Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-04-11
FOR EVERY BODY.
Flesh, Fish and FOwI-what Shall We
Eat9


Eat9
For the due preservation and enjoyment
Of health, much discrimination is necessary
in the choice of food, whether animal or
vegetable. 1t may be taken as a general
| rule, that the flesh Of the full-grown animal
| is more digestible and nutritive than that Of
its young. Thus beef or mutton are of
more easy digestion than veal or lamb; but,
| on the contrary, the flesh of the sucking
pig is more wholesome than that of the
larger animal Of all meats, tender wether
mutton is by far the most nutritious and d.
| gestible; but the fat Of mutton, having a
tendency to cOagulate, is less easily assimu-
lated in the stomach than the fat OF most
other animals. Beef is not of so
easy digestion, but it is equally, if not
more, nutritive. But beef is difficult of
solution In the stomach; and COW beef is
not so tender as the flesh of the OK. Pork
and bacon are heavy and indigestible food,
and fit only for such persons as lead an &C
tive or labOrious life; and even by them
they should be used sparingly, as, by their
too frequent use, the bowels will be disor-
dered, and eruptiOns on the skin occasioned.
Fish is less nutritive than meat, and there
| fore is. not adapted to form diet by itself
| is more quickly converted into chyle. 1t is
also less stimulsnt than the flesh of AMI
mails, and it is said to be better adapted to
weak and delicate habits.
But the truth of this position may be
well doubted; for, as fish is generally al
! lowed to linger and die in order to keep it
fresh for the market, for this cause, proba-
| bly,, is occasioned its disagreement with
he no 80
! high-Seasoned sauces render fish Of all kinds
more difficult Of digestion than they would
otherwise be; to render it salutary food,
vinegar and salt form the best additions.
| Of this last mentioned species of food, the
cod, turbOt, sole, whiting, founder and
| fresh herring are the most nutritiye and the
easiest of digestion; the salmon and the
maCkerel the most indigestible. Eels are
nourishing, but difficult to digest. The
! turtle, when not injured by the refnements
| of cookery, is wholesome and nutritious.
| Oysters, eaten in a raw state, with a
slight addition of vinegar and pepper,
may be considered strengthening,
! and not unwhOlesome; but when stewed
! they are highly indigestiblc; quality be-
| longing to the whole tribe of shell-fsh.
| Muscles are of yiscid nature, and on that
! dSSOuub luc1 OItcl SSIlUuSlH ulSOIutT Il6
bowels. In general, salt water fish are
wholesomer than river fish. Of birds, the
IOodcock, partridge, grouse, quail, lark,
| turkey and the common fowl, are cOnsid-
! cred the most wholesome and digestible;
| and the goose, widgeon, teal, and the wild
| and tame duck the most difficult of solution,
and the most likely to disagree with the
stomach. The pheasant is less digestible
| than the common fowl, and the pigeon fur
nishes food Of a dry and heating nature.
In general, the flesh of birds is lighter,
| drier, and more easily digested than that of
animals; and as the blood produced from it
is light and full of spirit, it is favorable to
she exercises Of the mind. But there is very
little nourishment inpoultry and most kinds
| of game, in proportion to their bulk. Raw
eggs are nutritive and generally laxative;
but, if they are boiled hard they produce
| costiveness. To Obvia,e this effect, they
! should be boiled no longer than is neces-
sary (namely, three minutes) to coagu-
late the greater part of the white, or
! albumen, without depriving the yolk of its
| fuidity. Game of all kind is, in general,
| wholesome. The flesh of the leveret, when
roasted, is nutritive and easily digested;
and that of the tame rabbit, is of similar
quality to the flesh of the fowl, and equally
| digestible. And, Notwithstanding the
common opinion to the contrary, the flesh
of the wild rabbit is one of the highest and
most dgestible food in use-a quality that
may be predicted of all wild animals for
food, in preference to those that are cooped
| or shut up.