PURE AND IMPURE FOODS. 



333 



PUNCH. 



Concerning the name punch, the author of 

 "Cakes and Ale" states that "Doctor Kitch- 

 ener, an acknowledged authority, during his 

 lifetime, on all matters connected with eat- 

 ing and drinking, has laid it down that 

 punch is of West Indian origin, and that the 

 word when translated means 5 ; because 

 'there be 5 ingredients necessary in the 

 concoction of the beverage. But Doctor 

 Kitchener and his disciples, of whom there 

 be many, may go to the bottom of the 

 cookery class ; for although from the large 

 connection which rum and limes have with 

 the mixture, there would seem to be a 

 West Indian flavor about it, the word 'five' 

 when translated into West Indianese is noth- 

 ing like 'punch.' " Having satisfied them- 

 selves that this is a fact, modern authorities 

 have tried the East Indies for the source 

 of the name, and have discovered that panch 

 in Hindustani really does mean "five." 

 "Therefore," says one modern authority, "it 

 is named punch from the 5 ingredients 

 which compose it, spirit, acid, spice, sugar, 

 water." Another modern authority calls 

 punch "a beverage introduced into England 

 from India, and so called from being usually 

 made of 5 (Hindi, panch) ingredients, ar- 

 rack, tea, sugar, water and lemon juice." 

 This sounds far more like an East Indian 

 concoction than the other; but at the same 

 time punch, during the latter half of the 

 19th century, at all events, was as rare a 

 drink in Hindustan as bhqnp in Great Bri- 

 tain. The panch theory is an ingenious one, 

 but there are plenty of other combinations, 

 both liquid and solid, of 5 to which the 

 word punch is never applied ; and about the 

 last beverage recommended by the faculty 

 for the consumption of the sojourner in the 

 land of the Great Mogul would, I should 

 think, be the entrancing, seductive one 

 which we Britons know under the name of 

 punch. Moreover, it is not every punch 

 concoctor who uses 5 ingredients. In the 

 minds of some youthful members of the 

 Stock Exchange, for the most part, water 

 is an altogether unnecessary addition to the 

 alcoholic mixture which is known by the 

 above name. And what manner of man 

 would add spice to that delight of old Ire- 

 land, "a jug o' punch?" On the other hand, 

 in many recipes, there are more than 5 in- 

 gredients used. 



After all, the origin of the name is of but 

 secondary importance, as long as you can 

 make punch. 



FOODS SOLD IN PACKAGES. 



Foods sold in packages are as a rule more 

 expensive than the same articles sold in 

 bulk. On the other hand, they are not 

 handled so much as bulk goods, and are to 

 a greater or less extent protected from dirt 

 and insects. 



That the package idea in foods is popular 

 with the American housewife is shown by 

 the marvelous sale of breakfast foods. Ac- 

 cording to a recent writer, "Already there 

 are more than a hundred varieties of ce- 

 real, fruit and nut foods on the market, 

 with an output of nearly $50,000,000 worth 

 a year. In the food factories the cartons 

 are cut, printed and folded automatically ; 

 and after they have been automatically filled 

 with cereal food they are closed with paste 

 and machinery. One Chicago factory 

 spends more than $5,000 a day on cartons. 

 One factory spends more than $100,000 a 

 year for paraffine paper to wrao the prod- 

 uct inside the carton. It is estimated that 

 it costs $400 to $800 in advertising to 

 sell $1,000 worth of breakfast food ; but as 

 a market can be created for the product in 

 no other way, the manufacturers must 

 spend money in persistent publicity. 



"It will be seen at a glance, therefore, 

 that the package idea in foods costs money ; 

 but the consumer is willing to pay for it. 

 What does it mean to the consumer? What 

 advantage is there in the package idea over 

 the open cracker barrel of our boyhood 

 days, in which the cat slept at night, in 

 which the mice played hide and seek, and 

 from which we filled our pockets before 

 going to school? It is easy to see that 

 cleanliness and purity are on the side of 

 the package product ; that is, if the factory 

 is clean, and most of them are. In eating 

 the contents o*f a carton of cereal food you 

 at least feel that you do not include the 

 sweepings of a grocery store or the dust 

 blown in from the street ; but the package 

 food has more than this to commend it. 

 It is a picked food, and a picked food 

 means picked men and women for an age 

 in which the race for achievement calls for 

 the best brains and brawn that the best 

 dietetic science can produce." 



Have you any friends who are interested 

 in hunting, fishing, natural history, game 

 protection or amateur ohotography? If so 

 why not send each of them a year's sub- 

 scription to Recreation for a Christmas 

 present? The stories in Recreation are the 

 actual experiences and observations of men 

 who live out of doors, who shoot, fish pho- 

 tograph and study nature ; and they depict 

 outdoor life as it is. 



In no other way could you give a friend 

 so much value for the money as by making 

 him a present of Recreation. 



"Perkins entered into an agreement with 

 his wife soon after their marriage, 20 years 

 ago, that whenever either lost temper, or 

 stormed, the other was to keep silence." 



"And the scheme worked?" 



"Admirably. Perkins has kept silence 

 20 years."— London Tid Bits. 



