Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-04-20
LAMENT FOR THE ROLLING PIN.
The Prevalence of Dyspepsia Ascri6ed to
the Disuse Of that Utensil.

The Prevalence of Dyspepsia Ascribed to
the Disuse Of that Utensil.
In the days of my youth, writes an
elderly correspondent, there was no
kitchen implement in more constant de-
mand than the rolling-pin, and one of the
principal accomplishments on which our
good old-fashioned housewives used to
pride themselves was the fabrication of
light pastry. 1t was popularity supposed
that in order to be easy of digestion all
dough or paste intended for consumption
should first be thoroughly kneaded and
then rolled and rerolled for very con-
siderable period of time. In fact, so
lengthy and laborious was the process
that, in fgurative language, the excel
lence of the product was said to be meas
urable by the amount of elboW-grease
devoted to its manufacture.
Nowadays, continues our culinary
laudator tempOriS acti, all this has been
changed 1t is true that rolling-pins still
exist Though the name has disappeared
from at least one popular dictionary but,
alas! how shorn of their dignity and inn
portance. Formerly rolling-pin was
skillfully constructed instrument, of suit
able weight, and accurately balanced;
but now that hurry and superfciality are
paramount, any round piece of wood will
do. Thanks to specially prepared fours,
and the patent baking powders, whose
kneaded dough is simply tattened out TO
the requisite thickness, and then, without
further manipulation, incontinently util-
lied in the production of pie, pudding, or
tart, as the case may be.
The grandmOthers of the impetuous
danes who now preside over the prep
aration of our food were wont to inlaprt
varying degrees of elaborateness to their
paste, having regard to the species of
''kckshaw" it was designed to surmount,
subtend or encircle. AS rule, the
crisper the product was to be the more
protracted was the use of the rolling
pin; but not even i'll the case of an hum
BILE 'roly-poly' would the doughty. en-
yelope have been subjected to the brief
not to say contemptuous treatment now
Unfortunately employed for all kinds
of pastry.
Never by any chance do we meet with
properly made pie-crusJ: the delicious,
toothsome morsels that left our mouths
unclogged and were perfectly amenable
to our gastric juices are no longer to be
had for love nor money. The airy vol
au-oent, the crisp and saccharous tartlet,
the delicate puff and the imponderabl bic
dumping, all-all have vanished into the
limbo of forgotten eXcellences, leaving
behind them naught save the fond mem
cries of an irrevocable past. There can
be no doubt, says our eloquent, if mel
ancholy, complainant, in conclusion, that
dyspepsia, with it's ever-lengthening train
of woes, is largely due to neglect of
the rolling-pin. Like everybody else, our
cooks are in too great hurry. They
grudge the time. he urges which their
forbears lavished SO freely, and hence
one Of the most potent sources of that
ever increasing degeneracy of our race
to which attention has lately been so
prominently directed.
We need scarcely say that we cannot
accept our correspondents views in their
entirety, but there may possibly be some
foundation for his invective. The pro-
duction of wholesome pastry is unques-
tionably a serious matter, and if the neg
lected rolling-pin be in reality a cause
of deterioration, the sooner the attention
of the wielders of that implement is
called to the fact the better it will be
for all consumers of the delicacy. In
general way cooks are undoubtedly con-
sentative, but we are inclined to believe
that rolling-pins have gone out of fash
ion IT ondOp Savant