The sun., 1893-03-26
Food.

man race!
Food.
Men Of ingenuity are to-day at work for
the benefit ot households In two noteworthy
ways in cnrichinG the larder. and in reliev-
ing kitchen drudgery. At AtChicago. Kansas
City, and other cattle marts. ingenious ma
chinsry Is busy freeing beef from all that is
not beef. and sealing up the product for the
cook. Where roll the Fraser and the CO.
lumbia. great canneries save for a nations 8
food the wonderful catches OF salmon which
otherwise would be wasted: and in the cans
the bones helpfully crumble. In New York
and other cities Of the land are big factories
which turn out q dozen dainty kinds Of
breakfast cereals. some Of them SO far cooked
that five minutes over a fire prepares them
for the table. Soups. which for service
require simply to be warmed. ara now sold
in tins at moderate prices; their strength
aud flavor possible only through whole
sale production.
In providing fresh fruits and vegetables
in abounding variety the railways have
played the leading part. Express trains
are now bringing to the metropolis straw
berries and tomatoes from Florida. aspara-
gus from Virginia and Georgia. Yet little
while and California will be shipping US figs
and peaches too delicate to Withstand the
rude touch OF the canning machine. Nor
need fruit be newly plucked to be excellent
food. Apparatus which makes ice by steam
Is now widely used to keep storehouses
at low temperatures. To-day. apples and
grapes from the orchards Of this State are
sent to the table in perfect order. despite
their storage for five months. Indeed. with
care 1t is quite feasible to preserve hardy
fruit until new crop Is gathered.
With the return OF summer heats It Is
again the express train that chiefly supplies
the markets. Refrigerator cars bring joint
and chop thousand miles. and take In ex-
change fish and shelltish from the seaboard.
As railroads are extended. as train service
is quickened. and freight rates lowered. new
markets are created for the kitchen-garden
farmer. while those who buy get moro and
better food for their money.
In camping. picnicklng. in country homes
for city people. in little flats in cities. the
COW has no longer to be reckoned with. that
is. directly. The condensed milk factory
offers product as easy to keep sound as
cheese. In the Southern States. few
years ago. cottonseed was thrown away as
worthless. To-day. it yields in cottolene o
capital substitute for cooking butter.
Thus has invention. mechanical and
chemical. enlarged the resources OF the
larder. and removed to the factory many
laborious tasks once performed in the
kitchen. Invention has gone further. it has
made the culinary art much easier than
ever before. In the gas stove and gas
range. and in similar devices which use oil.
1t has done great deal to dismiss tho fiery
heats which SO often have aroused In cooks
fiery tempers. IN abolishing the use OF
coal. inventors have abolished slavery to
the coal hod aud ash barrel. The chatting
dish. which now takes its place on dinner
and supper tables. shows what can be done
to refine cooking when its fuel is refined.
Cooking by gas. by oil or spirit lamps.
has brought with it an improvement which
deserved to be introduced among us long
ago. In Norway and Sweden. where chilling
draughts are commoner than here. where
fuel is dearer. they have for generations
understood the value OF felt as covering
for kettles. boilers. and stewpaus. They
have asked: Why should the cook as well
us the meat be roasted. not simply wasting
heat, but wasting it harlnfully? At a
cook shop ON the corner of two i'm
portant streets. ia this city. an Aladdin
cooker is at work every day teaching tho
importance of non-conductors In the
kitchen. A thick covering OF wood fibre
keeps The heat where it Is needed: and.
while tho cook is in an atmosphere OF conf
Portable temperature. her dishes are pre-
pared with a tithe OF the fuel ordinarily con-
sumed. This Aladdin cooker takes advan-
tage OF another Scandinavian discovery:
namely, that many dishes are best cooked
when slowly cooked. Cheap cuts OF beef
and mutton. such as usually are deemed fit
only for the soup pot. make q ade'icious stew
when simmered overnight. Tho gas or oil
burner needs no attention. At the Food
Show at the Lenox Lyceum the In
strnctor in cooking employs electric
heat during her lessons. Without the
necessity for exposing tho surface OF
pot or pan to flame, she improves the
opportunity 10 use non-conductors with
the utmost effectiveness. With q covering
OF gypsum. felt. wood fibre. or paper all
around cooking vessel. extremely little
heat eau escape. Hence. costly though
electric neat might be. its economy IN ap-
plication might Offset its responsiveness.
With gas. however. the advantage rests
in the matter OF ventilation. Through the
pipe and tlue OF stove or range. the fumes
OF cooking can readily be removed. Aid
here is gained when cooking vessels are
rightly patterned, In designs long familiar
to stove makers, a tube cast Ia a boiler or
solderedi1 . kettle runs upward through
the vessel along its side. Through the up
per end Of the tube enter the smoke and
odors OF cooking. through the lower end OF
the tube they find their way to the fire. tho
broiler. or what not. standing directly over
the flame: tight lid ensures that the
fumes have vent through tho tube only.
Now that kitchens can be made comfort
able in temperature ana pure In mir; now
that coarse drudgery in preparing meals is
banished. tho culinary art Is becoming at
tractiye TO Intelligent and refined spirits.