PURE AND IMPURE FOODS. 



393 



titics of sugar, have the finest teetli in the 

 world. 



It is also unproved that sugar produces 

 gout. Sugar seems ill-adapted to the sick, 

 except when used in small quantities as a 

 flavor. It is believed that in sickness the 

 stomach is inactive, and has less than its 

 normal absorptive power, and that sugar 

 on this account is less well borne than in 

 health. The action of sugar in stimulat- 

 ug a flow of the digestive juices may in 

 *ch a case be only irritating in its effect. 



HOME COOKED VERSUS PURCHASED 

 FOOD. 

 A number of experiments were carried 

 on under the auspices of the Boston 

 branch of the Association of Collegiate 

 Alumnae, to determine whether palatable 

 meals could be bought and sent home, 

 ready cooked, and to compare the cost of 

 such a diet with the same articles cooked 

 at home. The menu was varied, as it was 

 found possible to buy from restaurants, 

 shops, the New England Kitchen, etc., 

 cooked meats, soups, pastry, salads, etc., in 

 addition to the bread and other goods com- 

 monly sold by bakers. These foods, with 

 the addition of fruit, furnished a palatable 

 diel. 



In the first test, made with a family of 

 10 persons, the food cooked outside the 

 home cost 25.6 cents per person per meal, 

 including cost of fuel and labor. Prepared 

 at home, the same diet cost 16.5 cents per 

 person per meal. In the second test, in 

 which the family averaged 15 students, the 

 food, bought ready cooked, cost 19.5 cents 

 per person per meal; that prepared at home 

 15 cents. In other words, the food prepared 

 at home was much the cheaper. On the 

 other hand, the saving in time by the pur- 

 chase of cooked food was great, 4^ hours, 

 in the first experiment, being required to 

 prepare the cooked food for the table, as 

 compared with 32^2 hours required to cook 

 the same food in the house. In the second 

 experiment the valuations were 11 hours 

 and 41H hours respectively. 



In a report of these investigations it was 

 stated that it was a decided surprise to the 

 family to find that the food cooked outside 

 of the house was so good. The meats in 

 particular were well cooked. Although 

 they had to be reheated they were not dried 

 or toughened. The soups, too, were ex- 

 tremely good. Tea and coffee and a few 

 other things were much better when made 

 at home; but while admitting that the arti- 

 cles from outside were good, the majority 

 of the family preferred the home cooking. 



The experiments proved that a varied 

 menu of good quality can be provided for a 

 large family from food prepared outside 

 the house; that the expense is greater 

 when the food is bought outside ; and that 



there is a great saving ill time and labor 

 by the purchase of food outside. 



"In general, may we not conclude," the 

 investigators say, "that it might be possible 

 to do away with all cooking in the house 

 when the increase in expense is counter- 

 balanced by the saving of time and labor ? 

 In small families especially, where the cost 

 of the food is greater in proportion than in 

 large families, the meals might be entirely 

 cooked outside, making it possible in a 

 small house or in an apartment to dis- 

 pense with a maid.- Again, to buy a food 

 cooked might give the mistress time to do 

 more profitable work. In a small family 

 the exact amount required could be bought. 

 This would save much of the waste, both 

 in buying and serving, which seems un- 

 avoidable when the small quantities needed 

 are cooked at home. 



"The choice of foods ready cooked must 

 necessarily be limited. Since in the pres- 

 ent development of the industry the food 

 must be cooked a considerable time before 

 it is served, and must usually be reheated 

 if it is to be served hot, all the dishes 

 which spoil by standing or which depend on 

 immediate serving for their peculiar delicacy 

 are debarred. Thus such things as cheese 

 dishes, souffles, cooked eggs, and certain 

 other dishes would only be good freshly 

 made at home. These might all be made 

 with a simple cooking equipment, such as 

 a small oil or gas stove, or even a chafing 

 dish. If a maid is kept it would require 

 no expense for labor to have her do such 

 simple cooking as the preparation of these 

 few dishes; or the housekeeper herself 

 could do it, with little outlay in time and 

 energy." 



HOMEMADE CHEESES WITH FOREIGN 



NAMES. 

 Many who pride themselves on their 

 gastronomic taste speak scornfully of 

 American cheeses, but in perhaps 9 cases 

 out of 10 they eat and praise as an excel- 

 lent example of the foreign product a 

 cheese that never crossed the Atlantic. 

 Camembert and Brie, according to a re- 

 cent writer, are the only soft cheeses 

 which are imported in any considerable 

 quantity, and even they are sometimes man- 

 ufactured in the United States. It is con- 

 ceded that American-made Camembert and 

 Brie are not so good as the foreign article, 

 but the cheesemakers of New York and 

 New Jersey have come at length to produce 

 admirable Roquefort and good imitations, 

 if they may be so called, of many other fa- 

 mous foreign cheeses. At the Wisconsin 

 Experiment Station much attention has al- 

 ways been paid to cheesemaking, and the 

 various problems connected with the indus- 

 try. The station has studied the manufac- 

 ture of Edam cheese and can produce a 



