THE ADULTERATION OF FOOD. 221 



Dr. Mattieu Williams has recently written a work on "The Chemistry of Cook- 

 ing," -whicli is very complete, being written with a full knowledge of the subject. 



Mis8 Juliet Corson was the first one to start cooking scliools in this country, 

 her course of instruction including, beside emperical formula and the manipula- 

 tions necessary to their successful execution, a resume of the chemistry of the 

 subject. 



Those who have given little thought will ask, Why does a cook need to know 

 anything about the chemistry of cooking? What good will it do them to know 

 whether such a substance as albumen exists or not, so they produce the results? 

 As ignorant prejudice only would be likely to ask such questions, an answer 

 would be a waste of time. 



Innumerable discussions have taken place among scientific men as to the natural 

 fowl of man. Too much importance is, perhaps, attached to meat, but it is now 

 •generally accepted that a mixed vegetable and animal diet is best. A common 

 regetable food, such, for instance, as the potatoe, contains in 1,000 parts 760 of 

 water, I'tJO parts of starch, and some mineral salts and albuminous compounds. In 

 cooking the starch cells absorb water, and the greater number of them burst, under- 

 going also chemical change. This disintegration of the starch cells is preparatory 

 and necessary to more important changes. The starch in all vegetable substances 

 must undergo a similar change before it can mix with the various fluids developed 

 in the mouth and the walls of the alimentary canal. Some of the fluids, such as 

 the saliva and pancreatic fluids, change starch into dextrine and then into sugar, 

 and this change appears necessary before the carbon and hydrogen can be oxydized. 



Without the preliminary operation of cooking, this change would in all cases be 

 imperfect, and often impossible; and the thorough cooking of all starchy foods is 

 of )he utmost importance. When this is imperfectly done, the albuminoid envel- 

 ope which incloses the starch granule has to be dissolved by the gastric juice, which 

 is often diflicult, and even impossible. Much indigestion, probably, arises from <he 

 imperfect cooking of starchy foods. The chief constituents of animal food are 

 albumen, fibrine, and fat, with juice and mineral salts. The flavor of meat is due 

 to osmazone, and some methods of cooking, such as roasting and boiling, appear to 

 increase the flavor. Albumen and fibrine form about one-fifth of the meat. The 

 lormer always coagulates by heat, and the expansion of the juices tend to separate 

 the solid fibers, and this separation depends very much upon the method of cook- 

 ing. Albumen is a.s constant a constituent of all animal food, as starch is of veg- 

 etable, but these bodies differ greatly in their chemical composition, and in the 

 changes which they undergo in digestion. 



Plain cooking is healthiest, and in the long run gives greater enjoyment to the 

 sen.se ol taste. High seasoning is pernicious, serving frequently to cover up poor 

 quality in foods, and again disguising poor cooking. Its worst eflett is to benumb 

 the sense of taste, and unduly stimulate the stomach. Salt, in small quantities, is 

 salubrious, but used in excess, scurvy and kindred ills are induced. 



Spiciifi being used largely and liked by many, it is desirable that they be pure 

 and unadulterated. In the unground condition, a novice can form a good 

 judgment of the quality and freshness of spices, but when pulverized, the very 

 elect might be deceived. 



