Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-10-12
ABOUT CREAM OF TARTAR.
The Large Amount of the Adulterated
Stuff Sold for the Pure Article.

"a lady friend Of mine asked me the other
day." said Washington druggist to STAR re-
porter, 'if cream of tartar was product strictly
pertaiing to or originating in Tartary, and
being in powdered form. why it is called cream.
was somewhat surprised and no little amused"
said he, 'for the inquirer seemed to be in earn
est, and if l am not mistaken will soon be X
street house keeper. After had explained, she
was as candid about and as much amused at her
erroneous idea as was"
1.-THE truth is" continued the druggist,
thousands Of people use cream Of tartar with
out Knowing what it is, and a.large percentage
OF those using it are ignorant of the fact that
they get the benefit of very little cream of tartar
but the use Of good deal of something else. En-
deed much Ofthe alleged cream oftartar used, is a
fraud. pure and simple, being made from tar
taric acid, and this accounts tor frequent fall
ures in preparing especially desirable dainty
dishes just at time when failure Is most en-
barrassiDg. HOusekeepers can trace many dis
appointing results to this fraudulent stuff or its
step-cOusin-the adultered article"
WHAT 1T Is.
"What Is cream Of tarter then" asked the re-
porter.
Now, see here, you are newspaper man and
on one of the best local papers in America,
put yourself to work and find out and l shall
look LOT the result III LIE STAR. IL Is q matter
of much Importance to housewives to know
something about this much-used article" and
with that parting injunction he went on his
way.
Taking the cue from the inquisitiveness ofthe
prospective housekeeper the reporter studied up
all the different creams knowE-except ice
cream, of course, Of which every masculine in
dividual in Washington has practical annual OBJ
ject lessons as certain as the summer comes
without obtaining the desired Information. The
word tartar" however, opened the avenue
which led to what he wanted and it is indeed a
matter Of some interest to housekeepers to
know something about-this common cooking
article. Cream of tartar.
THE ACID PRINCIPLE OF GRAPES.
and 1t is obtained chiefly from them. It accu-
muates In crystals on the sides of wine vats or
settles to the bottom with the lees it being insou-
BILE in alcohol and so forsaking the grape juice
soon as 1t begins to be converted into alcohol
There are or 3 pounds Of it in ton of grapes,
and it Is extracted from the crystals collected
from the wine watts, called '.argols. or from the
lees, by refining process either before or after
its shipment from the wine makers. The re-
f1ners take advantage Of the easy sOiubity of the
tartar in hot water. The argols and lees are put
into hot water from which the foreign matter Is
permitted to settle. Then the hot acid solution
Is cooled and the tartar Is preciptated and crys-
talized. 1t Is then only half refined and is put
through another process In which the aid Of
chemicals is called in and from which the tartar
comes clear. pure and white. Then 1t is dried
and pulverized and becomes the cream Of tartar
Of commerce and the cuisine.
SOMETIMES THE HALF-REFTNED "ARGOLS"
are put on the market as pure cream Of tartar.
These are not adulterated, Of course, and this
gives INSCRIPTIONS dealers suohcient grounds
for claiming purity, but they are really fraud
as they contain much less the amount Of cream
of tartar found In the pure article necessary to
produce results according to instructions In
compounding and cooking foods. Nearly all
the cream oftartar used In the United States Is
refined In this country, andthe best now reaches
90 per cent of purity. Being high priced it IL
much adulterated, alum, terra alba, rice -four,
starch, and various phosphates being employed
for the purpose. causing much trouble to house.
keepers and caterers. Two common
TESTS FOR nPURE CREAM OF TARTER
are given as follows: Take q teaspoonful Of
cream of tartar and two to sspoonfuls of bicar-
Donate of soda and dissolve in . tumbler Of
water. II pure, this win in Q short time be-
come clear; adulterated with terra alba q
white deposit will be found on the bottom Of
the tumbler. Add Q few drops Of tincture Of
iodine to the solution; II pure 1t win turn the
water to tea color. but II Il contains starch It
will become deep blue. In some cases, how
ever, nothing but . chemical analysis viii detect
the adulteration. Sometimes the deliberations
are dangerous. though not often.