500 



TJic Country Gcntlcinai's Magazine 



%\\i ffionntrn dcntleU^aman. 



ON THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF COOKERY?- 



BY DR LETHEBY. 



SECTION I. TREATMENT OF FOODS. 



IN the treatment of vegetable foods it is im- 

 portant to remember that all corky and 

 woody tissues, as the skins of fruits, tubers, 

 and cereals, are quite indigestible, and that in 

 consequence of their irritating action they 

 hurry food through the alimentary canal, and 

 so occasion waste. It is necessary, therefore, 

 that all such tissues should be removed as 

 ■completely as possible. 



When it is required to obtain the starchy 

 •or farinaceous matters of vegetables^ one or 

 other of the following processes is followed : — 



(a) The material is pulped or crushed, 

 and diffused through a considerable volume 

 of cold water. It is then strained and allowed 

 to stand until the farina or starch subsides. 



if) Or it is allowed to pass into a state of 

 putrefactive decomposition, whereby the al- 

 buminous matter, as the gluten, &c., decay, 

 and leave the starch untouched. 



{c) Or it is subjected to the action of a 

 weak alkaline solution, generally of caustic 

 soda, which dissolves the gluten, and allows 

 the starch to subside. The gluten thus dis- 

 solved may be again recovered by neutra- 

 lizing the alkaline solution with acid, and 

 collecting the precipitated gluten, as in the 

 process of Durand and others. 



MEAL AND FLOUR. 



In the treatment of the ground meal of wheat 

 and other grain, the bran and coarser kinds 

 of flour are separated by sieves of different de- 

 grees of fineness, and in this manner about eight 

 or nine varieties of product are obtained, as 



* One of the Cantor Lectures delivered before the 

 Society of Arts. 



hisatitflour, best or fine households, seconds, tails, 

 fine sharps or middlings, coarse sharps, fine pol- 

 lard, coarse pollard, and long bran. The pro- 

 portions of these from ordinary brown meal 

 will vary according to circumstances ; but pro- 

 cesses have been invented, as by M. Mege 

 Mouries, M. D'Arblay, and others, whereby 

 the yield of fine flour is increased to 86 or 

 even to 88 per cent, of the grain, and by 

 which the quantity of glutton is also regu- 

 lated. 



When the flour is rich in gluten, as in the 

 case of the hard wheats of Sicily, Russia, 

 Sardinia, and Egypt, they are well suited for 

 the manufacture of certain granular powders 

 and dried pastes, which are known as Semola, 

 Semolina, Soiifee, Mannacroup, Maccaroni, 

 Vermicelli, and Cagliari paste. The last three 

 are generally imported from Naples or Genoa, 

 where they are made from a highly glutinous 

 wheaten flour, by kneading it into a thin 

 dough or tenacious paste, and then forcing it 

 through holes or slits in a metallic plate. In 

 this way the several varieties of pipe, celery, 

 and ribbon maccaroni are obtained ; and the 

 fancy forms of it, called Cagliari paste, '\vhich 

 are in the shape of stars, rings, Maltese 

 crosses, &c., are produced by stamps. All 

 these varieties of raw wheaten paste are 

 cooked by boiling or baking, and are asso- 

 ciated with soup or beef-tea, or milk, or are 

 mixed with eggs, cheese, &c. 



The best variety of flour for bread is that 

 which contains less gluten than the preceding, 

 as from 8 to lo percent, of it instead of from 

 12 to 14 or 15. Dantzic flour, and soft 

 Spanish, as well as the American called 

 Genessee, are the best examples of it, and 

 are highly esteemed by bakers on account of 



