SCIENTIFIC COOKING. 653 



SCIENTIFIC COOKING. 



A PLEA FOR EDUCATION IX HOUSEHOLD AFFAIRS. 



By .Miss M. A. BOLAND, 



INSTRUCTOR IN COOKING IN THE JOHNS HOPKINS TRAINING SCHOOL FOR NCRSES. 



THE general interpretation of the colloquial use of the word 

 scientific as applied to cooking is that manner of making 

 dishes -which is carried out according to some exact method, 

 which has been proved by experiment to be correct or satisfactory. 

 This is well as far as it goes ; but scientific cooking, in order to 

 justly merit the name, should also include : 1. A knowledge of the 

 chemical composition of food materials and food, that a woman 

 may know when she is supplying her family with a diet composed 

 of all those principles, in correct proportion, which are necessary 

 to perfectly nourish the body, and also that she may appreciate 

 that she is not always obliged to buy expensive materials in order 

 to obtain that which is needful and wholesome. 2. A knowledge 

 of the methods of preparing and preserving food, both cooked 

 and uncooked, under such conditions of cleanliness that it shall 

 be free from poisonous or noxious principles. 3. A knowledge of 

 the laws of health, that it may be possible in some measure to 

 determine what constituents and what eatables afford proper ma- 

 terial for the maintenance of the body, and under what circum- 

 stances of occupation, exercise, and living in general they are most 

 completely utilized. 



Upon the subject of the composition of foods there is abun- 

 dance of valuable literature in English from which much can be 

 learned. Since the days of Baron von Liebig and Count Rum- 

 ford, who may be said to be the promoters of the "cooking 

 movement," a great deal of scientific investigation as to the 

 chemical composition, nutritive value, and methods of cooking 

 food has been done, and out of this study, in connection with 

 medical research, has sprung the modern school of hygiene, as yet, 

 however, in its infancy. In the works of Parkes, Pavy, Atwater, 

 Foster, Smith, Blythe, and Hassal most valuable information on 

 this subject may be found. 



A well-grounded knowledge of the chemistry and physiology 

 of foods is the foundation upon which all good work in cooking- 

 must be laid. Through it only can be known and appreciated 

 the reasons which underlie the various processes of preparing 

 food, which, once well understood, form the sure foundation upon 

 which all conscientious and worthy effort should rest. Such 

 knowledge embodies the principles of the subject, and without 

 principles no work can possess lasting educational value. 



