The Osceola times., 1881-05-07
Philosophy of Potato Cooking.
Pacific Rural.

NNiS
Philosophy of Potato Cooking.
Pacific Rural.
There was time when potatoes were
worth 81 eachl How could that be?
The man must have been starving TO pay
that price! 1t was not one man. but
thousands of men, who paid that price,
and right here in California, too. They
had abundance of bread and meat lsalt
as rule) and whisky; but still they
were starved, and the starvation showed
itself as scurvy. With scuryy at the
doors potatoes were cheap at 81 apiece.
OF course this was in the gold days,
when agriculture was at discount and
and fruit and vegetables scarce. But this
fact is text, and bears on the question
of how to cook a potato. Few seem to
know how, OF to be willing to take the
trouble to cook potato so as to get the
real food value of it. The common idea
is that a potato is three-fourths water
and the rest starch and the fallacy hides
entirely the food value of the potato. To
the scurvy stricken sufferer starch is of
noAse, he has abundance Of it in his
bread, his -four, or rice. A potato is in
reality three-fourths juice and about one
fourth starch, and it was the juice that
the early Californians paid u for-the
iuice which most cooks throw away,
serving up the least useful starch devoid
of aroma and flavor, except, perhaps,
that of salt. The scorbutic miners dared
not cook their potatoes, but ate them
raw. The Juice was too precious to waste;
the starch they did waste, for uncooked
starch is almost indigestable by the
human body.
In fruits and vegetables the blood
(iuice) is truly the life thereof, and any
mode of cooking which does not preserve
that is at once foolish, extravagant and
unhealthy. Mild scurvy, due to the
want of these juices, is the most common
cause lin children especially of many
skin diseases, of malformed bones, and
of much physical weakness and liability
to disease. In cooking potatoes many
people first pare them, losing thus the
most nutritious part of the potatoe, for
we find, as rule, in all seeds and vege-
table growth, that the flesh and bone
forming materials are most abundant
toward the surface. Thus in wheat the
central part of the seed is little more
than pure starch, the albumnous and
mineral matters existing chiefly near the
outer surface. But our cook, not satis-
fed with wasting the outer and best pant
of the potatoe, proceeds further to waste
the juice by sleeping the cut potatoes in
cold water. Boiling water should not be
so wasteful, as it would coagulate the
albumen near the surface, and thus put
a new skin on the potato, which would
preserve the juices. The wasteful cook,
after sleeping now proceeds further to
waste the life of the potatoes by boiling
them in water. Analysis has shown
that by this mode of cooking ~ per cent
(nearly one-half) of the potash is lost
and, rs potash is for scurvy perhaps the
most valuable part, it is safe TO say that
half of the juice is lost.
The Juice of the potato contains, com.
bined with the potash, the acid Of orange
(citric acid and others, probably those
of apples (malic) and of grape tartaric)
As regards quantity, the juice of the
potato is Just twice as rich in those anti
scorbutic acids and alkalies MS that OF
the grape. Proper cooking should pre-
serve all. The German eats his potato
raw, as said; but this plan, as before re-
marked, is wasteful of the starch, though
it makes sure of the juice. The French
man cooks his in boiling oil, perhaps the
best method of any, if the potato must
be pared, as it cooks them thoroughly
quickly, and with no loss of any thing
but water. It, however, requires heat,
as, if the oil is too cool, it soaks into the
potatoe, spelling it in taste, as also for
| the ordinary dyspeptic American stom
ach. Again, if the oil be too hot, it burns
the outside of the potato; but this is the
lesser evil. If rightly managed, the po-
| tato comes out dry, mealy, and of pale
amber tint; no oil is absorbed as may
be tested by placing the potato on piece
OF clean paper, which it will not stain
In this mode of cooking the potatoes are
place in a wire basket, and so plunged
into deep pot of hot oil, for how long
/ experience alone can tell.
Steaming is the only mode Of cooking
free from all objection, and is at once
easy, inexpensive and economical. An
| impromtu steamer may be made by
piercing with, say one-iourth or one hall
inch holes, the bottom of an old sauce.
pan, and placing this over another ol
rather smaller size, in which little
water is kept briskly boiling The pota-
toes may be either pared or not, as de-
sired; pareing is of course always waste
ful in itself; but the steaming extracts
no further juice. Boiling with their
jackets on is free from many of the OBJ
iections mentioned against the boiling OF
pared potatoes. Analysis has shown a
loss of only per cent. Putting plenty
of salt into the water tends TO prevent
the loss Of juice. Baking, perhaps, of all
modes of cooking, best brings out the
flavor, aroma and quality of good po-
tato. Baking, or rather roasting in the
ashes under the fire, makes dish
worthy of an epicure. But this mode
wastes not perhaps as much, but con-
siderable proportion of the potato, and
some of the juice, for much of the potato
adheres TO the skin, and also the evapo-
ration from the surface draws the inner
juices toward the skin, where much of
them are burned beyond use.
Where fruit and vegetables are scarce
and children not very healthy, there is
no cheaper, easier and better medicine
than potato soup. Cut the potatoes in
thin slices and put them in cold water
an hour or two before boiling, if conve-
nient Boil quickly and strongly until
soft, after which stand them back on the
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