Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1906-01-04
THE ART OF COOKING.
Closely Connected With the Progress
of the Human Race.

or the human race.
Medical Record.-It may well be
said that the development of the art of
cooking Is closely connected with the
onward progress of the human race.
AS the prehistoric cave jewellers knew
nothing of the uses to which fire
might be put, their gastronomic abili-
ties were probably on a par with those
of the beasts of prey with which they
competed for their daily supply of
food. The earliest nations of whom
we possess historic records recogniz-
ed the value of foods properly pre-
,, pared and we find that the science of
cooking gradually attained the hight
of its development during the reign or
the great Roman emperors of the
Augustinian period. We are apt to
look upon the banquets of the old
Romans as orgies, and in some senses
they undoubtedly were, and yet we
have abundant evidence that the Ro-
mans were cognizant of the fact that
the proper preparation and seasoning
of the food contributed, in large mea-
sure. to an improved appetite and
| better digestion. We must therefore
credit them with a knowledge of
these physiological necessities, even
while condemning them for their lux
urious repasts. They also realized
! that pleasant frame of mind had
great and important influence on the
| digestive processes, and provided
amusements of various kinds during
the meal The inroads of the north
ern barbarian caused the highly de-
veloped ares and sciences of the Ro-
mans, and culinary perfection must
be included among them, to be plung-
ed in long period of darkness which
marked the Middle Ages. Whatever
knowledge we possess of their civili-
cation, we owe to the many monastic
orders of Europe, whose members pre-
served and cultivated, among other
things, the traditions of the culinary
art until the renaissance in the reign
of Louis XIV Of France and his sue
cessors The influence of France on
the menus of the world has continued
uninterruptedly down to the present
day. The principles of cooking.
speaking of the latter in general
sense, were developed by the early
Romans in purely empirical fashion.
Now they have been made the sub
ject of scientific Investigation and
found to rest on a firm and sound
| basis, The Russian psychologist Paw
low has clearly demonstrated, In his
researches on digestion, that The in
gestion of subtances with purely nu-
TRENT value does not sufficiently sat
isfy the demands OF the body--taste
and appetite must also be taken into
consideration. There are satisfied
only by the addition to the food OF
spices and salt, and it is largely due
to the influence of these condiments
that the proper amount of gastric
plice is liberated by the mucuous
mebrane of the stomach. The action
upon the stomach of reflex stimuli is
shown by the favorable effect on the
, flow of the gastric secretions made by
mental impressions induced by the
mere sight and odor of a wel-prepar-
ed dish. In this manner Epplen
tReichs Medicinal-Anzeiger, No. Is
19O5) leads up to the broad claim that
the proper preparation of all food, as
demanded by the essential require
ments of the culinary art, is not a
luxury, but a physiological necessity,
and to develop and disseminate this
knowledge is an act beneficial to the
public welfare. There Is happily an
Increasing interest taken by physi-
clans in dietetics and cooking, for
these two subjects go hand in hand,
and this interest It should be the aim
of the medical man to transmit to his
patients, or to those who have care of
them.