Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-03-27
THE VEGETARIAN DIET.
1t Is More Expensive Than the Meat Diet
Best WAY to Prepare Vegetables-Sur-
prises Caused by Retaining the Flavors
Beans and Peas
WRITTEN FOR THE DISPATCH.

| WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPArcH.I
The cost of strictly vegetable diet,
which would include butter, milk and eggs,
would be greater in this country than the
cost of an ordinary diet including meat
How far this may be changed by the intro
duction of cooked cheese in connection with
a vegetarian diet one cannot yet state, and
it is not my purpose to deal with this ques-
tion, but rather to treat of the preparation
of grain, roots and other vegetables which
enter into the customary supply of food.
Grains like oatmeal cornmeal and cracked
wheat, which are eaten in the shape of
mush or porridge, may be dealt with In
either one of two ways: First, by long ap-
plication of heat below the boiling point
When treated in this way the fine favors OF
each specific grain are retained, and the
cooked product is in very digestible condi-
tion, unless it is hastily swallowed.
Starchy foods should be eaten slowly.
If swallowed rapidly or bolted in
the customary way they may not
prove to be as digestible or nu-
tritious as one ha6 right to expect
Oatmeal Over Quick Fire.
| Oatmeal may be cooked over quick fire
in only water enough to swell the grain.
Rice mag also be cooked very quickly in
boiling water for short time; the proper
ton of water should be so great as to give
each grain room to swell separately. In
dealing with the grains it is a matter of taste
or convenience which plan of cooking is en-
pIoyed, but the cooking must be thorough.
The roots containing cellulose, especially
potatoes. customarily require a higher de.
gree of heat than either meat or grain in
order to bake them thoroughly. The scien-
tifc writers upon cookery give preference
to baked potatoes over boiled on account Of
the retention of the mineral salts, which
are dissolved in water. In boiling potatoes
should be subjected to quick heat
SO as to rupture or break the
starch cells without giving time to
change the starch into dextrine. Carrots,
beets and parsnips may rightly be boiled,
even though the process deprives them OF
their very decided flavor. They have so
much favor that they may even be i'm
proved in the process of boiling, as the
Norwegians who live continually upon sal
mon boil it in order to deprive it of part
of its flavor, so that it NAV remain perfect
ly palatable; otherwise it cloys.
Boiling Inside the Oven.
Boiling can be more conveniently and
readily accomplished on a kerosene oil or
gas stove than in any other kind of oven.
But beets, carrots and parsnips, as well as
| other roots may be cooked in the oven for q
long time very slowly in closed vessels, SUBJ
jected to the same degree of heat that is re-
quired in roasting meat from 800 to $50 de-
grees Fahrenheit. Green vegetables, peas,
| beans and the like, are very deliciously
cooked in this way. They retain very
| much finer flavor than when subjected to
| the customary heat of the iron stove in an
| open vessel or when boiled. When
the heat is properly regulated all
kinds of fruit and vegetables may
| be cooked in the oven, in vegetable dishes
china, porcelain or rstoneware-open or coy-
cred. The watery kinds require very little
water. The drier kinds may have little
water added The steam generated at the
higher heat to which the outside of the YES
sci is subjected raises the temperature with
in the covered vessel only to about the boil
ing point; and while the vessel may not be
steam tight lest it burst, vet it may be suf
ficiently tight to retain the aromatic oils
which should not be carried of, thus assur-
ing the full flavor, whatever it may be.
One lady, who had thus cooked them IN
the oven informed me that she had then
'tfor the first time tasted many kinds of
vegetable which she had been eating all her
life In the rice-fed nations very large
quantities of leguminous plants OF the pea
and bean order are consumed with the rice;
they furnish nitrogen, in which rice is de-
fcient. Full nutrition and strength could
not be attained on a diet consisting wholly
of rice. Rice is almost wholly starch.
How Cinnamon Get Nitrogen.
The Chinese not only produce but con-
1orr of hoop AL
is the principle oil of China. The bean
meal left after the oil is expressed is used
to feed the stock and also as fertilizer.
The cotton seed meal of our own country is
also put to the same use. The Chinese have
fertilized their sugar grounds with bean
meal for centuries, our sugar planters are
only just beginning to learn to use their
cotton seed for the same purpose. The
Chinese also eat chickens, the eggs Of ducks
and many other foods which furnish nitro
gen, using rice as we use bread and potatoes.
Very little attention is given in the
Northern United States to dried peas and
beans except in getting. up the noted New
England dainty, baked beans Dried split
peas, or whole peas, should be cooked at a
moderate heat for a very long time. In the
New England kitchen pea soup is made
which possesses an entirely different flavor
from the ordinary pea soup. The soup is
being subjected to the heat of lamp all
night; in the morning it is strained and
dealt with according to regular recipes.
The straining is essential in order to remove
a considerable amount of cellulose or woody
fibre which is separated by the long process
of cooking; this being removed, leaves the
soup in much more nutritious and digesti-
BILE condition.
Uses OF Peas and Beans.
There appears to be less knowledge in