Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-03
Table and Kitchen.
There Are Rich Elements for Nourish-
ment in Woodland Stores.

fruits both In appearance and nutrftive
value. The nuts. in general. contain no
starch, and very little water, but contain
quantities Of nutriment Al highly con-
centrated form, and are chiefly composed
Of the oils and proteids. On the other
hand. the succulent fruits contain large
percentage of water, very little protein,
valuable salts. almost no fats and varying
quantities of starch and sugar. One marked
feature Of nuts in general Is the large pro-
portion Of oily matter contained in them.
This fat is similar in character to cream.
The profusion of this fat combined with
the heterogeneous elements In the nuts gives
them food value ranking very high, and
some Psychologists assert that they contain
more elements of nourishment than meat
and butter combined. Although the edible
nuts have long been known and natural
liking for them is almost universal, they
have not been considered in the light Of
necessary food for man, but rather as one
OF the agreeable accessories with which to
round out bounteous meal. In this way
they have been made to serve the same
purpose in our dietary as cheese on the
dinner menu-to act simply as a digest.
While nuts should be eaten in certain mod
GRAFTON at meal time and not served be-
tween times, to overtax the digestive pow
ers, they should be made to serve a very
different purpose than melting the digest
i've functions to unnecessary labor.
Their solid, concentrated form of nutri-
ent principles renders their disintegration
by the gastric juices a very slow process,
as well as difficult one, when they are
eaten in the usual way. Unless they can
be reduced to the consistency of cream in
mastication, or at least reduced to very,
very fine particles, they leave too much
bolt food and the short time allowed for
digestion In, the hurry Of modern business
life make the nut in its natural state a
cry bad food But by milling them mod
n Ia how mil {o 1oP<
Inner man" to perform and they are adj
mirably adapted, If eaten at the proper
time for a substitute for animal food. BY
g GRIMM or milling the nuts the digestive
tlcies quickly, as the nuts are rendered
quite soft and none Of the flavor is lost.
The large quantity of Oil contained in
an n, nuts SAN and their very distinctive fiavors
cereal foods which are rather deficient in
both these principles. There is no cues
ton that nature designed both nuts and
cereals for winter food for man as well
and dried, and a few green vegetables and
we have supplied everything that Is nee
essary to live on, and food that is compara
lively cheap. The only question is how
70 prepare these foods SO that they will be
perfectly digestible and in the right pro-
portion, the value of food depending on
the amount absorbed by the system and
made available for immediate or future
use III the human economy, While the
normal digestive functions must not be
relieved Of the necessary amount of labor
ana they Will soon take advantage of too
great indulgence in this way-ft must be
re membered that the modern active indi-
vidualS are in too great a hurry tn "eat
slowly and thoroughly masttcate their
focd," and therefore almost the same
amount of artificial predigestion is neces-
sary for them as for those whose stomachs
nave lost the power of doing the proper
iro6 u, Il;
nary diet. Such wonderfully nourishine
FOODS as cheese and nuts can be robbed Of
their Objectionable feature and made per
fectly digestible for those who live a sed-
entary life but are brain-active. But for
such these foods must be changed in form
by grating and grinding and reduced to
particles finer than cracked wheat
Variety in the Composition of Nuts.
1t must not be ina gined for a moment
that all nuts are alike in composition.
The nut-eating animal will teach you that
In the list Of available nuts from which
1t selects its bill of fare it obtains the
whole range of elements in very different
to suit natural demands. and a
variety of flavors to make his nut diet al
ways palatable.
The peanut is perhaps the most impor-
tant nut product we have in this country.
Both the production and consumption of
this nut have grown to enormous proper
tions-not SO much as a food necessity,
which should be the case. but for some
thing for the pleasure (D seeking Public
to keep busy with when seeking recrea-
ton and rest from toll. The digestive or
gans Of these unthinking people work
harder on such occasions than at any other
time, and generally have their revenge
later on.
The peanut Is comparatively cheap, as it
contains most of the elements to sustain
life: 1T is great favorite, very palatable
Irr,l,a
furnishes a delectable diet. This nut is al
most too concentrated a food to be eaten
alone. Its largest ingredient Is oil, of
which it contains about so per cent. In
addition it has considerable gum, which
is equal in food value to starch mineral
matters in fair proportion and very little
waste material compared to the nitrog-
enous part of the nut, which amounts to
at least "a per cent.
The chestnut, which is a close rival as
a popular American nut, is very different
in It's composition from other nuts as it
contains greater amount Of starch and
very little oil or fat: it might very prom
erly be included among the breadstuffs
and is most indigestible in its fresh, UNI
cooked state. 1t is much scarcer nut than
the peanut, and therefore not likely to be-
come cheap or common food.
Among our other native fruits we have
the hickory nut, which is the choicest It
is rich In oil, very sweet and palatable, and
its delicious flavor combined with other
materials lifts the particular dish Of which
it is a part far above the commonplace.
A near relation to the hickory nut is the
pecan, but while the nut-meat is sweet.
the shell is very bitter, and unless every
particle Is carefully removed makes the
nut unpalatable.
The hazel and filberts are rich, sweet
nuts, but very tough and solid, and most
unless ground.
The black walnut is very rich in oil
strong in flavor and while not dense and
so hard as most other nuts. it Is very un-
suitable for Weak digestions. The butter
nut Is still stronger in flavor, but not so
rich in OIL 1t has a peculiar but very
agreeable flavor which distinguishes it from
all other nuts
The favorite fancy nuts" grown for the
market are the English walnut and the