CHAPTER XXVII 

 FOOD AND ITS PREPARATION 



The primitive savage gathered food where he could find 

 or capture it, and ate it raw to satisfy his hunger. He ate 

 heavily when he had an abundance of food, knowing no 

 way to preserve what he could not eat. After the dis- 

 covery of fire he learned, by slow degrees, to cook food. 

 He discovered that this made it taste better and last 

 longer. He had no idea, however, that he had made a 

 real health discovery. 



It is science that has taught us that proper cooking not 

 only makes food more appetizing and preserves it longer, 

 but that it makes it better fuel for our bodies. Cooking 

 breaks down tough food fiber and causes chemical changes 

 that make food digest better and yield more energy. It 

 enables us to eat food with a high nutritive value which 

 we could not, or would not, eat raw. It protects health 

 by destroying dangerous germs that if taken into the sys- 

 tem alive would cause disease. Naturally, having studied 

 the selection of food, we should know the important facts 

 about its preparation for use. 



The variety of ways in which foods are prepared and served 

 in restaurants and on the tables of those who are able and willing 

 to pay for them is almost endless. It would be impossible to 

 enumerate them. There are, however, a few general principles 

 related to all cookery that should receive consideration. Impor- 

 tant among these are the effects of cooking, and the chemical 

 reactions produced by yeast. Though some foods, like 

 milk and various kinds of fruits and vegetables, if obtained 

 from sources that are sanitary, may safely be eaten raw, most 

 animal and vegetable food should be cooked. 



Why Animal Food Should Be Cooked. Animal food 

 should be cooked so that the digestive juices of our bodies may act 

 readily on it. Much animal food consists of muscular tissue which 

 is much more easily chewed and digested if it is first softened by 

 cooking. Animal food, moreover, sometimes contains small organ- 



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