weight of the stone 
 lengthens out the press and the poisonous juice is squeezed through 
 the interstices. 
 
 The root of the sweet cassava {manihot utilissima) is used much 
 as are potatoes, the juice being innocuous. This variety has recently 
 been introduced into Florida. It was exhibited at the Columbian 
 Exposition. Cassava grows well in the sandy lands of the South, 
 a valuable food for animals as well as man. Ac- 
 cording to the analysis made by H. W. Wiley, chem- 
 ist of the United States Department of Agriculture, 
 the roots contain 3.47 per cent of albuminoids (pro- 
 tein) and 71.85 per cent of starch. They attain a 
 weight of several pounds and, as many tubers are 
 produced by each plant, the crop is a profitable one, 
 yielding as high as five tons to the acre. Besides 
 starch, which is always valuable commercially, glu- 
 cose is prepared from the roots, also a small propor- 
 tion of cane sugar and a superior tapioca. The 
 cassava will inevitably take a high place among our 
 starch producing plants as it becomes more gener- 
 ally known. 
 
 The succulent roots, like the tubers, are used 
 
 n||i merely as adjuncts to other foods, although they 
 
 |\ contain a much smaller percentage of starch. They 
 
 are liked because of their flavors, which are quite 
 
 distinctive, and are valuable because of the organic 
 
 salts contained. 
 
 The turnip (brassiea rapex) has been cultivated 
 since the days of the Greeks, although the wild 
 variety is still to be found growing in the fields of 
 Europe. The object of cultivation has been to in- 
 crease the size of the root without sacrificing 
 Cassava Strainer, tenderness and flavor. While at flrst only a 
 product of the kitchen garden the turnip is now grown, 
 like potatoes, in flelds. The two chief varieties are the 
 white and the yellow. The uses of it in cookery are well known, 
 but it is doubtful if the gastronomic skill of modem days C!"- ■"'^er 
 
 \\ 
 
202 FOOD PEODOCTS OF THE WOBLD. 
 
 equal that of an ancient, royal cook. It is related that the king of 
 Bythnia, while on an expedition against the Scythians was, one 
 winter day, seized with a desperate longing for a certain small fish, 
 a pilchard or herring, one writer says a loach. The sea lay at some 
 distance and a fish was quite out of the question. So the ingenious 
 cook procured a turnip, cut it into the shape of a fish, cooked it in 
 oil, salted, seasoned, and well powdered it with grains of black 
 poppies, and served it to the king as the particular flsh he so much 
 desired. His majesty could not have been hypercritical as to food, 
 for he was exquisitely deceived and praised the root to his guests as 
 a "most excellent fish." 
 
 In Rome, in the days of Pliny, turnips were worth a sestertius, 
 about two-pence, each, the best being brought from the district of 
 the Sabines. FUny relates that the roots occasionally weighed 
 forty pounds, a weight that no region of modern days, unless it be 
 our own state of Washington, can equal. 
 
 In England, during the years of 1629 and 1630, there was such 
 dearth of food that a bread was made from equal parts of turnip, 
 which was deprived of most of its moisture, and flour. It was 
 known as turnip bread and, although not very nutritious, was an 
 acceptable substitute for the cereals, then so much in demand. One 
 is reminded of the sarcastic Jeames Yellowplush who said th&t the 
 most "unexceptionable swarry" he ever sat down to consisted of 
 due proportions of mutton and turnips. 
 
 In Bussia turnips are considered quite a luxury by all classes 
 and are frequently eaten as fruits. Even among the nobUity, ac- 
 cording to one author, thinly sliced, raw turnip is served with tiny 
 glasses of brandy, as a relish. 
 
 The fondness of the Laplanders for this vegetable is even more 
 remarkable. They will often exchange a whole cheese for one 
 turnip, thereby displaying an ignorance of the relative nutritive 
 values of the two articles that is certainly ludicrous, for the turnip 
 is not only rather indigestible unless cooked, on account of its 
 large proportion of cellulose or woody fibre, but is most innutritions. 
 I think the adage, "you cannot get blood from a turnip," must have 
 been inspired by the doctrines of certain thin-blooded philosophers 
 who insist upon a diet of "bran-bread" and vegetables. 
 
 The carrot {daucus carota) is indigenous to many portions of 
 Europe, although only the cultivated varieties are sufficiently sweet 
 and tender to find ready favor as food. It was introduced into 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 203 
 
 England from Flanders during the reign of Elizabeth and was a 
 favorite vegetable in the time of James I. The ladies of the court 
 adorned their hair with its leaves, which were light, graceful, and a 
 good substitute for the traditional feathers. From being exclusively 
 a garden vegetable the carrot was easily adapted to field culture, 
 two principal varieties being developed, the large, and the short or 
 horn carrot. The root is valuable for feeding cows as, unlike the 
 turnip, it does not impart any flavor to the milk. 
 
 A transverse section of the carrot reveals two distinct portions, 
 the outer, which is deep red in color, pulpy in consistency and 
 containing a large proportion of saccharine matter; and the heart or 
 core which is light yellow, less sweet and, when mature, fibrous or 
 woody. The gardeners of all times have exerted their best efforts 
 to produce a carrot which should contain the greatest possible pro- 
 portion of outer pulp. The carrot is more used by the French than 
 by ourselves, both as a vegetable and as a savory addition to soups 
 and stews. When raw it is believed to possess antiseptic proper- 
 ties. It is, like turnips and all succulent roots, very low in nutri- 
 tive value, containing but little starch or sugar, 
 and consisting principally of water which, ac- 
 cording to Letheby, constitutes eighty-three 
 per cent. 
 
 The beet {beta vulgaris) has been cultivated 
 since the time of the early Bomans and is de- 
 scribed by Pliny. By these people it was un- 
 doubtedly introduced into England, at what 
 date is not known. It is now extensively used 
 in Europe and America, the red variety being 
 more attractive for table use than the white or 
 yellow. When young the plant, leaf, stalk and 
 root, is boiled as "greens," making a truly appe- 
 tizing dish which may be served either with 
 Salsify. butter or some acid as dressing. Beets produce 
 
 abundantly and it is said that in Guernsey one hundred tons to the 
 acre have been raised. A specially sweet variety is now cultivated 
 in France, Germany, Russia, and the United States for the sugar 
 contained, which is of a high quality. 
 
 The parsnip (pastinaca sativa), like the carrot, is a biennial. It 
 also possesses similar characteristics and habits of growth. There are 
 four varieties. The root is not injured by frosts but may be left in 
 
204 fOOD PBOblJCtS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 the ground all winter. It contains somewhat more starch than the 
 carrot and, when slowly roasted in the ashes, appears to be nearly 
 as farinaceous and mealy as the potato. In the north of Scotland 
 the peasantry prepare a dish composed of equal parts of parsnip 
 and potato, to which are added butter and simple seasonings. In 
 Catholic communities the use of it, combined with salt fish, is gen- 
 eral during Lent. 
 
 The salsify {tragopogon porrifolius) is commonly known in 
 America as the oyster plant or vegetable oyster owing to its flavor, 
 which approximates quite closely that of the delicious bivalve. It 
 is related to the lettuce and dandelion although the only edible 
 portion is the long, tapering root. It is native to England, and the 
 original variety has been so much improved by cultivation, in size 
 as well as flavor, that few gardens on either side of the Atlantic are 
 to be found without it. 
 
 The black oyster plant {scorzonera hispanica) was earliest cul- 
 tivated in Spain to which it is indigenous. The Moors valued it 
 for its supposed medicinal properties, believing, as did also the 
 people of Africa, that it was a specific for snake bite; hence its 
 name, from sourzo, a species of snake. 
 
 Like salsify the plant has a milky juice and a flavor resem- 
 bling that of the oyster. But, as it is a darker, coarser, and some- 
 what inferior vegetable, there is little to recommend its use if 
 salsify is to be obtained instead. The flesh is white, having a slightly 
 bitter flavor, which is dissipated by thorough soaking in cold water 
 before cooking. The root has long been used in Spain as a vegeta- 
 ble although not introduced from that country into France until 
 the seventeenth century. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 ACETARIOUS OR SALAD PLANTS. 
 
 pHJii salad plants contain no appreciable amount of 
 nutriment, yet are, owing to their crispness and 
 cooling properties, an indispensable portion of the 
 ideal dinner and are aids to the digestion by virtue 
 of the acids and other condiments with which they 
 are dressed. It is to the French that credit must 
 be given for using salad plants at their tables the 
 year around. A salad of simple vegetables, occa- 
 sionally combined with lobster, shrimp, or meats, over which is 
 poured the equally simple dressing of oil and vinegar or lemon 
 juice, is daily served by almost every housewife in the land. The 
 Germans and Americans use salad plants extensively, although with 
 somewhat less of favor than did the ancients. More than two cen- 
 turies ago the Irish used salads of sorrel, dressed with vinegar, 
 sugar, and mustard. 
 
 The early Jews ate at the Passover lettuce, tansy, camomile, dan- 
 delion and mint, the "bitter herbs" of the Paschal feast, all of 
 which were combined with oil and vinegar. Tansy was frequently 
 eaten at the Easter day dinners of Europe as late as the sixteenth 
 century. 
 
 The Romans early regulated the use of vegetables by penal 
 statute which compelled the people to combine them freely with 
 
m POOD PEOD0CTS OP THE WORLD. 
 
 meats in their dietaries. That they loved salads "Virgil bears cordial 
 witness. From the Cowper translation I quote the following de- 
 scription of the way in which they were made by the ancient Boman: 
 
 "With hasty steps his garden round he sought; 
 
 There, delving with his hands, he first displaced 
 
 Four plants of garlic, large and rooted fast; 
 
 The tender tops of parsley next he culls, 
 
 Then the old rue bush shudders as he pulls. 
 
 And coriander last to tliese succeeds. 
 
 That hangs on slightest thread her trembUng seeds. 
 
 Placed near his flre, he now demands 
 
 The mortar at Ills saWe servant's hands. 
 
 When, stripping all his garlic first, he tore 
 
 The exterior coats, and cast them on the floor. 
 
 Then cast away with like contempt the skin, 
 
 Flimsier concealment of the cloves wltliin; 
 
 These, searched and perfect found, he, one hy one, 
 
 Einsed and disposed within the hollow stone. 
 
 Salt added, and a lump of cheese, 
 
 With his Injected herbs he covered these. 
 
 And tucking vrith left hand his tunic tight. 
 
 And seizing fast the pestle with his right, 
 
 Tlie garUc bruising first, he soon expressed 
 
 And mixed the various juices of the rest. 
 
 He grinds, and by degrees his herbs below. 
 
 Lost in each other, their own powers forego, 
 
 And, with the cheese in compound, to the sight 
 
 Nor wholly green appear, nor wholly white. 
 
 The work proceeds; not roughly turns he now 
 
 The pestle, but in circles smooth and slow. 
 
 With cautious hand that grudges what it spills, 
 
 Some drops of olive oil he next Instills, 
 
 Then vinegar, with caution scarcely less. 
 
 And gathering to a ball the mealy mess. 
 
 Last, with two fingers frugally applied. 
 
 Sweeps the small remnant from the mortar's side. 
 
 And thus, complete in color and in kind, 
 
 Obtauis at length the salad he designed." 
 
 In Oriental countries flowers are frequently used in salads, 
 probably quite as much for ornament as for flavor, and it is said 
 that the Japanese even serve their national flower, the chrysanthe- 
 mum, at their tables. Flowers were also added to the salads of 
 fourteenth century England, according to Evelyn, violets and haw- 
 thorn-blossoms, primroses and marigolds, daisies, elder flowers, 
 roses, cowslips, orange blossoms, and even the tender buds of the 
 hop vine. 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 207 
 
 Shakespeare testifies to the English appreciation of the salad as 
 a cooling dish when he makes Jack Cade say (punning upon the 
 word "sallet," which meant at that time a helmet as well as a mix- 
 ture of herbs and green vegetables): "Wherefore, on a brick wall 
 have I climbed into this garden, to see if I can eat grass or pick a 
 sallet another while, which is not amiss to cool a man's stomach 
 this hot weather. And I think this word sallet was born to do me 
 good; for many a time, but for a sallet, my brain-pan had been cleft 
 with a brown bill; and, many a time, when I 
 have been dry, and bravely marching, it hath 
 served me instead of a quart-pot to drink in; 
 and now the word sallet must serve me to 
 feed on." 
 
 For many sorts of salads does this world 
 (feed on, from the carefully mortared prepara- 
 tion of the Roman to the dish of modern 
 America, all pink and green and white, with 
 its ingredients, whatever they may be, cool, 
 Artlclioke. crisp, and individual, no triturated prepar- 
 
 ation, but one just enough bruised and broken to yield to mixture, 
 "frescoed with waves of golden mayonnaise," fragrant as country 
 flowers, and as dainty, spruce and cool as a floating sea- weed. 
 
 Chief among salad plants is lettuce, known to the botanist as 
 laetuea sativa, owing to its milky juice. The ancients held it in 
 peculiar esteem, possibly because it was the fragrance from a bed 
 of wild lettuce that revived the wounded Adonis when he was placed 
 upon its soothing leaves by the weeping goddess, Venus. The plant 
 was used by the ancients at the close of a meal, its cooling proper- 
 ties being believed to counteract the heating effects of wine. Says 
 Pope: 
 
 "If your wish be rest. 
 
 Lettuce and cowslip wine probatum est." 
 
 There are two main varieties of lettuce, with numbers of varia- 
 tions, the cabbage shaped, which forms in heads, and the Cos lettuce, 
 curly and broad leaved. It is not known when or at what place lettuce 
 was first cultivated, probably on some of the Greek islands of the 
 Mediterranean, such as Cos. In 1520 it was first introduced into 
 England from Flanders, and, ten years later, under Henry VII., we 
 read that the gardener at York Place received a reward for bringing 
 "lettuze" and cherries to Hampton Court. To-day it is universally 
 
208 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 cultivated iu both hot houses and gardens, a rapid, unchecked 
 growth being induced for the sake of tenderness, crispness, blanch- 
 ing at the center, and to prevent the development of the bitter 
 principle. It is wholesome at breakfast, excellent at lunch, and 
 almost necessary at dinner; good for yourself to eat and most 
 dainty to serve to your friends; of all salad plants the most delicate 
 and most prized. 
 
 The inspissated juice of the lettuce, which possesses in a mild 
 form the medicinal virtues of opium, has held a place for many 
 years among pharmaceutical preparations. It is obtained from the 
 flower stalk just as the flowers are about to open. The stem is cut 
 with a sharp knife just below the buds, the milk oozes from the in- 
 cision, quickly dries, and hardens into a brown scale. This is taken 
 off, another section of the stalk is made, another scale is formed, 
 and this process is repeated over and o^^er again until the juice is 
 exhausted or, perchance, the weather interferes. Although this 
 procedure is both laborious and slow, owners of lettuce farms have 
 reported satisfactory proflts even during unfavorable years. 
 
 Endive (cichorium endivia), usually called winter lettuce, be- 
 longs, like lettuce proper, to the dandelion family. It was earliest 
 under cultivation in China and Japan, whence it was introduced 
 into the European countries during the sixteenth century. The 
 plant produces an immense mass of leaves from the crown of 
 the root, which are smooth of surface but deeply serrated at the 
 edges. Although more acrid and tough, when exposed to the air, 
 than lettuce, the leaves when blanched become crisp, tender, and 
 appetizing. Blanching is done in various ways: by keeping the 
 mass of leaves tightly tied together, by covering the whole plant 
 with a pot or, again, by partially covering with earth. Endive is 
 blanched to perfection by the German gardeners in the vicinity of 
 our large cities, and is particularly valuable because it may be ob- 
 tained in the winter when there is dearth of other salad plants. It 
 is closely allied to the chicory of England and France. 
 
 The radish (raphanus sativns), although its succulent root is 
 the part used, is properly one of the acetarious plants, because it is 
 eaten as a relish. In many countries the tender, young leaves, as 
 well as the seed pods, are used for salad but, owing to its pungency, 
 the root is looked upon as a condiment rather than a food. The 
 garden varieties are two, one possessing a long fusiform root, the 
 qtber, small and turnip-shaped, Dither kind may be yejlgwish, 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 209 
 
 black, or white, in color, although the brilliant red roots are far pre- 
 ferable, specially for garnishing. The field varieties are larger, 
 coarser in texture, and stronger in flavor. The radish has been 
 known and cultivated in India since a remote period but was not 
 introduced into England until the sixteenth century. 
 
 Celery (opium graveolens) has become so changed and improved 
 under cultivation that it bears little resemblance to the original 
 wild plant. There are the red, white and green varieties, the latter 
 being almost universally whitened by blanching. The desideratum 
 is not size but tenderness and delicacy of flavor, although under favor- 
 able conditions and in rich soil it develops enormously. In the 
 state of Washington plants occasionally 
 attain a weight of six pounds, and it is 
 recorded that a head of celery, cultivated 
 in the vicinity of Manchester, England, in 
 11815, weighed nine pounds and measured 
 four and one-half feet in height. Celeriac, 
 or the turnip-rooted celery, is also used 
 for salads, the root being boiled and, when 
 cold, sliced with acids and other condi- 
 ments. 
 
 The nasturtium or Indian cress (tro- 
 paeolum majus) is an excellent salad plant, 
 although cultivated in America chiefly for 
 its brilliant flowers. Leaves, stems and 
 flower buds give a pungent and appetizing flavor to a salad, 
 while the seeds, if pickled in brine similar to capers, may be used as 
 a condiment. The plant is called nasturtium erroneously, but the 
 misnaming of it is undoubtedly due to its acrid, pungent flavor, the 
 name being derived from two Latin words, nasus and tortus, meaning 
 nose-torturing. The true nasturtium is known as the common 
 water cress. 
 
 Water cress (nasturtium officinale) belongs to the mustard fam- 
 ily. It grows wild in abundance throughout portions of Europe and 
 America, at the edges of ponds, near springs, and upon the banks of 
 small streams, always under water. It is now cultivated for the 
 market by sowing the seed in tanks of water in which a deep layer 
 of sand has been placed or, better still, at the margins of natural 
 creeks or streams. The cultivated cress is larger and more tender 
 than the wild while containing all of the aromatic pungency so 
 
 Kohlrabi. 
 
210 FOOD PEODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 much prized. The garden variety, which is even more acrid and 
 pungent than water cress, is known as "pepper grass." It is useful 
 both as flavor and garnish. 
 
 The sorrel (rumex aeetosella) is a hardy plant that iS much better 
 known in Europe than in America, although well adapted to garden 
 aulture. It is a member of the buckwheat family. The leaves of 
 the variety known as French sorrel are slightly more acid than the 
 common garden sorrel. 
 
 Corn salad or lamb's lettuce (valerianella olitoria) grows wild in 
 southern and central Europe, but is cultivated throughout the con- 
 tinent. Like chicory, it is an admirable substitute for lettuce dur- 
 ing the spring and winter months. 
 
 Spinach (spinacia oleracea) belongs to the beet family. It was 
 originally called hispanach or Spanish plant, having been first used 
 by the monks of Spain during fast days. The plant is native to 
 Japan and New Zealand, probably also to southern Europe, al- 
 though it was not introduced into England until the sixteenth cen- 
 tury. Several varieties are cultivated in our gardens during both 
 spring and winter. The leaves are boiled and dressed v/ith butter 
 or with acids and the simpler condiments. The leaves as well as 
 the root of the common beet (beta vulgaris) are boiled and dressed 
 like spinach while young and tender, and an excellent dish may be 
 prepared from the whole, young plant, boiled and dressed in the 
 same way. Swiss chard is still another variety of beet, cultivated 
 for its leaves but particularly for its large, fleshy leaf -stalks which, 
 when cooked, are almost as delicate as asparagus. 
 
 The artichoke (cynara scolymus) is cultivated solely for the sake 
 of its immature flowerheads, which are not only cooked but are 
 served raw with condiments in the form of a salad. It somewhat 
 resembles the thistle, to which it is botanieally related, and is be- 
 lieved to thrive best in those countries which border upon salt 
 water. Since 1473 the plant has been cultivated in Venice and, in 
 fact, throughout Italy as well as other of the Mediterranean coun- 
 tries. It was first introduced into England during the reign of 
 Henry VIII., and in the Harleian library there is still preserved a 
 paper written in the time of Queen Mary and relating to the "best 
 settynge and keepynge of artichokes." The vegetable is still more 
 largely used upon the continent than elsewhere, and is but little 
 known in America. Quantities of canned artichokes were sent by 
 Italy to the Columbian Exposition. 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 211 
 
 Oiie of the earliest and most delicate of our garden products is 
 aspai-agus [asparagus officinalis), in appearance and manner of 
 growth resembling the salad plants but usually boiled and dressed 
 as a vegetable. The stalk is the portion used and, although con- 
 taining very little nutriment, is prized for its flavor. It is best 
 grown on well manured soil which is treated annually to a top- 
 dressing of salt. In some countries it grows luxuriantly on light, 
 sandy soil which is heavily dressed with seaweed. The plant has 
 been cultivated since the days of the Greeks and Romans, and was 
 mentioned by the poet Cratinus in the fifth century B. C. Cato 
 speaks of it in his treatise, "De Re Rustica," and about a hundred 
 years later Pliny discusses its care and cultivation in his work on 
 natural history. He asserts that three heads of asparagus, grown 
 in the neighborhood of Ravenna, have been known to weigh a pound. 
 The green seed-pods of okra (hibiscus esculentus), a plant native 
 to the West Indies but cultivated in the southern states, are stewed 
 and served like asparagus. When dried, the pods are chiefly used 
 for thickening soups, or making "gumbo."' The plant belongs to 
 the maUow family, all members of which possess the mucilaginous 
 properties which distinguish the okra. 
 
 Rhubarb (rheum rhaponticum) is a member of the buckwheat 
 family and, like sorrel, possesses an acid flavor. Only the fleshy 
 petioles or leaf -stalks are used for food but the plant is particularly 
 valued because it is ready for use in the spring long before any 
 fruits or even the principal salad plants are to be had. The peti- 
 oles, stewed and sweetened, are a good substitute for fruit. Several 
 varieties are cultivated, the root of one 
 ,(rheum palmatum) being used as a medi- 
 cine. It is native to Tartary. The com- 
 mon garden variety, known as pie-plant, 
 wine-plant, and in England as monk rhu- 
 barb, is also indigenous to portions of 
 Asia and was not introduced into Europe 
 until the sixteenth century. 
 
 The cabbage (brassica oleracea capitata) 
 is that particular member of the brassica 
 family in which the broad leaves, arising 
 directly from the root stalk, are gathered 
 or folded together in a compact head. 
 Brussels Sprouts. Owing to tb?ir compression and exclusion 
 u 
 
212 FOOD PBODUOTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 from the light the leaves become crisp, tender, and blanched. It is 
 impossible to determine when or just where the cabbage was origin- 
 ally cultivated, possibly by the Germans or early Saxons. One 
 authority states that the old Saxon word for sprout-kale was given 
 to the month of February, as that was the month in which sprouts 
 were earliest gathered from the old stalks. The cabbage was in 
 common use in Rome as food for both freemen and slaves. It was 
 introduced into England at an early date but not generally culti- 
 vated until after many years. It was Ben Jonson who said, referring 
 to the customary importation of this vegetable, "He hath news from 
 the low countries in cabbages." The plant may have been intro- 
 duced into Scotland by German fishermen, although more probably 
 by the English soldiers of Cromwell. But, however it came, the 
 cabbage has long occupied a unique place in Scottish national 
 cookery and particularly that of the common people. The Irish 
 have a dish which somewhat corresponds to the kale-brose of the 
 Scotch, which they have named "kolcannon," and which consists of 
 a bit of salt pork, boiled with potatoes, cabbage, and seasonings. 
 
 The cabbage when crisp and tender is commonly dressed for the 
 table raw, delicately sliced and combined with vinegar and oil or 
 mayonnaise. It is also prepared for winter use by being cut or 
 sliced and packed into casks with a little salt. After fermenta- 
 tion this is known as "sauer kraut," and the making of it is quite an 
 industry both in the United States and in Germany. Sauer kraut is 
 of special value to sailors asan anti-scorbutic, and is quite as effica- 
 cious as lemon juice or green vegetables. 
 
 All the plants of the brassioa family have a tendency "to sport 
 or run into varieties and monstrosities," although still retaining to 
 a marked degree the flavor peculiar to cabbage. Chief among these 
 varieties are the kale, kohl-rabi, Brussels sprouts, cole wort, broccoli, 
 and Cauliflower. Kale, also called borecole and German greens, 
 differs from its kinf oik in that the leaves do not form a head but 
 branch out, each separate, from the main stalk. In kohl-rabi, or 
 turnip-cabbage, the stem is greatly developed above the ground into 
 a turnip-like bulb, which is the part used. Brussels sprouts have 
 been cultivated near Brussels and in other parts of Belgium since 
 the early part of the thirteenth century. The sprouts are miniature 
 cabbage heads, one or two inches in diameter, branching upon the 
 main stalk. Colewort or "coUards" consists of a large, open-hpaded 
 cabbage or mass of leaves, growing loosely upon the rather tall. 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 
 
 213 
 
 central stem. Broccoli is a variety of cauliflower, differing mainly 
 in that the head is loosely divided into smaller heads. The cauli- 
 flower itself, dainty, delicious, the one white rose of our kitchen 
 gardens, might be defined as the cabbage in the highest state of 
 evolution. It is of Italian origin, was early cultivated in Cyprus, 
 and at the time of the French Revolution was exported into Eng- 
 land, Holland, Germany and France. It was introduced into 
 England at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and soon at- 
 tained great perfection under cultivation. We have no vegetable 
 more delicious, none more satisfactory, in the hands of a skillful 
 cook. But, alas I the water-soaked, overcooked, maimed, and dis- 
 colored article 'that is to be seen upon many an elaborate table 
 testifies that skillful cooks are all too rare. When properly served, 
 like a miniature mountain of snow, with a simple white sauce or 
 au gratin with a sprinkling of Parmesan 
 cheese, one is fain to exclaim with Dr. John- 
 son, "Of all flowers I like cauliflowers 
 rbest." 
 
 The onion (allium cepa) and its confrferes, 
 the leek, garlic, shallot and chives, are 
 more remarkable for flavor than for any 
 other quality. But all are largely used as 
 ingredients of salads, particularly in France 
 and Germany. Owing to their medicinal 
 and antiseptic virtues they occupy a unique 
 Oi^ra. place among our vegetable foods, and there 
 
 is not a little truth in the old couplet, 
 
 "Eat onions in May 
 And all the year after physicians may play." 
 The plant is of great antiquity and was worshipped in Egypt 2000 
 years B. C, and to this day Egj^ptians devoutly hope that the onion 
 may be numbered among the viands of Paradise. It is usually 
 eaten by them roasted, with meat. Alexander the Great found the 
 onion in Egypt and, believing that it would excite martial ardor, 
 brought it back to Greece with him and furnished it to his army. 
 It also flgured in Druidic worship, a custom that may have de- 
 scended from the equally mysterious rites of the divine Isis. Liter- 
 ature is full of allusions to the onion, perhaps because of its distin- 
 guished lineage. Macauley wrote to a friend one Michaelmas time of 
 "The churchman gay, who will wallow to-day 
 In apple-^^uce, oniops and sage"; 
 
214 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 and years before this Cervantes bestowed upon it an enviable im- 
 mortality when he made Sancho Pansa say, "To tell the truth, what 
 I eat in my corner without compliments or ceremonies, though it be 
 nothing but bread and an onion, relishes better than turkey at 
 other folk's tables." Both the leek and garlic have been mentioned 
 as condiments but they are also used in salads. Garlic grows 
 wild along the shores of the Mediterranean and a wild variety 
 found in Eamtchatka and Russia is much prized as a vegetable by 
 the poor of those countries. 
 
 Chives is a hardy plant which grows wild throughout the hilly 
 districts of both Europe and Asiatic Russia. It is cultivated for 
 the sake of its delicate, green, tubular leaves, which are a good sub- 
 stitute for onions, particularly in soups and stews. 
 
 Two of our garden fruits, because of the way in which they are 
 customarily prepared for the table, are properly classed as salad 
 plants. These are the tomato {lyeopersieum eseulentutn) and the 
 cucumber (eueumis sativus). The tomato (from the Mexican word, 
 tomatl) was formerly known as the love apple. It is native to India, 
 possibly to the warmer portions of Europe and America, but is now 
 very generally cultivated. There are many varieties and the ten- 
 dency among cultivators seems to be to increase the size without 
 sacrificing the deep red color or the firmness of the flesh. When 
 green the fruit is used for pickles and preserves; when ripe, it may 
 be stewed as a vegetable, made into a ketchup, or, better still, sliced 
 raw for a salad. When so used and simply dressed with oil, vinegar, 
 pepper, and salt nothing can be more appetizing and delicious. The 
 value of the tomato crop of the United States is annually increas- 
 ing, the largest output being from Maryland and New Jersey. 
 
 The cucumber, of which there are several varieties, belongs to 
 the melon family. That it has been cultivated since the earliest 
 of historic times, particularly in Syria and Egypt, is proven by the 
 occasional reference made to it in the Old Testament. The cucum- 
 ber of Syria is to-day grown in open fields, so extensive as to re- 
 quire the constant presence of a watcher, a custom dating from an 
 ancient period and alluded to in the Bible. It has been known in 
 England since the reign of Edward III. but did not come into gen- 
 eral use until the seventeenth century. The cucumber is always 
 plucked green, and is usually dressed for the table like the tomato. 
 It is very largely made into pickles, specially a prickly variety 
 known as gherkin, which is cultivated wholly for that purpose. 
 
POOD PEODTJCTS OF THE WORLD. 215 
 
 Among other plants which are occasionally cultivated for salads 
 is the cardoon (oynara cardunculus). This is little known outside 
 of England and the south of France, where, like its cousin the arti- 
 choke, it is greatly prized. Only the tender, crisp, blanched leaf- 
 stalks are used. But numbers of our uncultivated herbaceous plants 
 are also used, not a few of them being considered wholly epicurean. 
 Among these are the marsh marigold or cowslip, tender, young 
 nettles, hop sprigs, young milkweed shoots, even borage and com- 
 frey. Still humbler confreres are the narrow-leaved dock and the 
 dandelion, the latter now being extensively cultivated by the east- 
 ern market gardeners. Tender, uncurled leaves of fern make a 
 pleasant salad and tarragon leaves are also useful as a flavor. In 
 England a salad is often made from seaweed, boiled and chopped 
 with condiments. A specially favored variety is samphire, which is, 
 however, usually pickled for use. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 FRUITS AND NUTS. 
 
 H E history of our cultivated fruits, it may be 
 stated witliout much exaggeration, is the his- 
 tory of civilization. Wherever communities 
 are to be found existing in a condition of 
 rudeness or barbarity, there the cultivation of 
 fruits is a science quite unknown. On the 
 ether hand, in lands governed by the arts and higher industries we 
 see attributed to the science of horticulture great importance. 
 Only when the industries and luxuries of civilization are introduced, 
 whether by conquest or commerce it matters little, do the native 
 fruits come to be improved by cultivation; only then are those of 
 other lands imported and acclimatized. The fruits of the early 
 Britons, in fact, of all the early uncivilized nations of northern 
 Europe, were few in number, among them being the acorn, the hazel 
 nut, and a most insignificant variety of apple. The very ones that 
 we have come to believe indigenous to Europe to-day, the peach, 
 pear, apple, cherry, and plum, were introduced into these lands by 
 the Roman conquerors, who in turn had first obtained them from 
 the Orient. The Europeans later carried them to the newly found 
 land of America and a century later, says Humboldt, "the Spaniards 
 spread the cultivation of the European vegetables along the ridges 
 of the Cordilleras, from one extremity of the continent to the 
 
214 FOOD PEODOCIS OF THE W0EL1>. 
 
 other." Whenever pioneer work is undertaken we find the trans- 
 portation of fruits from the old lands to the new an almost inevit- 
 able result. 
 
 The systematic cultivation of fruits did not begin until the 
 eighth century. The monks were the earliest and most successful 
 gardeners and fruiterers, in fact, they seem to have virtually monop- 
 olized that industry, and up to the fifteenth century the monastic 
 gardens and orchards were celebrated throughout all Europe. The 
 industrial classes in general did not realize the value of horticult- 
 ure and not until the decline of monasticism did they generally en- 
 gage in it. Queen Elizabeth was one of its most enthusiastic pa- 
 trons and during her reign, besides practical gardeners, numbers of 
 scientific men, among them Fitzherbert and Gerard, contributed 
 their share of labor in the form of voluminous treatises. Not later 
 than the reign of Charles II. was the management of hot houses so 
 well understood that the king's garden was occasionally supplied 
 with strawberries and other small fruits entirely out of season. 
 Writers of the period of Charles I. record that there were cultivated 
 at that time fifty-eight varieties of apples, sixty-four of pears, sixty- 
 one of plums, twenty-one of peaches, thirty-six of cherries, and 
 twenty-three of grapes. Prior to that Lord Bacon had enumerated, 
 among the fruits of an Elizabethan dessert, apricots, pears, grapes, 
 apples, peaches, nectarines, wardens (a variety of pear, and of 
 which Perdita's pies were made), quinces, medlars, barberries, fil- 
 berts, and muskmelons. When we consider with what intelligent 
 care many of our originally sub-tropical fruits have been acclimat- 
 ized and improved by the gardeners of our temperate regions it ap- 
 pears scarcely possible to overestimate the marvelous future of this 
 science of horticulture. 
 
 Fruits may be roughly classified as fleshy or pulpy, as drupa- 
 ceous or stony, and as nuts or hard, dry fruits. The fleshy fruits 
 comprise all of the citrus family, the citron, orange, lemon, lime, 
 and grape fruit or shaddock; the guava, banana, pomegranate, paw- 
 paw, and fig, of the tropics; all of the berried fruits, including the 
 currant, grape, raspberry, gooseberry, cranberry, elderberry, huckle- 
 berry, strawberry, mulberry; the melons, which are merely hard- 
 rinded berries; and the pomes, the apple, pear and quince, which 
 are formed from the permanent calyx and the seeds of which are 
 not scattered throughout the pulp but are enclosed within mem- 
 branous cells. The drupaceous fruits, including the cherry, plum, 
 
FOOD FKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 219 
 
 peacli, nectarine, apricob, date, litchi, and mango, consist of a single- 
 celled, stony nucleus containing the seed, -which is surrounded by 
 a succulent, fleshy coat. The principal edible nuts are the almond, 
 brazil-nut, cocoa nut, walnut, chestnut, hazel-nut, filbert, beech-nut, 
 acorn, pecan, and a few others. The peanut is simply the tough, 
 leathery pod of a leguminous plant; the tamarind consists of the 
 succulent pulpy pod of a leguminous tree; and the pineapple ad- 
 mits still less of classification, consisting as it does of the entire 
 abortive flower spike, consolidated into a single 
 head or fruit. The bread fruit, which is also 
 tropical, is formed by the consolidation of 
 the fleshy carpels of the pistillate flowers, 
 v.'hich blossom in dense clusters, quite sepa- 
 rate from the staminate flower spikes. 
 
 There has been much conjecture as to 
 where the orange, the most important mem- 
 ber of the citi'us family, originated, although 
 writers generally agree that it is indigenous 
 to India. Galessio, in his "Traite du Citrus," 
 published in Paris in 1812, maintains that the Arabs, who penetrated 
 further into India than former explorers, brought from that country 
 both varieties, the bitter and the sweet. Part of the Arabs, coming 
 to Italy through Persia and Syria, brought the sweet orange {citrus 
 aurantium),vihile the remainder of the company, who came through 
 to Seville by quite another route, brought the bitter {citrus vulgaris), 
 commonly known to-day as the Seville orange. Both species have 
 been greatly varied and multiplied since that time. They were not, 
 however, introduced into other parts of Europe until some years 
 later. In the sixteenth century Sir Walter Raleigh carried the 
 orange into England, where the climate, it seems, has always been 
 unfavorable to its growth. In Spain orange trees attain great size 
 and bear fruit up to a good old age. It is said that there are trees 
 stUl standing about Cordova which are six, possibly seven, hundred 
 years old. Oranges are now extensively grown in California, Florida, 
 and to a smaller extent in Mexico. Cultivators consider that size 
 should not be secondary to color and flavor, other desired qualities 
 being a smooth, thin skin, containing but a small quantity of oil, a 
 light-colored, sweet pulp having but a small proportion of flber. 
 The varieties which have a thick coarse skin, with prominent oil 
 glands, are usually inferior. The orange has always been more or 
 
m 
 
 FOOD PEODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 less invested with romance, perhaps because the Crusaders, who 
 first met with the fruit in their excursions to the Levant, so indus- 
 triously fostered the theory that it belonged in reality among the 
 golden apples of Hesperides. 
 
 The citron is a fruit of great antiquity and was held in high 
 favor by the ancient Hebrews, who always, according to Josephus, 
 carried branches of palm and citron trees to the tabernacles upon 
 feast days. It is cultivated now in many of the Mediterranean 
 countries, also largely in California, and the wild variety flourishes 
 in portions of Asia Minor. The fruit is generally used as a sweet- 
 meat or preserve. It is possible that the 
 orange, lemon, lime, and grape-fruit have 
 all been produced by culture from the 
 original wild citron tree (citrus medied). 
 
 The lemon, like the orange, seems 
 to have been unknown in Europe un- 
 til brought to Spain by the Arabs in 
 the thirteenth century. Since that 
 time the culture of it has spread un- 
 til it has become an important source 
 of revenue in all the Mediterranean 
 countries, and recently, also, in Cali- 
 ' fornia. The trees, if well cared for, 
 bear profusely and the fruit stands 
 transportation well. Besides yielding 
 a valuable essential oil, which is ex- 
 Guava. tracted from the rind, the lemon 
 
 yields an acid juice which is wholesome, delicious as a flavoring 
 agent, and an effectual preventive of scurvy. For this purpose it, 
 or the juice of the lime, is always indispensable on shipboard. In 
 England ships going to countries in which lemon or lime juice is 
 not to be obtained are required by law to take with them a quantity 
 large enough to furnish each of the crew with an ounce daily. The 
 lime (citrus limetta), or wild lemon, is not extensively cultivated 
 excepting in the island of Montserrat. The juice is valuable as an 
 anti-scorbutic but is not ordinarily as highly valued for its flavor 
 as lemon juice on account of the slightly musty odor, which in- 
 variably develops after it has been extracted for a few days. 
 
 The shaddock or grape-fruit, sometimes called sweet-baU, is an- 
 other of the citron family. It is native to the Malaysian peninsula, 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 221 
 
 possibly also to China, and derived its name from one Captain 
 Shaddock, who first carried it from China into the West Indies. 
 Both the tree and fruit are much larger than the orange, and the 
 flavor, while delicate, is decidedly more acid. It is cultivated 
 throughout the tropics, as well as in America and Europe. In 
 the former country it is commonly known as grape-fruit, in England 
 as shaddock. 
 
 According to an old Scandinavian legend the apple {pyrus 
 malus) was early distinguished as the favorite food of the gods, who 
 always ate of it whenever they found themselves growing infirm of 
 either body or mind. When we remember that the apple so extra- 
 ordinarily honored could have been nothing better than the little 
 crab of northern Europe it seems appropriate to pay universal re- 
 spect to the apple of to-day, with its glorious color, succulent text- 
 ure, and truly delicious fiavor. That it was one of the earliest 
 fruits cultivated by the Komans, who seem to have attached great 
 importance to aU branches of horticulture, we know from the 
 writings of Pliny, who mentions thirty varieties. Since that time 
 nearly two thousand varieties have been produced, usually by 
 means of grafting or cross fertilization. 
 
 The apple was early introduced into England, but the more 
 delicate sorts, which were chiefly used for dessert apples, were little 
 known until the reign of Henry VIII. By his gardeners large 
 orchards were planted throughout all Kent, and pippins in particu- 
 lar became a frequent luxury at the royal table. Shakespeare fre- 
 quently refers to the pippin, so called because raised from pips or 
 seeds. Says Justice Shallow to Falstaff, "You shall see mine 
 orchard, where, in an arbour, we will eat a last year's pippin of my 
 own grafllng.'' 
 
 Apples were brought to New England by the first settlers and 
 were easily cultivated even on the barrenest land. To-day the fruit 
 is cultivated all over our country, and the most insignificant farm 
 is incomplete without its apple-orchard. The fruit may be had in 
 excellent condition the year around as it does not lose fiavor when 
 transported or even after being stored for months. The tree bears 
 fruit farther north than almost any other, although most prosper- 
 ous in regions having long, hot summers. It may be roughly classi- 
 fied as of three varieties, dessert apples, cider apples, and those 
 best adapted for cooking. The first kind, of which the pippin is a 
 good example, must be fragrant, delicate of flavor, juicy, tender. 
 
222 
 
 POOD PROD0C1S OF THE WORLD. 
 
 and very digestible. Culinary apples are more acid, less digestible, 
 and the flavor of which is developed only by the application of heat. 
 Cider apples should be sweet and juicy, although inferior apples of 
 all varieties are commonly used. As early as the reign of Charles I. 
 large cider orchards were planted throughout England, and for a 
 long time the manufacture of cider greatly interfered with the wine 
 trade of France, a circumstance which in no measure displeased the 
 English, who were for a century or so on none too friendly terms 
 with their neighbors across the channel. Gerard describes a typical 
 orchard, containing "so many trees of all sortes that the servants 
 drink, for the most part, no other drink but that which is made of 
 apples. The qualitie is such that, by the report of the gentleman 
 himselfe, the parson hath for tythe many hogsheads of cyder." 
 
 The pear {pyrus communis) is closely related to the apple and, 
 like it, is of ancient and distinguished lineage. Homer refers to the 
 "pendent pear" in his description of the orchard and "squadron'd 
 vineyards" of Laertes, father of Ulysses, and the fruit was in culti- 
 vation in Rome long before the time of Pliny. By the Romans the 
 pear was carried to England, where it has always held high favor 
 and the choicer varieties of which have customarily graced the royal 
 
 tables. Pear cider or wine, called 
 perry, has long been made in that 
 land. Like the apple, the fruit i^ 
 susceptible to great improvement 
 under proper culture, although it 
 is less hardy and does not stand 
 transportation as well unless 
 picked long before ripe. Our 
 . largest pears are grown in Wash- 
 ington and California, but lack 
 the fine flavor of those grown in the middle and eastern states. 
 
 The quince is indigenous to Asia Minor, possibly to Greece, 
 having been brought from the latter country to Rome. Both the 
 Greeks and Romans cultivated it by grafting. Although related to 
 the apple and pear, it is in many respects quite inferior, its tough- 
 ness and astringency rendering it wholly unsuitable for a dessert 
 fruit. But the fragrance and aromatic flavor, as well as the mucilag- 
 inous properties, are splendidly developed in cooking, while the 
 toughness and indigestibility are greatly modified. It is princi- 
 pally used for marmalades, preserves and sauces, often in combina- 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 223 
 
 tion with apples. In recent years it has been greatly improved and 
 a variety known as the orange quince is tender and of excellent 
 flavor. 
 
 The grape (vitis vinifera) is the most important of all our 
 berried fruits, owing both to its intrinsic value and to its 
 great antiquity. Although native to some portion of Asia, its exact 
 origin will probably never be traced. The Egyptians had a legend 
 that Osiris taught men to cultivate the vine, a bit of divine helpful- 
 ness that among the early Greeks was attributed to Bacchus. Cer- 
 tain it is that the Greeks used vidne long before Homer lived and 
 sung, and since remotest of periods wine, pressed from grapes, has 
 always been an appropriate offering to the deity among the He- 
 brews, and to the gods among all the polytheistic nations. From 
 the scriptural statement that Noah planted a vineyard when he be- 
 gan to be a husbandman, it is evident that the grape was one of the 
 earliest fruits cultivated. 
 
 In its dispersion throughout the various nations of the world 
 the vine followed the same course as the other fruits, being first 
 carried from Asia Minor into Greece, later into Rome, thence into 
 the countries of northern Europe by the Roman conquerors, and 
 later still to the new world. Vineyards were several times men- 
 tioned in the old Domesday Book, that record of all English es- 
 tates, which was compiled under the direction of William the Con- 
 q'ueror. A wine trade which flourishes to-day was very early built 
 up in France, as well as in Spain and Italy, where the finest vine- 
 yards were for a time cultivated by the monks. Within the last few 
 years the wine industry of California has become important, al- 
 though scarcely able to compete with the countries of Europe whose 
 vineyards were first planted hundreds of years ago. Vineyards, 
 once planted and well cultured, will last for centuries, as have many 
 of those in France and along the Rhine, that river of legend, whose 
 "clustering grapes hang about its temples as it reels onward in its 
 triumphal march, like Bacchus, crowned and drunken." 
 
 There has been much speculation as to who first made wine, but 
 the Germans have a legend which asserts it to have been of divine 
 origin. "An angel, visiting the earth some time after the Deluge, 
 found the patriarch Noah sitting at noon in the shadow of a fig- 
 tree, very disconsolate. The angel inquired the cause of his grief. 
 Noah replied that he was thirsty and had nothing to drink. 'Noth- 
 ing to drink?' replied the angel. 'Look around. Do not the rains 
 
224 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 fall, and the rivers run, and is there not a spring of water bubbling 
 up at the cottage door?' 'It is true,' replied Noah, smiting his 
 breast, 'that there is an abundance of water in which thy servant 
 can bathe; but, alas! when I think of the multitudes of strong men, 
 of beautiful women, and of innocent children, and of the countless 
 hosts of animals, that were drowned in the Flood, the idea of water 
 becomes distasteful, and my lips refuse to drink.' 'There is reason 
 in what thou sayest,' replied the angel, and spreading his wings, ho 
 flew up to heaven quick as the lightning-flash; and while the eyes 
 of Noah were still dazzled with the brightness of his presence, he 
 returned with stock of the vine, which 
 he taught the grateful patriarch how to 
 plant and tend, and how, when the fruit 
 was ripe, to press it into wine." 
 
 The grape, while a favorite dessert 
 fruit, is even more valuable in the raisin 
 industry. Our best imported raisins are 
 known as the Malaga, Valencia, and 
 Muscatel, according to the locality in 
 which produced. There are also the tiny 
 Pomegranate, Flower and Fruit. Sultana or seedless raisins and the Cor- 
 inths or currants. Until the last twenty-flve years the Mediterra- 
 nean countries have had a monopoly of the raisin trade of both 
 hemispheres, but since then have had a formidable rival in the 
 /growing industry in California. The same species of grape are 
 grown as in Europe, the Malaga, Muscatel, known as the Muscat or 
 Alexandria grape, the Sultana, Tokay, and many other varieties. 
 Besides the use of intelligent and cleanly methods, the climate of 
 California is a great factor in the production of raisins that are in 
 no way inferior to the foreign product, for the grapes must always 
 be dried in the sun, and there must be a minimum of dew at night 
 that the drying process may not be checked. Experiments in dry- 
 ing the grapes by artiflcial heat have always failed. The Sultana 
 raisins of Europe are brought into the markets of Asia Minor on 
 the backs of camels and are there repacked by the buyers before ship- 
 ment. Baisins, like grapes, are considered to have a decidedly 
 hygienic value, containing about one-half grape sugar besides 
 potash and salts. 
 
 Our principal table berries are the currant and gooseberry, 
 which belong to the saxifrages; the blackberry, mulberry, straw- 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 225 
 
 berry, and red and black raspberry, all of the rose family; the 
 elderberry, which is akin to the honeysuckle; and the cranberry 
 and huckleberry, which are heathworts. All are too familiar to 
 need an extended description. The currant, of which there are two 
 varieties, the red and black, is probably native to England. The 
 bush is nearly always to be found growing in the gardens of both 
 England and America, bearing fruit which is as luxurious as it is 
 cheap. Currants are chiefly used for jellies and pastries. 
 
 The gooseberry, like the currant, is native to moderately cold 
 climates and does not flourish well in countries much warmer than 
 England. Its numerous varieties have all been produced from two 
 main sorts, the prickly or hairy and the smooth skinned. 
 
 The blackberry, the fruit of the bramble, although very satis- 
 factory in its wild state, is also extensively cultivated. It grows 
 abundantly in certain portions of England as well as America, in 
 fields and at the borders of woods, and its delicious fruit is each 
 year gathered by "berrying" parties. 
 
 The mulberry is the fruit of a tree which has been cultivated In 
 certain portions of Asia from time immemorial. It is several times 
 mentioned in the old Testament. In the sixteenth century it was 
 introduced into England and France. Although its aromatic fruits 
 are well worth cultivating, the tree is now generally utilized for 
 its leaves, which are necessary to the silk-worm industry. 
 
 The strawberry is primarily a plant of the temperate or colder 
 latitudes, and grows wild throughout northern Europe and portions 
 of North America. The fruit is peculiar in that it consists of the 
 fleshy torus or floral axis, greatly enlarged, and upon the surface of 
 which the tiny seeds lie imbedded. Cultivation has greatly enlarged 
 the succulent portion, at the same time improving the flavor, until 
 the strawberry has come to be considered one of our choicest dessert 
 fruits. It has long been grown in the gardens of England and is 
 mentioned by Holinshed in the "Chronicles," as well as by Shakes- 
 peare. 
 
 The raspberry, both the red and black varieties, is cultivated in 
 many gardens, although it is not a wholly satisfactory fruit as the 
 berries lose flavor so soon after ripening. The bush resembles that 
 of the currant in general size and appearance. According to one 
 writer the common name was given to it because of the roughness 
 of the fruit. 
 
 The elderberry is the deep purple fruit of a tall shrub which 
 
226 
 
 FOOD FKODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 grows wild in parts of America and Europe. It is never cultivated, 
 although, the owners of land upon which the shrub flourishes, usu- 
 ally at the corners or edges of fields, prevent its destruction as far 
 as possible. Elderberry wine is occasionally used to adulterate the 
 more costly wines, such as port. The leaves and bark have a cer- 
 tain medicinal value, while the green fruit, preserved in brine, is 
 used for garnishing, like capers. 
 
 The cranberry has long been important commercially in parts 
 of North America, particularly in the Cape Cod region. It grows 
 
 upon low, moist soil, utilizing to great 
 profit hundreds of acres of marshy 
 land which would otherwise be almost 
 worthless. The berries ripen in the 
 is — autumn, and the picking continues un- 
 til frosty weather. The berries, which 
 until cooked are tough, acid and 
 astringent, keep their flavor for weeks 
 if properly packed, and are shipped to 
 all portions of America, to the West 
 Indies, and to Europe. 
 
 The huckleberry, whortleberry or 
 blueberry, grows also at its best in and 
 about peat bogs and marshes in parts of 
 Scotland and America. It is but rarely 
 cultivated. Although hardy the fruit 
 does not stand transportation as well 
 as the cranberry. 
 
 Of the melons, which are immense, 
 hard-rinded berries, only two sorts are 
 commonly used as dessert fruits, the watermelon and the musk- 
 melon or cantaloupe. The latter is native to parts of central Asia 
 and v;as first introduced into Europe by the Romans. It is said 
 that the best melons in all the world grow in Persia, where they have 
 been cultivated for centuries. The fruit becomes in that climata 
 extremely succulent and sweet and some of our finest varieties have 
 been produced from seed brought directly from the Levant. The 
 best and most delicate variety is the canteloupe. 
 
 The watermelon is native to the warmer countries of the Orient, 
 fosouthern Europe, and to South America, although now cultivated 
 in all lands having long, hot summers, particularly our southern 
 
 Date Palm. 
 
FOOD PEODUCTS OF THE WOELD. 227 
 
 states. It is a specially cooling and gratifying fruit because of the 
 quantities of deliciously flavored juice which it contains. The 
 rhymer has well said of it: 
 
 "The poet may sing of the Orient spices. 
 Or Barhary's dates In their palmy array. 
 But the huge, rosy melon in cold, juicy slices 
 Is the Helicon lont of a hot summer day." 
 
 What the cereals are to the inhabitants of the temperate re- 
 gions the banana or plantain is to the natives of the tropics. Even 
 the rudest of African tribes depend upon it so largely for food that 
 they propagate it to the extent of cultivation. Although indigenous 
 to Asia the banana is now nowhere to be found in a wholly wild 
 state. It is an herbaceous plant (mtisa sapientum), related to the 
 cinnamon, ginger and arrow-root, but which rises under favoring 
 conditions to the dignity and height of a tree. After maturing its 
 fruit, which it produces in immense clusters, the plant dies. The 
 banana Is enormously productive, more so to the acre than any- 
 thing else in the entire range of food products. Humboldt has es- 
 timated that four thousand pounds of bananas may be produced 
 from a space that could not be made to yield above thirty -three 
 pounds of wheat or ninety-nine pounds of potatoes. Besides its 
 productiveness, the fruit is so nourishing, being largely composed 
 of starch and sugar, that its importance can hardly be overesti- 
 mated. A patch of bananas only a few feet in extent will suffice to 
 maintain a family in comfort. Bananas are commonly dried by the 
 people of the tropics, when they somewhat resemble figs in both 
 color and flavor, and are also preserved by immersion in a clear 
 syrup. Banana meal, which is ground from the dried fruit, is even 
 more valuable. It contains more than seventy per cent of starch. 
 
 The guava belongs to the myrtlebloom family, all the members 
 of which are exotic trees or shrubs. It is now cultivated in nearly 
 all of the lands to which it is indigenous, chiefly the East and 
 West Indies, and Asia. The fruit of both the red and white varie- 
 ties is sweet and aromatic, although, as it does not bear transporta- 
 tion, it is seldom seen upon our tables excepting in the form of a 
 jelly or preserve. 
 
 The fig (flcus carica) is the fruit of a small tree native to the 
 countries of Asia Minor and southern Europe, and is as remarkable in 
 its nature as in its history. The pulpy fruit contains numberless 
 seed-like pericarps, having developed directly from the tiny flow«t«> 
 buds. These become fertile without putting forth petals after the 
 W 
 
228 FOOD PKODUCXS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 manner of other flowers, in fact, remaining almost wholly invisible. 
 The fig tree is mentioned in the sacred writings of the Hebrews as 
 well as in the earliest traditions of the Greeks. By the latter 
 people it was widely cultivated and later successfully transplanted 
 to their Italian colonies. We read in the statutes of Lycurgus 
 that flour, wine, figs, and cheese were to comprise the chief food 
 of all Spartan men who dined at the common tables. Equally with 
 the grape the flg was sacred to Bacchus, who was thought to have 
 derived from it alone his health and vigor. 
 
 The fig tree was planted in England early in the sixteenth cen- 
 tury but, owing to the severity of the winters, it could never be de- 
 pended upon to mature its fruit or even to remain in vigorous con- 
 dition. Two, sometimes three, harvests of figs are gathered each 
 year in the Levant, the second crop or summer flg being dried for 
 export. It is now cultivated in the southern states and California. 
 The fruit, whether freshly plucked or dried, is very nutritious and 
 in parts of the Orient is often used as a substitute for bread. It 
 contains a large proportion of grape sugar. 
 
 Like the fig, the pomegranate was known to the early Hebrews 
 and was cultivated in the countries bordering on the Red Sea be- 
 fore any other fruit, excepting the grape, flg and olive. It was 
 used by the Jews in many of their religious ceremonies and also ap- 
 pears as an accessory in Greek mythology. You remember Perseph- 
 one by eating half of the pomegranate which Pluto had given her 
 as an earnest of his love, condemned herself to spend half of each 
 year with him in his underground kingdom of Hades. The tree is 
 native to Persia, perhaps also to northern Africa, and is remarkable 
 alike for the stately beauty of its appearance, for its longevity, and 
 for its handsome flowers. The fruit is slightly acid, and is mild in 
 flavor. 
 
 The papaw {carica papaver) is native to tropical America. It 
 is curious in that the pistUlate and staminate, or male and female, 
 flowers blossom on wholly different trees. The fruit, which is the 
 size of a small melon, is agreeable of flavor when at its best, but is 
 usually exported to foreign countries only after being pickled. 
 
 Of drupaceous or stony fruits the cherry, plum, peach, nectar- 
 ine, and apricot are now grown in our temperate regions, although 
 not indigenous thereto, while the date, litchi, and mango are to be 
 found only in the tropics. 
 
 When Lucullus returned to Rome after his victory over Mithri- 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WOBLD. 229 
 
 dates in the province of Pontus, he brought with him a cherry tree 
 laden with fruit and with it adorned his triumph. "In less than 
 one hundred and twenty years after," says Pliny, "other lands had 
 cherries, even as far as Britain beyond the ocean." The small wild 
 cherry, still to be seen in France, England, and the United States, is 
 probably indigenous to those countries. In England, Henry VIII. 
 was the first to cultivate the tree extensively and the fame of his 
 Kentish cherry orchards spread all over Britain. There are now 
 more than two hundred and fifty varieties. Certain sorts are mainly 
 utilized for the manufacture of liqueurs, such as kirschwasser, ratafia 
 and maraschino. 
 
 The plum is a native of Asia, and it is more than probable that 
 the wild varieties which grow along the country lanes of England 
 and America are simply degenerate specimens of the original, culti- 
 vated tree. It was introduced into England in the fifteenth century 
 from France. The variety known as "green gage" takes its name 
 from that of the English family that first cultivated it; the "dam- 
 ^^ son," or damascene, is so called because, as the name 
 would imply, it came originally from Damascus. Dried 
 plums or prunes are almost as important an article of 
 I export from southern Europe as raisins. They are 
 I also exported from California. 
 
 The peach was first brought into Europe by the 
 Romans, who found it growing wild in Persia. With 
 characteristic zeal they soon transplanted it to most of 
 Mango. the adjoining countries, where years of culture have 
 developed it into an admirable fruit in every rsepect. Peach grow- 
 ing has within the last twenty years grown into an enormous in- 
 dustry in the United States, particularly in California, portions of 
 Michigan, New Jersey, and Delaware. The two main sorts are the 
 "cling-stone," in which the succulent portion clings to the stone, and 
 the "free-stone," in which the parts readily separate. The nectarine 
 is simply a smooth-skinned peach, very delicate in texture. 
 
 The apricot, while native to Armenia, has long grown wild in 
 certain of the mountainous districts of Asia. It is an exceedingly 
 choice fruit, ripening somewhat earlier than the poach, and is 
 widely raised in China and Japan. In England it first found favor 
 under the patronage of Henry VIII. This fruit, like the peach, 
 pear, and plum, is especially adapted to the soil and climate of 
 California and, canned or dried, is now to be found in all markets. 
 
230 FOOD PBODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 The date tree is the palm of the Hebrew scriptures, symbol of 
 helpfulness and triumph, and, since times prehistoric, an object of 
 peculiar veneration. Its habitat extends along the confines of the 
 great, arid waste of the Sahara, from the Atlantic on the one hand 
 to the boundaries of Persia on the other, utilizing that great inter- 
 mediate region wherein no other vegetable foods will thrive. Here 
 and in the oases no other vegetation greets the eye of the traveler 
 excepting the unsympathetic cactus, and none better meets his re- 
 quirements for food and for shelter from the sun. There is a South 
 American legend that the entire human race sprang, like the 
 soldiers from the dragon's teeth sowed by Kadmos, from the seeds 
 of the date. Not a few of the Mohammedans of the Levant believe 
 that the tree itself sprung spontaneously from the soil at the com- 
 mand of their prophet, and it is reverenced accordingly. 
 
 The date palm is slow of growth but lives to a great age, often 
 two hundred years. The staminate and the pistillate, or fruiting, 
 flowers are borne upon different trees and in the cultivated species 
 the latter require to be fertilized artificially. This is accomplished 
 by laborers who, after collecting the stamen-bearing flowers, climb 
 the fruit-bearing trees and sprinkle the blossoms with pollen. In 
 case this is not done the date crop is certain to fail. 
 
 Dates cannot be exported until dried, owing to their rapid fer- 
 mentation when freshly plucked. Like raisins, they are dried in 
 the sun. They are very nutritious, containing about six per cent of 
 protein, twelve per cent of gum, and fifty per cent of sugar, and 
 make an excellent substitute for bread. The fresh fruit, under 
 pressure, yields a syrup; from the sap or juice of the tree a liquor 
 is distUled, while the fibrous parts, as with all palms, are woven 
 into mats, ropes, and cordage. Outside of the Orient, the tree is 
 cultivated chiefly to supply branches or leaves for Palm Sunday 
 and various church ceremonies. These, which are from five to 
 twelve feet in length, are peculiarly graceful and lend themselves 
 readily to decorative uses. Dates form the principal food of the 
 people of Arabia and the date-raising countries of the East, and it 
 is said that the first question asked by a Bedouin traveler is, "What 
 is the price of dates at Mecca or Medina?" 
 
 The litchi tree is native to southern China, although occasion- 
 ally to be seen in the hot houses of Europe. The fruit attains the 
 size of a small peach and is sweet and mild in fiavor. In drying, 
 the tough, leathery coating separates from the pulp, at the center 
 
FOOD PEODUCTS OF THE "WOULD. 231 
 
 of which is a small stone. The dried fruit may be obtained at 
 almost any large fruit store. 
 
 The mango is the fruit of a tall, tropical tree, native to Asia and 
 Brazil. Although sour and acrid in the wild species, it becomes 
 under culture sweet, succulent, and the size of a large plum. The 
 ripe fruit is too perishable for export and is thus rarely seen in 
 temperate regions excepting as a pickle or preserve. It is a valued 
 ingredient of the sauce known as chutney. 
 
 " The bread-tree, which, without the ploughshare, yields 
 The unreap'd harvest of unftirrow'd fields, 
 And halces its unadulterated loaves 
 Without a furnace in unpurchased groves, 
 And flings ofC famine from Its fertile breast, 
 A priceless market for the gathering guest." 
 
 Thus wrote Byron, paying deserved tribute to what has been 
 more than once styled "the most useful vegetable in the world." 
 The tree is native to the islands of the southern Pacific and is even 
 more indispensable to the inhabitants than is the date palm to the 
 Mohammedan. The fruit, which is about the size of a melon, is 
 most curiously formed from the pulpy carpels of the female 
 flowers, and is composed almost wholly of starch. When slowly 
 roasted it is a nourishing and delicious substitute for bread, whence 
 its name. It is cut into slices and dried in the sun, and is also 
 made into a flour. The tree, of which there are two main varieties, 
 those bearing seeds and those in which the seeds are abortive, re- 
 mains productive during eight months of the year. To tide them- 
 selves over the remaining four the natives make and store away a 
 sort of paste from the fruit, called make, which is allowed to fer- 
 ment before being eaten. 
 
 The value of the bread fruit was first made known to the west- 
 ern world by Captain Cook and his fellow explorers, many of whom 
 were scientific men. They believed that the tree could be trans- 
 planted with success to certain of the British colonies, and at length 
 a ship was fitted out under royal patronage for that purpose. 
 Lieutenant Bligh (who had formerly accompanied Captain Cook) 
 was placed in command, and the good ship Bounty sailed for Ota- 
 heite. After much delay, owing to contrary winds, they reached 
 the island in October, 1788, closing a voyage of eleven months. The 
 following spring they started for home with more than a thousand 
 live plants. When three weeks out from land a mutiny occurred, 
 and Lieutenant Bligh, with eighteen of his adherents, was sent adrift 
 
232 FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 in a small boat. The plucky men had only a little food and a few 
 instruments of navigation but they managed to reach one of the 
 friendly Dutch islands, from which they at length returned to 
 England. In 1792 a second expedition was fitted out under Bligh, 
 the work was attempted with renewed courage, and, eighteen months 
 later, several hundred bread fruit trees were left at St. Vincent and 
 other of the West Indies. But, in spite of all care, the plants were 
 not readily acclimatized, and it is not probable that the bread fruit 
 will ever be seen in other than the tropical countries excepting as a 
 hot-house curiosity. 
 
 The tamarind is the pod of a leguminous tree, grown in and 
 probably native to both the East and West Indies. The fruit is 
 -:a»=- .^^ hard -rinded but composed of a succulent, 
 \ ^.^^^V ^"^"^ PiilP) so grateful and refreshing that 
 
 """■^^^S^^^B^ " ^'"'^'' drank of the cooling draught, 
 
 V.i^^^^^^^fe He would not wish for wine." 
 
 ^■^^^^^W^ / In the pineapple the whole inflores- 
 
 cence becomes pulpy, continuous, and 
 solidified into a single large fruit. The 
 ' plant is indigenous to the tropics of the 
 western hemisphere, and the fruit was first 
 brought into England during the reign of 
 Charles 11., probably from Holland, where 
 it was introduced somewhat earlier. It is 
 now a common hot-house product in Eng- 
 land, although it was not thus cultivated 
 until the beginning of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury. In America, hot-house culture is 
 wholly unnecessary as the fruit is so abundantly grown in Florida 
 as well as in the West Indies that its transportation is easy and 
 inexpensive. 
 
 Other and less important fruits are: the medlar, which is grown 
 to a small extent in parts of England and Europe; the jaca or jak, 
 a sort of inferior bread fruit; the prickly pear or Indian fig, the 
 fruit of a species of cactus; the alligator pear, sweet sop, sour sop, 
 custard apple, and mammee apple, all luscious, pulpy fruits native 
 to the East and West Indies; the persimmon or date plum, common 
 to the south of both America and Europe; monkey's bread, a fieshy, 
 acid fruit found upon the western coast of Africa; and the durian 
 of the Malayan peninsula and adjacent islands, a fruit the size of 
 
 Bread Fruit. 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 233 
 
 the shaddock and which contains a cream-like, nourishing pulp. 
 That the number of tropical fruits is legion is proven by the fact that 
 at the Columbian Exposition the little country of Siam exhibited 
 something like one hundred and fifty varieties. Nearly all were 
 preserved in a transparent syrup, many of them having been carved 
 by the marvelously patient little Siamese women into intricate 
 semblances of flowers. Our various and familiar fruits of the melon 
 family, the pumpkin and squash, are universally prepared and eaten 
 as vegetables. This is also the case with egg-plant, which belongs 
 to the nightshade family and is closely allied to the common 
 potato. The olive, so universally is it utilized as a condiment or for 
 the oU contained, is mentioned as one of our fruits simply from a 
 botanical standpoint. 
 
 Nuts differ from the other fruits both in appearance and in 
 nutritive value. The succulent fruits contain quantities of water, 
 very little protein, valuable salts, almost no fats, and varying quan- 
 tities of starch and sugar. The nuts, on the other hand, contain 
 quantities of nutriment in a highly concentrated form, and are 
 composed chiefly of the oils and proteids, with very little of water 
 or of the carbohydrates. 
 
 One of the commonest as well as one of the most ancient of 
 nuts is the acorn. Both the oak and its unattractive fruit were 
 ages ago utilized by the primitive Greeks, and were at a correspond- 
 ingly early date sacred to the Druidical worship of Britain and 
 Wales. Since the time of the early Britons acorns have been used 
 for fattening swine and have rarely found favor as human food ex- 
 cepting in times of famine. Then, however, they have taken the 
 place of bread and meat very satisfactorily. Froebel, the originator 
 of the kindergarten system of education, was more than once com- 
 pelled to send his little band of pupils into the woods to gather 
 acorns with which to piece out the all too scanty dinner. 
 
 Chestnuts, both the large and small varieties, are considered 
 quite a luxurious food by the peasants in the south of France and 
 in the Mediterranean islands, particularly when freshly roasted. 
 They are more farinaceous and less oily than nuts in general, and 
 from them is made a cheap and nourishing flour. The tree is native 
 to Europe, possibly also to America. 
 
 The walnut is a hard-shelled, drupaceous fruit, native to Asia 
 Minor and Greece, but now cultivated in all temperate regions. 
 The butternut, which is closely related, is somewhat more oleagin- 
 
S34 f 6ot) PbotitrcTs OP iRi. wofeLD. 
 
 ous. The hickory nut, also of the same family, is native to North 
 America, from whence the nuts are exported to the European coun- 
 tries. The pecan is a species of hickory, to which it is much supe- 
 rior in flavor and texture. It is grown in the southern portion of 
 the United States and in Texas. Beechnuts possess an agreeable 
 flavor but are rarely, if ever, eaten as dessert nuts owing to their 
 small size. They are not easily procurable excepting in country 
 places. 
 
 The hazel grows wild in America, in England, northern Europe, 
 and Asia. The filbert is a variety of hazel cultivated specially for 
 the table and is much larger and richer of flavor. The word filbert 
 is a corruption of the word "full-beard," the name first applied to 
 distinguish the cultivated from the common wild species, although 
 the poet Gower tells us that 
 
 " PWUis 
 
 Was shape Into a nutte-tree, 
 
 That all men it might see; 
 
 And after Phillis, PhUberd 
 
 This tree was cleped." 
 The almond, a favorite table and pastry nut, belongs to the 
 peach family. It is frequently referred to in the Bible and branches 
 of almond blossoms are still used in certain Jewish religious cere- 
 monies. Only the sweet almond is used as a dessert nut, although 
 oil is extracted from both sweet and bitter. The sweet variety is 
 now grown in California, as well as in the Mediterranean countries. 
 The tree is indigenous to northern Africa, to portions of Europe, 
 and to Asia Minor. 
 
 It has been said that "the most precious inheritance of the 
 Singhalese is his ancestral garden of cocoanuts," the fruit of the 
 cocoa palm and an important article of food in almost every por- 
 tion of the tropics. The nuts, which grow in large clusters, are each 
 enclosed in a thick coating of tough, elastic fibre, which, owing to 
 its bulk, is usually taken off before the nuts are packed for ship- 
 ment. The nucleus or kernel, which is white and meaty in consist- 
 ency, is hollow, enclosing a quantity of delicate, milky liquid. 
 When green the whole nucleus is soft, pulpy, and very digestible. 
 During the ripening process the meat becomes toughened, owing to 
 the development of the cellulose, and on that account the ripened 
 meat is often cooked, with rice, by the people of the warmer coun- 
 tries. In Europe and America the nut is mainly used, after being 
 grated or shredded, in the making of sweetmeats, puddings and cakes. 
 
POOD PRODUCTS OF TfiE WORLD. 535 
 
 It is unnecessary to say that the meat, when dried and shredded, 
 should contain the entire oil of the nut, but in not a few instances 
 it is extracted and paraflSne or glycerine is added to give it the 
 proper "finish." 
 
 For many years the Dutch have carried on an immense trade 
 with the Samoan Islands in the dried nut, called "copra." This is 
 shipped to Holland, where the oil is expressed. In Ceylon, after 
 the oil is extracted, the residue, called "poonao," is pressed into 
 cakes. This poonac is similar to the oil cakes made in America 
 from the oil of the linseed or cotton seed, and is equally valued as 
 an animal food. 
 
 The Brazil nut is, as its name indicates, native to portions of 
 South Am^erica, where it is commonly known as the "juvia." The 
 tree, whose seeds form so important an article of commerce, grows 
 from one hundred to one hundred and thirty feet in height, and its 
 fruit consists of a hard shell, about the size of a child's head, en- 
 closing from eighteen to twenty-four triangular seeds. These are 
 particularly fine and creamy in texture and are rich in oil, but are 
 liable to deterioriate in flavor if kept too long. The large nuts fall 
 from the tree when ripe, but without releasing the seeds, and are 
 then gathered by the natives, who break them open. Humboldt re- 
 lates that the natives dare not go into the woods during the sfeason 
 when the nuts are ripe and falling without 
 r protecting the head and shoulders with a 
 buckler of wood, owing to the great size of 
 the nuts and the height from which they 
 Tamarind. fall. 
 
 The peanut has already been referred to in the chapter on vege- 
 table oils. It furnishes nourishment in a concentrated and avail- 
 able form, and is no less valuable for the oil contained than for 
 the flour or meal into which it may be converted. 
 
 Other nuts of less importance to the peoples of temperate re- 
 gions are: the bread nut of Jamaica; the Pekea nut of tropical 
 America; the kola nut of Africa, which possesses the properties of 
 a stimulating food; the cashew nut, which is utilized mainly for its 
 flavor; and the Souari nut of British Guiana. The latter is large, 
 sweet and delicate, resembling an almond in flavor. The edible 
 seeds of several species of pine are also eaten. The pistachio nut 
 has already been mentioned as a flavoring agent. The sapucaya 
 nut of Brazil resembles both the Brazil nut and the almond in its 
 
23e FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 properties. The peculiarly shaped receptacles which contain the 
 nuts are called by the natives "monkey pots" because the monkeys 
 are known to be extravagantly fond of the seeds. The candle-nut 
 of the South Sea islands is rarely used excepting, as a condiment. 
 
 There has been so much discussion recently concerning a "nat- 
 ural food" system of diet and it has been so strenuously advocated 
 by certain followers both iij^ England and America, that it may be 
 well to speak of it here. Its exponents lay great stress upon the 
 assumption that it is, to quote their own words, "a natural diet or 
 non-starch system." The following is quoted from the oflScial 
 statement of the principles of the Natural Pood Society: "The 
 Natural Pood Society is founded in the belief that the food of 
 primeval man consisted of the fruit and nuts of tropical climes, 
 spontaneously produced; that on these foods man was (and may 
 again become) at least as free from disease as the animals are in a 
 state of nature. We urge that all fruits in their season, including 
 figs, dates, bananas, prunes, raisins, and apples, fresh and dried, 
 each of many varieties, be substituted for bread and other grain 
 foods and starch vegetables; and experience convinces us that this 
 course wiU be found by a brief experience highly beneficial, alike to 
 to the meat eater and the vegetarian. . . . All persons about to 
 experiment with the non-starch food system are at first urged not 
 to use nuts, but to use instead whatever animal food they have 
 been accustomed to. The central feature of this system consists in 
 abstention from bread, cereals, and starchy vegetables, and the lib- 
 eral use of food fruits." These theorists also claim that "the cereals 
 and vegetables are unnatural and disease-producing foods, and the 
 chief cause of nervous prostration and broken-down health," and 
 assert, equally without any scientific proof, that a diet containing 
 starchy foods "ruins the blood vessels [in what way they do not 
 state], irritates and inflames the system, and makes men prema- 
 turely old." 
 
 The fruits most urgently advocated are figs, dates, raisins, prunes 
 and bananas. Yet these very bananas are composed almost wholly 
 of starch, and figs, dates and raisins of sugar, which is dietetically 
 almost the same thing. In fact, all starch is converted into glucose, 
 either within or without the system, before assimilation can take 
 place. Banana meal and chestnut flour are constantly used in all 
 their recipes, although, from a non-starch standpoint, why they are 
 not just as unwholesome as wheaten flour it is difficult to understand. 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 237 
 
 Filberts. 
 
 In cases in which the fruitarians find it difficult or impossible to 
 digest the required quantity of nuts, milk, eggs and meat are sub- 
 stituted, their principles in the latter regard differing from those of 
 the vegetarians. 
 
 But, supposing the non-starch theory to be perfectly scientific; 
 supposing that none of the fruits contained starch or sugar, such a 
 dietary would be wholly inadequate ..to the needs of the system. 
 The nuts furnish enough of the proteids 
 to buUd up the tissues of the human sys- 
 tem but without the starchy foods how 
 can it do its work? A parallel case would 
 be that of keeping an engine in perfect 
 repair but furnishing it with too little fuel. 
 A very useless machine would be the re- 
 sult. Fortunately for the health of the 
 non-starch enthusiasts, their theory is not 
 only unscientific but impractical. But it 
 is worthy of attention because of the in- 
 creasing numbers who follow it wholly or 
 in part. I have in mind one family the 
 members of which have continued this diet with almost absolute 
 strictness for more than two years. All have maintained average 
 or good health, which alone is sufficient proof that the diet meets 
 the practical, working necessities of the human system, providing, 
 of course, that the digestion is equal to the strain of assimilating 
 quantities of nuts. The fruitarian doctrinists are doing good ser- 
 vice in calling our attention to the value of nuts as a staple food, to 
 be properly eaten, not as a dessert after a hearty meal but in the 
 place of meats and other articles rich in protein. But the name 
 "non-starch" system is entirely misleading, and the theory will never 
 command respect untU put, somehow, upon a scientific basis. 
 
 At the Columbian Exposition the tropical fruits, all of which 
 were preserved in some manner owing to the difficulty of transport- 
 ing them in a fresh state, were displayed in the Agricultural build- 
 ing, while fresh fruits of both the temperate and sub-tropical re- 
 gions v/ere placed in the state buildings and in the pomological sec- 
 tion of the Horticultural building. Siam, Johore, the states of 
 South America, the islands of both the East and West Indies, par- 
 ticularly Jamaica and Trinidad, exhibited among other fruits, pre- 
 served bananas and banana meal and flour. Algeria and Uruguay 
 
238 POOD PBOOtJCTS OF tRS WORLD. 
 
 each sent preserved fruits, among the finest being preserved whole 
 flgs and bananas from the latter country. The French Colonies 
 sent preserves and native nuts; the Orange Free State, jellies, dried 
 fruits, and marmalades; guava jelly and various preserved fruits 
 entered the lists from Porto Rico and our own Flprida. Mexico 
 was represented by dried and canned fruits but chiefly by liqueurs, 
 some of which were distilled from the cherry, orange, quince and 
 cocoanut. Costa Bica, Tunis and British Guiana each sent a large 
 quota of their native nuts, and fruits, among them the mammee 
 apple, mango, guava, lime, pomegranate, banana, papaw, fig, date, 
 pineapple, oUve, and tamarind, the cocoanut, almond, pistache, 
 Souari and cashew nuts. 
 
 A most remarkable exhibit of the entire citrus family of fruits 
 was placed in the Horticultural building by southern California. 
 There were the Malta, mandarin, navel and seedless varieties of 
 oranges, Sicily and Lisbon lemons, the citron, and many varieties of 
 grape fruits and limes. On the Midway Plaisance a large space was 
 devoted to the exhibit of the growing fruits, among them another 
 citrus exhibit from California. Apples, pears, quinces, and grapes 
 were exhibited in abundance, not the least noteworth^Hbeing a dis- 
 play sent from Washington. The exhibit of apples was particularly 
 large and represented nearly all of our states. To the visitor who 
 believed that apples could be grown only in Michigan, Ohio, New 
 York and a few of our northern states the splendid specimens sent 
 from Arkansas, from Missouri and from the Northwest were a con- 
 tinual surprise. Nearly all countries exhibited preserves and mar- 
 malades while the finest of jellies, in most lavish array, were sent 
 from the canning factories and home kitchens of our own states. 
 Nothing is more delicate than a crystalline, quivering, fruit jelly, 
 and nothing more surely tests the skill of the housewife. It is made 
 possible through the existence of a vegetable jelly or pectin, which 
 is one of the carbohydrates and an almost universal constituent of 
 our fruits. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 SUQAKS AN'D STARCHES. 
 
 ^^(— .- U G A R S; starches, gums, and celluloses comprise 
 / /JJt\' *^® principal carbohydrates. Of these the only ones 
 ^ V^-'^'-^V °' special nutritive value are the sugars and starches, 
 J^aj^L \ ^^^^ closely allied chemically and having much the 
 *!^iRftiOi«Jr"l same effect, upon the human system. They are the 
 non-nitrogenous elements, furnishing heat for warm- 
 ing the body as well as potential energy for doing its 
 daily work. If more of the carbohydrates are taken 
 into the system than are required for its daily uses 
 they are transformed into fat and are thus stored 
 away to be drawn upon when necessity arises. This 
 fat is accumulated in the liver as well as distributed 
 throughout and upon the muscular tissues. The 
 carbohydrates thus, either directly or indirectly, pre- 
 serve the muscular tissues of the body from waste. 
 Scarcely any other food substance is more uni- 
 versal throughout the vegetable world than sugar. Like starch, it 
 is composed of carbon atoms mingled with a varying proportion of 
 hydrogen and oxygen atoms, hence the name, carbohydrates. But, 
 unlike the starches, sugar is one of the most easily assimilated of 
 foods, owing to its extreme solubility. From childhood to old age 
 its use by man is universal, in spite of the "decayed teeth" bugaboo 
 held up to children and the rheumatism threat that assails their 
 elders. As a constituent of mother's milk it is consumed by the 
 tiniest babe. A liking for sweets in some form extends even into 
 
240 FOOD PEODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 the animal kingdom, although whether it is not often a cultivated 
 taste in that realm is a mooted question. The bird loves it, the dog 
 eats it greedily, the horse neighs and teases for it, even the little 
 green chameleon accepts it in lieu of a spider; it is the nectar of 
 our butterflies and the food of our bees, the latter rendering it 
 back to us in doubly distilled sweetness and value. Sugar in some 
 form is as. wholly indispensable in the dietaries of this animate 
 world as any other food substance could well become. 
 
 The word sugar refers in ordinary speech simply to cane 
 sugar, or at least to some member of the sucroses or cane-sugar 
 group. This is inaccurate, owing to the diverse sources of sugars, 
 not all varieties of which are used as food, but which may still ,be 
 roughly divided into the cane-sugar and the glucose groups. 
 
 The cane-sugar group comprises the sugar cane, the sugar 
 maple, that which may be extracted from the root of the beet, car- 
 rot, turnip, and, in fact, of nearly all vegetables, of sorghum or Chi- 
 nese cane, the young shoots of maize, chestnut buds, the melon and 
 pumpkin, several species of palm, and the juices of tropical fruits, 
 such as the papaw and banana. Melitose is a variety of cane sugar 
 extracted from cotton seeds and from a species of Australian euca- 
 lyptus; glycyrrhizine, the sugar of the liquorice root; mycose, a sac- 
 charine -constituent of the edible fungi; melizitose, a cane sugar 
 found in the manna of the larch; lactose, sugar of mUk; and mal- 
 tose, a crystalline sugar produced from starch by the action of dias- 
 tase of malt. This diastase is the ferment produced by the germi- 
 nation of the grain of the barley. 
 
 The principal glucose sugars are dextrose or grape sugar, and 
 leyijLosepr fruit sugar. Glucose is also largely' manufactured from 
 starch, when it TsHknown also as starch sugar. Glucose may be 
 divided into its constituent parts, when the granular portion is 
 known commercially as grape sugar and the fluid or syrup 
 as glucose. Honey, which contains both cane sugar ' and 
 glucose, possesses characteristics peculiar to itself. Mannite is 
 still another kind and is found in the manna ash, in celery, 
 in onions, certain sea-weeds, and fungi, in the sap from apple 
 and pear trees, and even in the nests and cocoons of a species 
 of Syrian beetle (trehalose). The sugar extractable from the 
 berries of the rowan or mountain ash tree is known chemically 
 as sorbin; that from acorns as quercite; that from a species of pine, 
 pinite. Muscle-sugar or inosite is present in the tissues of the 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 241 
 
 human system, particularly in the muscles of the heart and lungs. 
 Saccharine, a chemical constituent of one of the coal-tar products, 
 is the only artificial sweet ever yet produced. 
 
 Only a small proportion of these sugars are used for food, a few 
 being considered unfit or at least undesirable, owing to their origin, 
 whUe others are not procurable because the extraction of them 
 them would be unprofitable from a commercial point of view. 
 
 Those in common use are cane, maple, and beet root sugar, 
 glucose or grape sugar, honey, palm sugar, and sorghum. Of all 
 these honey is the most luxurious, the most precious, and of far the 
 greatest antiquity. In fact, untU the beginning of the sixteenth 
 century it was almost the only sweet known and quite the only one 
 generally used, perhaps due to the fact that it could be used for 
 food without going through a more or less elaborate process of 
 preparation. In the old Testament Palestine is referred to as "a 
 land flowing with milk and honey," the greatest boon of richness 
 and nourishment that could be desired. To this day the inhabitants 
 of India, of Arabia, and other parts of Asia combine both honey and 
 milk into a semi-liquid food, than which nothing more acceptable 
 can be offered to either guest or traveler. The ancient Greeks im- 
 mortalized in their literature the honey of Hymettus and Corinth, 
 although the bees of classic lore, no wiser than those of to-day, oc- 
 casionally selected their honey from the nectaries of poisonous 
 flowers. Xenophon relates that once a number of soldiers who were 
 encamped in a village near Trebezona, in which there were bee- 
 hives, became violently ill after eating of the honey combs. "Not 
 one of them could stand erect. Those who had swallowed but little 
 looked very like drunken men; those who had eaten much were like 
 mad men, and some lay as if they were dying. And thus they lay 
 in such numbers as on a field of battle after defeat. And the con- 
 sternation was great. Yet no one was found to have died; all re- 
 covered their senses about the same hour the following day, and on 
 the third or fourth day they rose up as if they had suffered from 
 the drinking of poison." The Romans used honey as an ingredient 
 of their beverages, a custom which continued throughout most of 
 Europe even beyond those fifteenth century days of "piment" and 
 "mead." The national cake of Holland, called "deventer," is made 
 from a mixture of Koneyj fruit, and^£ur. 
 
 Honey is the only sweet that comes to our tables in its pure and 
 natural form, neither added to nor subtracted from by any chem- 
 
242 
 
 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOBLD. 
 
 ical process whatever. Whether the nectar itself, after being taken 
 from the flower, undergoes any change in the vital laboratory of ther 
 bee is as yet an unsettled question. In composition it contains 
 both dextrose and levulose, maunite, small quantities of cane sugar, 
 wax, mucilage, mineral matter, and pollen. It varies in color and 
 flavor according to the sources from which gathered, the best of the 
 United States coming from the white clover and the flowers of the 
 bass-wood (the linden tree). That from buckwheat blossoms is 
 
 darker and less delicately flavored. 
 The honey from the vale of Chamou- 
 ni is noted for its good color and 
 fragrance; that from Hymettus, 
 Oreece, gathered from the wild 
 thyme, has a somewhat coarse flavor, 
 by no means as ambrosial as tlfe pro- 
 duct of the average American ho^ey 
 farm. 
 
 The sugar cane {saccharum offici- 
 narum) is a tall, strong-stemmed 
 grass, growing to a height of ten or 
 twelve feet and crowned with long, 
 feathery plumes of flowers. It has 
 been cultivated in both India and 
 China for probably two thousand 
 years, and the art of extracting and 
 boiling down the juice from the cane 
 was practiced in both countries as 
 early as the seventh century. Dios- 
 corides referred to it in the flrst cen- 
 tury, and Alexander the Great men- 
 tioned a kind of honey made from a 
 sweet-stemmed Indian reed, undoubt- 
 edly meaning the cane. The Arabs 
 brought the knowledge of this cane to the Spaniards who in their 
 turn carried it to the West Indies. From there it was introduced 
 into the United States and was first cultivated about 1751 by a band 
 of Jesuits, located near New Orleans. The first sugar mill, a crude 
 and inadequate affair in which all the power "was supplied by cattle, 
 was erected in 1758. Sixty years later the production in Louisiana 
 alone reached twenty-five thousand hogsheads annually, an enor- 
 
FOOD PKODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 243 
 
 - mous output considering the fact that steam was not used in the 
 mills until 1822. While the sugar industry has since reached almost 
 fabulous proportions, at no time has the supply appreciably ex- 
 ceeded the demand. From being considered a luxury, as was the 
 case in Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, sugar 
 has come to be an indispensable and therefore common food. 
 
 Not more than four varieties of cane are now cultivated in the 
 
 ■ West Indies, the quality of each depending mainly upon soil, climate, 
 and methods of culture. The Sandwich Islands also produce quan- 
 tities of sugar. Cane juice contains, on an average, eighteen per 
 cent of sugar, more than seventy per cent of water, small quan- 
 tities of pectin or vegetable jeUy, of albumin, and of mineral mat- 
 ters. Says Johnston, referring to the almost universal habit among 
 the natives of eating the raw cane, "the nutritive property of the 
 raw juice is due to the fact that it contains, besides the sugar, a 
 considerable portion of gluten- as *ell as mineral substances, which 
 are present in all our staple forms of vegetable foods." 
 
 The process of making our granulated sugar is comparatively 
 simple. The juice is first expressed from the cane by crushing the 
 stalks between a series of heavy rollers, when it is clarified and 
 boiled down to the required density in large copper pans. As the 
 sjmip granulates it is removed from the flre and, after cooling, the 
 fluid part is drained away from the crystals. This raw sugar, 
 called muscovado (from a Spanish word meaning "more finished") is 
 then sent to the sugar refiners. It is scarcely ever found in the 
 markets now, owing to the universal demand for a white, absolutely 
 refined, granulated sugar. The process of refining sugar by claying 
 was first used in Brazil. It is related that it was discovered by the 
 agency of a hen which, with shockingly muddy feet, one day walked 
 over a pot of sugar. The crystals that were touched by the clay 
 were seen to be much whiter than the bulk of the sugar and a dis- 
 covery of considerable importance was the result. The finest fla- 
 vored cane sugar consists of the golden brown crystals that are 
 manufactured in British Guiana and much used in England. The 
 high tariff imposedon thaf quality has thus far effectually debarred 
 it from America. 
 
 In 1747 Margraaf, a German, discovered in the course of his ex- 
 periments that the sugar extracted from the root of the beet was 
 identical with that of the sugar cane. He advised its cultivation 
 for the extraction of sugar but no attempt in thjs direction was 
 17 ^ 
 
244 FOOD FKODaCTS OF THE WOBLD. 
 
 made until nearly a half century afterward. Then, owing to the 
 crude methods used, a yield of only two or three per cent of sugar 
 was obtained and the attempt was abandoned. Finally, under 
 Napoleon I., the price of sugar advanced to six francs a pourfST^X 
 prize of a million francs~was then offered to any one who sKould 
 successfully manufacture sugar from plants of home growth. After 
 many trials it was found possible to obtain from four to five per 
 cent of refined sugar from the beet, and success was assured. From 
 Prance the cultivation of the sugar beet extended into Germany, 
 Poland, and Russia, the latter country producing to-day vast quan- 
 tities of our best sugar. The Marinski sugar manufactory on the 
 banks of the river Dnieper is one of the largest in the world. 
 
 Not long after the Civil War the industry was introduced into 
 the United States. The result, while in no way reaching the limit 
 of its possibilities, has more than justified every effort made by its 
 promoters. At present the area devoted to sugar beet raising in 
 the United States is claimed to be larger than that so utilized in 
 any other country. The crop is a profitable one, for, besides jdeld- 
 ing an income of forty dollars per acre, the. farmer may receive 
 back if he wishes, at a merely nominal price, fully fifty per cent of 
 his original amount of beets in the residuum pulp. This is what re- 
 mains after the juice has been extracted and is valuable both as a 
 cattle food . and as a fertilizer. To be sure, beets require skillful 
 cultivation and must be denied neither labor nor expense if a good 
 crop is to be secured. But, even at a cost of several dollars per 
 acre for cultivating, the crop is still more profitable than either 
 wheat or corn. The percentage of sugar in the beeFdf our western 
 prairies, particularly in Nebraska, has been as high as twelve per 
 cent, and fifteen, it is believed, will be yielded in the near future. 
 The largest factory is the Oxnard in Nebraska. 
 
 The extraction of beet sugar from the cruder root is a much 
 more complicated process than the extraction of the juice from the 
 sugar cane, because the juice abounds in impurities. It contains 
 gummy matters, albumin, acids, and minerals. The juice is ex- 
 tracted both by pressure and by diffusion, and both lime and charcoal 
 filters are employed. The refining process, which is carried on in 
 large refineries, is identical with that used with the raw sugar of 
 the cane, the chemical properties of both being identical. Thus far 
 it hfe been impossible to produce a good syrup from beet juice. 
 
 The maple sugar industry is almost exclusively confined to the 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 245 
 
 United States and Canada. It is a cane sugar, produced by boUing 
 down the sap from the maple tree (aeer saocharinum), the sap being 
 collected by tapping or boring the bark of the tree just before the 
 buds start in the spring. The ideal sugar weather alternates warm 
 days with frosty nights. The length of the season is always uncer- 
 tain, for a few days of warmth will suffice to start the buds and 
 foliage, after which the yield of sap is inferior in quality. The sap 
 needs no purification and is prepared directly for the market 
 by a simple boiling down process, conducted over large fires near 
 the "camp" in the woods. The sap is reduced, either 
 by boiling in kettles or evaporating in pans, to a 
 thick molasses, delicious of flavor, or to a sugar 
 which is solidified in cakes of various sizes. The 
 principal states which manufacture maple sugar are 
 Vermont, New Hampshire, Michigan, Ohio, and 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 Sorghum is a sweet extracted from the stem of 
 the Guinea corn or great millet (sorghum sacehar- 
 atum)^^ It has long been cultivated in China and 
 India, but the molasses is so inferior in flavor to the 
 cane sugar of Europe and America that it has never 
 found much favor in those lands. The process of ex- 
 tracting is similar to that used- for the juice of the 
 sugar cane, and generally the whole product is con- 
 Sugar Beet, verted into a thick molasses. The plant yields about 
 two and one-half per cent of flesh-forming and about eleven per 
 cent of heat-producing material. 
 
 Palm sugar is the inspissated juice of the palm tree, princi- 
 pally the wild date, although the cocoanut and several other varie- 
 ties are also used. The sap or "toddy" is collected from the tree 
 during the three winter months of November, December and Janu- 
 ary, and is boiled down by a crude native process into an unrefined 
 sugar known as "jaggery." When refined it is equal to the best 
 cane sugar. It is rarely met with even in the European markets, 
 although occasionally imported into America by sugar refining 
 companies. 
 
 The making of starch sugar, known commercially as glucose or 
 grape sugar, is one of our most important and least appreciated. in- 
 dustries. In Europe potato starch is generally employed, in Amer^ 
 ica that from Indian corn or maize. The process of converting the 
 
246 FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 starch into sugar is comparatively simple and open to no objections 
 on the score of either cleanliness or health. It is first made soluble 
 by the action of dilute sulphuric acid; the acid is neutralized by 
 lime and is precipitated as sulphate of lime. This is separated 
 from the liquid by filtration, the liquid is then filtered through 
 a bed of charcoal and concentrated to the required density. This 
 process gives us the glucose of the trade world. Although called 
 grape sugar, this is not the purest form of grape sugar, the best ex- 
 ample of which is found in the white, granular exudations of sugar 
 from the surface of well dried grapes or raisins. 
 
 Starch sugar is produced much more cheaply than any other, 
 for, while our sugar plants yield from four to fifteen per cent of 
 their bulk in refined sugar, starch yields fifty per cent. Then, too, 
 the sugar plants require a maximum of labor and expense if their 
 cultivation is to be successful. But glucose has not found favor in 
 our households because its sweetening properties are so inferior to 
 those of our cane sugars and, since it has always posed as an adult- 
 erant, it has fallen into disrepute. Its good consistency and its 
 non-committal fiavor have caused it to be used extensively in 
 adulterating honey, syrups, and candies. In some apiaries even the 
 unsuspecting bees are fed upon it, as a cheap and convenient sub- 
 stitute for fiowers. Besides this it is used in the manufacture of 
 liquors. 
 
 The Japanese, who realize better than the western nations the 
 value of glucose as a food, have long manufactured it from the 
 starch of barley, and have given it the attractive name of barley 
 honey. It forms part of the daily food in every Japanese house- 
 hold. Combined with rice fiour it makes , a sweetm eat far more 
 healthful and delicious than most of our confectionery. Glucose 
 itself is not only wholesome and nutritious but even more easily 
 assimilated than the cane sugars, which are, in fact, themselves 
 changed into glucose by the dilute acids of the human system be- 
 fore they are digested. It is to be regretted that glucose does not 
 appear upon our tables, perhaps under the more attractive name of 
 maize, wheat, or cassava honey, that its usefulness as an adulterant 
 might be forgotten on account of its value as a food. There are two 
 obstacles in the way of this use, one, the fact of its heavy, syrupy 
 consistency, and the other, because of its low sweetening power. 
 The chemist tells us that glucose contains one molecule more of 
 water than cane sugar and, until that is extracted, which at present 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOBLD. 
 
 247 
 
 chemistry is unable to accomplish, it is impossible to convert it into 
 sugar. The other objection may be more easily met because of the 
 comparatively recent discovery of a substance known as saccharine. 
 This was produced by a German chemist, Pahlberg, from coal-tar 
 naphtha, and is the only artificial sweet ever yet produced. Its 
 sweetening properties are remarkable. One part 
 in one thousand parts of water will produce a 
 distinctly sweet taste whUe one or two parts 
 added to one thousand parts of glucose will ren- 
 der it as sweet as the cane sugars. Saccharine 
 itself is two hundred and thirty times as sweet 
 as cane sugar. Its use, however, is not to be ad- 
 vocated, as it is not assimilated, passing from 
 the system unchanged. It thus in no way con- 
 tributes to the building up or the maintaining 
 of the tissues of the body, hence, it is a ques- 
 tionable article of food. 
 
 There were immense displays of cane sugar 
 at the Columbian Exposition, the most important 
 being from Eussia, Italy, Mexico, and the United 
 States. British Guiana sent quantities of pure, 
 amber-colored crystals, guiltless of any bleach- 
 "ing process and unrobbed of their delicate and 
 characteristic flavor. Hundreds of gallons of 
 Sago Mortar. delicious maple syrup paid their tribute to Can- 
 ada and to our own maple sugar producing states. Palm sugar was 
 sent in a crude state from Ceylon. Florida exhibited glucose made 
 from the root of the cassava, and Mexico sent a similar glucose 
 from the agave or century plant. This, known as agave honey^jpas 
 neither as delicate nor as clear as starch sugar, probably owing to 
 the crude method of making it. Saccharine was exhibited in pow- 
 ders and in small tablets, particularly recommended for sweeten- 
 ing tea and coffee, as well as jams and jellies. This is, properly 
 speaking, no more than an adulterant. Honey, tons of sweetness, 
 was exhibited from our different states and from other countries as 
 well. From Hymettus, Greece, was sent honey made from the 
 flowers of the wild thyme, but not even its classic name could save 
 it from criticism, for it was dark in color, strong in flavor, and no^ 
 unlike our poorer grades of buckwheat honey. Holland sent quan 
 titles of their national honey cake. 
 
248 FOOD PEODUOTS OF THE WOBLD. 
 
 Starch is quite extensively distributed throughout the vege- 
 table kingdom. It is present in nearly aU. tubers, in the cereals 
 and legumes, in the trunks of various species of palm, and in many 
 of the fruits and nuts, the bread fruit, banana, peanut, chestnut, 
 and others. It exists in the form of minute granules and is always 
 most abundant as the plant reaches maturity. These granules may 
 be separated in most cases by a simple mechanical process. 
 
 The principal starches of our commerce are obtained from pota- 
 toes, wheat, corn, rice, the root of the cassava, the arrowroot, and from 
 the stem or trunk of the sago palm. In Europe potatoes are most 
 largely employed. After being thoroughly cleaned they are re- 
 duced to a pulp and the cellulose and albuminoids are separated by 
 washing, leaving the starch granules to settle to the bottom of the 
 vat, whence they are easily drawn off and dried. The extraction of 
 the starch from wheat is a more difficult matter, owing to the pres- 
 ence of gluten, which serves to bind the constituents of the grain. 
 It may be procured by a series of washings but is usually accom- 
 plished by a fermentative process which, through the action of the 
 acids developed, destroys the tenacious properties of the gluten. 
 Maize or Indian corn, mainly utilized for starch in America, con- 
 tains so little gluten that the separation of the starch contained is 
 a comparatively easy matter. That, combined with the low price of 
 the grain, renders corn starch one of our cheapest cereal prepara- 
 tions. Kice starch is more commonly used in the Orient than 
 among the western nations and is procured by both methods. 
 
 The various tubers, cereals, and starch-bearing fruits have 
 already been described, as well as the cassava, from the root of 
 .which the tapioca of commerce is prepared. Of even greater im- 
 portance, particularly in its native lands, is the starch of the sago 
 palm, known to the trade world as sago. The entire trunk of this 
 palm is filled with a nourishing starch which is in greatest abun- 
 dance just before the palm puts forth its blossoms. In case it is 
 not taken at this stage the sago is absorbed as nourishment for the 
 fruit, and the trunk becomes almost empty and quite useless. The 
 trees do not blossom until their growth, requiring twelve or fifteen 
 years, is completed and are thus of considerable size when cut 
 down. The center of the trunk is of a cheesy consistency and the 
 starch or sago, after being scraped out in its crude form, is sepa- 
 rated from its fibrous constituents by a crushing or grating process, 
 followed by a series of washings. A section of the trunk of a sago 
 
FOOD PRODUCTS OF THE WOKLD. 219 
 
 palm containing the crude sago, and showing but a thin outec bark, 
 was sent to the Columbian Exposition from Siam. There were 
 also exhibited the crude metal rasps used for scraping it from the 
 trunk and a mortar for crushing, fashioned from a hollowed section 
 of the trunk itself. 
 
 Mr. Crawford, in his history of the Indian Archipelago, has esti- 
 mated that a single acre of land, supporting four hundred and 
 thirty-flve palms, will produce 120,500 pounds of sago. This is not 
 incredible when a single, thrifty, fully grown tree may yield six or 
 seven hundred pounds. Excepting the banana, it is probably true 
 that no other plant or vegetable is capable of yielding so great au 
 amount of nourishment for man from a given extent of land. In 
 certain parts of the East sago forms almost the exclusive food of 
 the native peoples. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Absinthe, loe. 
 
 Acorn, 2^ 
 
 Agave honey, 247. 
 
 Agricultural building, 2; arcliitect- 
 ural decoration of, 3; exhibits con- 
 tained in, 4. 
 
 Agriculture, department of at Wash- 
 ington, 13; importance of, 5. 
 
 Alligator pear, 232. 
 
 Almond, 234; flavoring extract of, 
 105; oUof,146. 
 
 Allspice, 87. 
 
 Ame, 161. 
 
 American cheese, 129, 130. 
 
 Anchovy, 63, 64, 101. 
 
 Anise, 91. 
 
 Anisette,' 106. 
 
 Anthropological building, 2. 
 
 Apple, 217, 221; custard, 232; mam- 
 mee, 232. 
 
 Apricot, 229. 
 
 ArroT^root, 200. 
 
 Artichoke, 210; Jerusalem, 199. 
 
 Asparagus, 211. 
 
 BACTEKIA, U2, 122, 123. 
 
 Bacon, 20. 
 
 Banana, 227. 
 
 Banbury cheese, 126. 
 
 Barberry, 218. 
 
 Barley, 155. 
 
 Barley honey, 246. 
 
 Basil, 92. 
 
 Bass, 65. 
 
 Basswood tree, 242. 
 
 Bay leaves, 93. 
 
 Bean, 1^189. 
 
 Beechiiut,234. 
 
 Beef, how to select, 19; pickUnf and 
 
 curing of, 33. 
 
 Beef brose, 157. 
 
 Beet, 203, 210. 
 
 Beet sugar, 243. 
 
 Blackberry, 225. 
 
 Blood, 44. 
 
 Blueberry, 226. 
 
 Blueflsh, 61. 
 
 Boar's head, 45. 
 
 Borage, 215. 
 
 Borax, 32. 
 
 Borecole, 212. 
 
 Bosch, 132. 
 
 Bouillon, 80. 
 
 Bouill-abaisse, 80. 
 
 Brazil nut, 235. 
 
 Bread, aerated, 169; Boston brown, 
 169; germ, 169; Graham, 169; leav- 
 ened, 168; salt rising, 169; of early 
 Britons, Egyptians, Greeks, Ro- 
 mans, Syrians, 163, 164; of primi- 
 tive peoples, 165. 
 
 Bread fruit, 231. 
 
 Bread nut, 235. 
 
 Brie cheese, 128. 
 
 Brine, 32. 
 
 BroccoU, 213. 
 
 Brussels sprouts, 212. 
 
 Buckwheat, 158. 
 
 Butter, ancient and modem meth- 
 ods of making, 117-119; bacteria in, 
 122; how to secure uniformity, 121 ; 
 inferiority of, in public institu- 
 tions, 120 ; liability to infection, 119 ; 
 of southern markets, 135. 
 
 Butterine, exhibits of, 136 ; grades of, 
 133; history of, 131; hygienic and 
 food value of, 135; legislation 
 against, 134; methods of making, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 132, 133; tax upon, 136. 
 Butternut, 233. 
 
 Cabbage, 2U. 
 
 Cacbio cavallo (cheese) , 127. 
 
 Camembert cheese, 128. 
 
 Camomile, 205. 
 
 Candle nut, 101,236. 
 
 Cane sugar, 212. 
 
 Capers, 97. 
 
 Carachi, 101. 
 
 Caraway, 91. 
 
 Carbohydrates, 11, 12. 
 
 Cardamon seeds, 89. 
 
 Cardoon, 215. 
 
 Carrot, 202. 
 
 Cashew nut, 235. 
 
 Cassareep, 101,200. 
 
 Cassava, sweet, 201; bitter, 102, 200. 
 
 Cassava bread, 165. 
 
 Cassia, 88. 
 
 Caviare, 61. 
 
 Cauliflower, 213. 
 
 Cayenne, see chili. 
 
 Celeriac, 209. 
 
 Celery, 92, 209. 
 
 Cellulose, 11. 
 
 Cereals, antiquity and origin of, 150; 
 composition of, 165; exhibits of , 152. 
 
 Chard, Swiss, 210. 
 
 Charqui, 21. 
 
 Chartreuse, 106. 
 
 Cheddar cheese, 126. 
 
 Cheese, bacterial culture in, 121; pro- 
 cess of making, 123, 121; nutritive 
 value of, 129. 
 
 Cherry, 229. 
 
 Chervil, 92. 
 
 Cheshire cheese, 126. 
 
 Chestnut, 233. 
 
 Chica, 153. 
 
 Chicken, 50. 
 
 Chickpea, 190. 
 
 Chicory, see endive. 
 
 Chili, 100. 
 
 Chives, 211. 
 
 Chutney, 101. 
 
 Cider, 222. 
 
 Cinnamon, 87. 
 
 Citron, 220. 
 
 Clam, 71. 
 
 Clover, white, 212. 
 
 Cloves, 86. 
 
 Coal fish, 63. 
 
 Cocoa bean, 118. 
 
 Cocoa butter, 118. 
 
 Cocoa nut, 231. 
 
 Cocoa nut oil, 116. 
 
 Cod,>61; toques and sounds, 62. 
 
 Comfrey, 215. 
 
 Condiments, antiquity of, 83, 81; classifica- 
 tion of, 85; hTgitrnir vnlBr nf,.fff; exhibi- 
 tion of, 107; medieval use of, 81. 
 
 Consomme soup, 80. 
 
 Cookery, aboriginal, 8; modern, 9. 
 
 Copra, 235. 
 
 Cordials, 105. 
 
 Coriander seeds, 90. 
 
 Com, 162. 
 
 Com salad, 210. 
 
 Cotton seed oil, 110; exportation and man- 
 uf actnre of, lH, 112. 
 
 Crab, 68. 
 
 Cranb»>cry, 226. 
 
 Crawfish, 69. 
 
 Cress, Indian, water, 209. 
 
 Cucumber, 103, 211. 
 
 Cumin seeds, 90. 
 
 Curacoct, 105. 
 
 Currant, 225. 
 
 Curry powder, 97. 
 
 Cusk, 63. 
 
 Custard apple, 232. 
 
 Cuttle fish, 61. 
 
 BANSEUON, ifS, as. 
 
 Date, 230. 
 
 Sate plum, 232. 
 
 Seventer, 211. 
 
 Devonshire sauce, 102. 
 
 Dextrine, 168. 
 
 Dextrose, 210, 212. 
 
 DiU, 91. 
 
 Dock, 215. 
 
 Domoji, 161. 
 
 Double Gloucester cheese, 126. 
 
 Dried beef, 27. 
 
 Duck, 51; canvasback, 19, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 iU 
 
 Durian, 232. 
 Dutch cheese, 123. 
 
 EDAM CHEESE, 129. 
 £els, 64. . 
 Egg plant, 233. 
 Elder berry, 225. 
 Endive, 208. 
 Erbswurst, 190. 
 Ervalenta arabica, 192. 
 
 FATS, 11, 12. 
 
 Fennel, 92. 
 
 Fenugreek, 90. 
 
 Fern, 2lS. 
 
 Figs, 227. 
 
 Filbert, 234. 
 
 Finnan baddies, 64. 
 
 Fish, flour of, 63; hygienic and nu- 
 tritive value of, 58; varieties, 60; 
 \raste of, 65. 
 
 Fish commission, 59. 
 
 Fisheries building, appliances and 
 acLuaria, 56; decoration of, 55. 
 
 Flavors, 104. 
 
 Flour, 170; composition of, 165; nu- 
 tritive value of, 166. 
 
 Food, analysis of, 12; definition of, 
 9; classification of, 10; of primitive 
 man, 1; properties of , 10. 
 
 Fowl, wild, exhibits of, 52; nutritive 
 value and flavor of , 48, 49 ; unwhole- 
 someness of "gamey" fowl, 50. 
 
 Frijole, 189. 
 
 Fruits, 217-233; classification of, 218; 
 history of, 217. 
 
 Fruitarianism, 236. 
 
 Fungi, edible, 179 ; comparative food 
 value of, 180; exhibits of , 185 ; vari- 
 eties of, 180-185. 
 
 GAHBAKZA, 190. 
 Garlic, 96, 213. 
 Garum, 101. 
 Gelatine, 44. 
 Ginger, 99. 
 Gluten, 166,168. 
 Glucose, ^. 
 Glycyrrhizine, 240. 
 
 Goose, 50. 
 Gooseberry, 225. 
 Gorgonzola cheese, 127. 
 Gouda cheese, 129. 
 Grain, see cereals. 
 Grains of Paradise, 91. 
 Grape, 223. 
 Grape fruit, 220. 
 Grape sugar, 246. 
 Groats or grits, 157. 
 Gruyere cheese, 128. 
 Guinea com, 245. 
 
 HADDOCK, 61, 63. 
 
 Haggis, Scotch, 39. 
 
 Halibut, 62. 
 
 Hazel nut, 217, 234. 
 
 Heart, 44. 
 
 Herring, 62, 63; herring pies, 64. 
 
 Hickory nut, 234. 
 
 Honey, 211. 
 
 Hops, 215. 
 
 Horseradish, 99. 
 
 Horticulture, history of, 218. 
 
 Huckleberry, 226. 
 
 INDIAN CRESS, 209. 
 
 Indian corn, see maize. 
 
 Indian fig, 232. 
 
 Indigestion, from cheese, 125; from 
 
 mushrooms, 180, 
 luosite, 240. 
 
 JACA, 232. 
 Jaggery, 147, 245. 
 Jellies, 238. 
 Jerked meat, 24, 25. 
 Junket, 123. 
 Juvia, 235. 
 
 KADDEI,, 158. 
 Kale, 212. 
 Kale brose, 157. 
 Kefir, 114. 
 Ketchup, 102, 214. 
 Kidney, 44. 
 Klip fish, 63. 
 Kola nut, 235. 
 Kolcannon, 212. 
 
iv 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Kori mochi, 161. 
 Kohl rabl, 212. 
 Koumiss, 113. 
 Kummel, 106. 
 Kumtnel brod, 158. 
 
 LACTOMBTEE, 111. 
 
 Lactose 240. 
 
 I<ard, 133. 
 
 I«ek, 96, 211. 
 
 Xegumes, history of, 187; exhibits 
 
 of, 191. 
 Lemon, 107, 220. 
 Lentils, 191. 
 Lettuce, 207, 208. 
 Levulose, 240, 242. 
 Liebig's extract of beef, 81. 
 Limburger cheese, 129. 
 Limes, 107, 220. 
 Lime juice sauce, 102. 
 Linden, 242. 
 Ling, 63. 
 
 Lipton cheese, 129. 
 Liqueurs, 105, 238. 
 Liquorice root, 240. 
 Litchi nut, 230. 
 Liver, 44. 
 Lobster, 68, 101. 
 Lungs, 44. 
 
 MACASONI, exhibits of, 176; history 
 of, 171, 172; process of making, 173, 
 174. 
 
 :yiace, 89. 
 
 ^Mackerel, 61. 
 
 Mahe, 231. 
 
 Maize, 152. 
 
 Maltose. 240. 
 
 Mammee apple, 232. 
 
 Mango, 231. 
 
 Manioc, see cassava. 
 
 Mannite,240. 
 
 Maple syrup, sugar, 244. 
 
 Maraschino, 106. 
 
 Matzooi^ Ul. 
 
 Mead, 241. 
 
 Meats, digestibility of, 18; exhibit 
 of, 20; of medieval and modern 
 England, of primitive man, of the 
 Roman republic, 15, 16; preserva- 
 
 tion of, by chemicals, 41; by cold 
 storage, 41; by canning, 36; by dry- 
 ing, 24, 25, 27; by heat, 35; by salt- 
 ing, 31, 32; exhibits of dried meats, 
 25, 26, 27; of salted meats, 33, 34. 
 
 Meat extracts, Liebig's, American, 
 82; exhibits of, 82. 
 
 Medlar, 232. 
 
 Melitose, 240. 
 
 Melizitose, 240. 
 
 Milk, composition and food value of, 
 109, 110; condensed, 114; Infection 
 of, 112; solidified, 115; sterilization 
 of, 113. 
 
 Milkweed, 215. 
 
 Millet, 157, 245. 
 
 Milling, ancient and modern meth- 
 ods, 166. 
 
 Mint, di, 205. 
 
 Miso-miso, 156. 
 
 Mondamin, 25. 
 
 Monkey's bread, 232. 
 
 Monkey pots, 236. 
 
 Morel, 182. 
 
 Mulberry, 225. 
 
 Mulligatawny soup, 8. 
 
 Muscovado, 243. 
 
 Mushrooms, common meadow^ fairy 
 ring, giant pufiE ball, 181. 
 
 Muskmelon, 226. 
 
 Mussel, 75. 
 
 Mustard, 98. 
 
 Mutton, 19. 
 
 Mycose, 240. 
 
 NASTURTIUM, 209. 
 
 Nettles, 215. 
 
 Neufchatel cheese, 128. 
 
 Neutral, 133. 
 
 Non-starch system of diet, 236. 
 
 Noyau, 106. 
 
 Nutmeg, 88. 
 
 Nuts, 233. 
 
 OAT WBAX, 157. 
 
 Oats, 156. 
 
 Ofial, 43; commercial and food value 
 
 of, 44, 45. 
 Oils, vegetable, 139; exhibits of, 142, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 145, 147; percentage of, contained 
 
 in various foods, 140. 
 Okra, aU. 
 Oleine, 132. 
 
 Oleomargerine, see butterine. 
 Olives, 103, 233. 
 Olive oil, history of, methods of 
 
 manufacture, 142-144. 
 OUa podrida, 191. 
 Onion, 95, 213. 
 Oranges, sweet, bitter, 219. 
 Ox. lips, palates, tails, 44. 
 Oysters, abalone, 75 ; early usage of, 
 
 70; exhibits of , 74 ; nutritive value 
 
 of, 73. 
 Oyster culture, of ancient Rome, 70 ; 
 
 of modem Europe, 71, 72; of United 
 
 States, 72. 
 
 Packing houses, 21. 
 
 Palm butter, 146. 
 
 Palm oil, 146. 
 
 Palm sugar, 245. 
 
 Papaw, 228. 
 
 Parmesan cheese, 127, 175, 
 
 Parsley, 93. 
 
 Parsnip, 203. 
 
 Pea, 189. 
 
 Pea flour, 190. 
 
 Peach, 229. 
 
 Peacock, 48. 
 
 Peanut, 235. 
 
 Peanut oil, 145. 
 
 Pear, 222. 
 
 Pecan, 234. 
 
 Pectin, 238, 243. 
 
 Pekea nut, 235. 
 
 Pemtnican, 34, 25. 
 
 Pepper, 89, long, 90. 
 
 Pepsin, 45. 
 
 Periwinkle, 75. 
 
 Perry, 222. 
 
 Persimmon, 232. 
 
 Pickles, 103. 
 
 Pilchard, 64. 
 
 Piment, 241. 
 
 Pimento, 87. 
 
 Pineapple, 232. 
 
 Finite, 240, 
 
 Pippin, 221. 
 
 Pistache nut, 105, 235. 
 
 Plum, 229. 
 
 Poi, 199. 
 
 Pomegranate, 228. 
 
 Poonac, 235. 
 
 Pork, 19, 20. 
 
 Port du Salut cheese, 128. 
 
 Potato, 193; nutritive value of, 196; 
 starch of, 197; sweet, 197; wild, 195. 
 
 Poultry, dietetic value of, 48; exhib- 
 its of, 53; history of domestication, 
 47. 
 
 Prawn, 65, 69. 
 
 Prickley pear, 232. 
 
 Protein, U, 12. 
 
 Prune, 229. 
 
 Ptarmigan, 49. 
 
 Pufi ball, 181. 
 
 Pulse, 187. 
 
 Pumpernickel, 158. 
 
 Pumpkin, 233. 
 
 Puree, 80. 
 
 RADISH, 208. 
 Raisin, 224. 
 Rape seed oil, 146, 
 Raspberry, 225. 
 Ratafia, 106. 
 Rhubarb, 211. 
 Rice, 158, 161. 
 Roquefort cheese, 128. 
 Rumford, Count, 13, 79. 
 Rye, 158. 
 
 QUERCITE, 240. 
 Quince, 222. 
 
 SACCHAHINE, 241, 247. 
 
 SaSron, 96. 
 
 Sage, 94. 
 
 Sago, sago palm, 248. 
 
 Salads, French, Irish, early Jewish, 
 
 Roman, 205; flower, 206. 
 Salep, 199. 
 Sallet, 207. 
 Salmon, 60, 61. 
 Salsify, 204, black, 204. 
 Salt, as condiment, 85 ; as preserva- 
 
vi 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ative, 31, 
 
 Saltpetre, 32. 
 
 Salts (mineral matters) , U, 12. 
 
 Samphire, 101, 215. 
 
 Sapucaya nut, 235. 
 
 Sardines, 62, 61. 
 
 Sauces, 101. 
 
 Sauer kraut, 212. 
 
 Sausages, exhibit of, 29. 
 
 Scallops, 74. 
 
 Schmierkase, 129. 
 
 Schweitzer cheese, 129. 
 
 Seaweed, 63, 215. 
 
 Shaddock, 220. 
 
 Shallot, 96. 
 
 Shell fish, classification of, 67; die- 
 tetic value of, 68; exhibits of, 70; of 
 Greeks and Romans, 67. 
 
 Shiratama, 161. 
 
 Shrimp, 65, 69; shrimp essence, 101. 
 
 Soda, 32. 
 
 Sole, 61. 
 
 Sorbin, 210. 
 
 tSorghum, 215. 
 
 Sorrel, 205, 210. 
 
 Souari nut, 235. 
 
 Soups, of Count Rumford, 80, 195; 
 nutritive value of, 79 ; varieties of, 
 80,81. 
 
 Sour sop, 232. 
 
 Soy, 101, 102. 
 
 Skate, 65. 
 
 Spaghetti, 171. 
 
 Spices, mixed and Penang, 100. 
 
 Spinach, 210. 
 
 Sprat, 61. 
 
 Sprout kale, 212. 
 
 Squash, 233. 
 
 Squid, 65. 
 
 Starch, 218. 
 
 Starch sugar, 215. 
 
 Stearine,122,132. 
 
 Stilton cheese, 126. 
 
 Stockfish, 63. 
 
 Stomach, 15. 
 
 Strawberry, 225. 
 
 Sturgeon, 60, 61. 
 
 Succofesh,189. 
 
 Sugar, 239-217. 
 
 Summer savory, 93. 
 Sunflower seed oil, 116. 
 Sweet ball, 220. 
 Sweet breads, 44. 
 Sweet potato, 197. 
 Sweet sop, 232. 
 
 Tabasco sauce 103. 
 
 Tamarind, 232. 
 
 Tansy, 205. 
 
 Taro, 199. 
 
 Tarragon, 95, 215. 
 
 Tasajo, 26. 
 
 Terrapin, 77. 
 
 Thyme, 91. 
 
 Thyroid glands, 15. 
 
 Toddy, 117, 215. 
 
 Tofu, 189. 
 
 Tomato, 102, 103, 214. 
 
 Tongues, 44. 
 
 Tonka bean, 105. 
 
 Trehalose, 210. 
 
 Tripe, H. 
 
 Truffles, 181; game with, 52. 
 
 Tubers, 193. 
 
 Tunny fish, 61. 
 
 Turbot, 60, 61. 
 
 Turkey, 51. 
 
 Turmeric, 97. 
 
 Turnip, 201 ; turnip seed oil, 115. 
 
 Turtle, hygienic value, 76; soup, 81; 
 
 varieties of, 76. 
 Tyrolean cheese, 129. 
 Tyrotoxicon, 121. 
 
 ULMETZEE CHEESE, 129. 
 
 VANILLA, 101. 
 
 Veal, nutritive value of, 19. 
 
 Vegetable oyster, see salsify. 
 
 Vegetarianism, theory of, 17. 
 
 Verjuice, 106. 
 
 Vermicelli, 171, 177. 
 
 Vinegar, 106. 
 
 WainUT, 102, 233. 
 
 "Warden, 218. 
 
 Water, an element of food, 11, 12. 
 
 Watermelon, 226. 
 
INDBX. tM 
 
 Wheat, 149-152. YAH,19S. 
 
 Whelk, 75. Yarmouth bloater, 61. 
 
 Whitebait, ^. Yeast, 113, 167. 
 
 Whortleberry, 226. 
 
 Worcestershire sauce, 102. Zea kays, 152. 
 
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