358 IMPORTANCE OF FATS. 



butter for use in the army. The chemist added butter color and flavors 

 made in the laboratory to olein and margarin extracted from beef 

 suet, and mixed with this a little real butter; and so successful was the 

 result that the making of artificial butter has become a great industry. 

 Now, certainly no one objects to artificial butter on the ground that it is 

 made of animal fats, for he eats these every day on his table ; he objects 

 because he has doubts as to the cleanliness or the healthfulness of its 

 method of manufacture. 



" Therefore, since the substitution, to some extent, of animal fats 

 for butter is, from an economic standpoint, so desirable, if we cannot 

 bring ourselves to use oleomargarin, we must do the best we can in these 

 kitchen laboratories of ours to make other fats than butter acceptable to 

 the taste. . I ' . 



"People belonging to the well-to-do classes, unless they have given 

 special study to the subject, seldom realize the importance of fat in our 

 economy. Fat means to them fat meat, suet, lard, and the like, and the 

 much eating of these is considered proof of a gross appetite; they do not 

 consider how much fat they take in eggs, in milk, in grains like oatmeal 

 and maize; in the seasoning of their varied dishes, and in their well-fat- 

 tened meats, where, as in an average piece from a very fat mutton, they 

 eat twice as much fat as proteid, without knowing it. 



"Indeed, a well-fed man in the upper classes may have more fat in 

 his daily diet than the freshly arrived Mechlenburg laborer who spreads 

 a quarter-inch layer of lard on his bread. The latter cannot take his 

 fat in unsuspected forms; he craves this principle with his plain vege- 

 table diet, and must take it as he can get it. 



" Now let us understand that where economy is to be considered, 

 this question of fat does not take care of itself as it does for the rich 

 man. The economical housewife should always keep in mind that she 

 must furnish her family enough fat, and furnish it cheaply. Butter is a 

 dear fat ; count out the water in it and see what it costs you. We must 

 economize in butter in as many ways as possible. We must eat more fat 

 meat; first, that which is ingrained with the lean where it takes the 

 place of water, as we have seen under ' Proteids,' costing us practically 

 nothing; when we eat our vegetables seasoned with such a piece of 

 meat, we find them sufficiently seasoned. We must also eat more of 

 fat meat which we recognize as such, taking pains to cook it so that it 

 will be palatable. The crisp, brown outside of a roast is always wel- 

 come, but the fat of boiled beef or mutton will also be relished if served 



