PURR AND IMPURE FOODS. 



22? 



pounds of flour, or enough to make 30 

 cakes, 7 inches in diameter; a quantity 

 sufficient to sustain a healthy man 6 days. 



A more common bamboo food product 

 is a vegetable which in taste and appear- 

 ance suggests asparagus. This consists of 

 the young bamboo shoots and is much 

 prized in China, Japan and other regions 

 of the Orient. Bamboo shoots are often 

 preserved by pickling and are also canned. 

 Many of the Chinese shops in the United 

 States have canned bamboo shoots for 

 sale. 



It is not surprising that the bamboo 

 should yield useful food products when we 

 remember that it belongs to the great fam- 

 ily of grasses which includes also such 

 common food plants as wheat, corn, and. 

 other cereal grains. Perhaps the flowering 

 of the bamboo is caused by drought, as 

 dry weather frequently hurries the bloom- 

 ing of plants. In such cases it seems as if 

 nature hurried the formation of seed so 

 that unfavorable conditions might not him 

 der the continuation of any given form of 

 plant life. 



ACORNS AND THEIR USES. 



The acorns from different species of 

 oaks differ much in size, form, color and 

 taste. In some the cup is deep and rough, 

 in others smooth and shallow. While a 

 few kinds of acorns are sweet and not un- 

 like chestnuts in flavor, most are bitter and 

 more or less astringent in taste, owing to 

 the presence of quercin, or some similar bit- 

 ter principle, and tannin. On an average fresh 

 acorns have the following percentage com- 

 position : Water, 37.12; protein, 4.1 1; fat, 

 3..05; nitrogen free extract, 45.27; crude 

 fiber, 8.95, and ash, 1.50. The shell makes 

 up 14 per cent of the total fruit; the flesh, 

 85 per cent. They contain considerable 

 nitrogen free extract, largely starch, and 

 thus resemble chestnuts in composition 

 more nearly than oily nuts like walnuts. 



Acorns are a favorite food of wild hogs 

 and have been used since earliest times as 

 a feeding stuff for domestic animals, es- 

 pecially pigs. It is usually customary to let 

 the pigs gather their own food. The agree- 

 able flavor of the flesh, ham and bacon of 

 the razorback hogs of the Southern United 

 States is attributed in no small degree to 

 the acorns eaten. It has bee"n found that 

 an excess of acorns produces soft, spongy 

 flesh and oily lard. This may be obviated 

 by feeding corn for 2 or 3 weeks before 

 slaughtering, which is the usual custom. 



In the United States acorns are not gen- 

 erally eaten by man. Under the name "bi- 

 otes" the fruit of Quercus emoryii is, how- 

 ever, eaten in the Southwest.. Sweet acorns 

 are eaten occasionally in other regions, 

 usually by children. The Indians from the 



Pacific coast region, from Northern Cali- 

 fornia to Mexico, use many acorns. Dried 

 and pounded, they are made into a sort of 

 mush; also into a bread. Acorn meal is 

 usually leached to free it from tannin and 

 the bitter principle. Sometimes when used 

 for bread a kind of clay is also mixed with 

 it. 



In Italy acorns made into a sort of bread, 

 with the addition of 2-3 grain, are a com- 

 mon article of diet in several regions, nota- 

 bly Umbria, Tuscany, Emilia and Marchi. 

 The bread is black and heavy and not thor- 

 oughly digested. Doubtless the only rea- 

 son acorn bread is eaten is because the 

 peasants are so poor that anything which 

 will serve as food must be utilized. 



Dried acorns are sometimes used as a 

 coffee substitute. 



RACCOON MEAT. 



The wildest meat, in the opinion of a 

 writer in one of the Southern papers, is 

 that of the raccoon, which has a flavor 

 about it not to be found in any other meat ; 

 an opinion based on many years spent in 

 hunting in the wilder regions of this coun- 

 try, that afforded abundant* opportunity to 

 become familiar with the particular flavors 

 of various kinds of game. Deer meat he 

 considers almost tasteless, though it would 

 hardly be fair to say it lacks a distinct 

 flavor, for there is a suggestion of wildness 

 about venison, if it is not too highly sea- 

 soned. Bear meat is just a trifle more 

 gamy in flavor, but not wild enough to be 

 offensive to the man whose taste is ac- 

 quainted with more usual foods. 'Possum 

 meat he regards as deceptive, for few 

 persons can distinguish between well pre- 

 pared and carefully cooked 'possum meat, 

 particularly when it is eaten cold, and the 

 meat of a young pig. Though fond of 

 vegetable food, especially persimmons, the 

 'possum will feed on carrion also ; hence 

 it is the usual object of a 'possum hunt to 

 secure the game alive and then feed the 

 'possum, carefully, long enough to free the 

 flesh from any objectionable taste. Baked 

 with sweet potatoes and served with the 

 usual condiments, 'possum is regarded by 

 many as appetizing, and not strong. Coon 

 meat is different. There can be no mis- 

 take about the flesh of this animal. It is 

 peculiarly strong and no amount of season- 

 ing or flavoring will rob it of that taste of 

 wildness which is peculiarly its own. It is 

 not a bad taste, when one is used to it, 

 provided the meat is properly prepared. 

 Few persons know how to cook a coon, 

 however; perhaps because the meat is rare- 

 ly found in most sections. Some of the 

 old time colored cooks were especially 

 skillful in preparing coons and 'possums. 



