Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-29
ART OF COOKING.
Progress of Human Race Closely Al
lied to It.
From the Medical Record

From the Medical Record.
1t 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 abilities
were probably on a par with those of the
beasts of prey with which they competed
for their daily supply of food. The earli-
est nations Of whom we possess historic
records recognized the value of foods prop
erly prepared, and we find that the science
of cooking gradually attained the height
of its development during the reign of the
great Roman emperors of the Augustfnian
period We apt to look upon the BAN
quets of the old Romans as orgies, and in
some degree they undoubtedly were, and
yet we have abundant evidence that the
Romans Were cognizant of the fact that
the proper preparation and seasoning of
the food contributed in large measure to
an improved appetite and better diges-
ton We must therefore, credit them with
a knowledge of these physiological necessl-
ties, even while condemning them for their
luxurious repaStS. They also realized that
a pleasant frame of mind had great and
important influence on the digestive pro-
ceSses, and therefore provided amusement
of various kinds during the meal. The in
roads of the northern barbarians caused
the highly developed arts and sciences OF
the Romans-and culinary perfection must
be included among them-to be plunged
into the long period of darkness which
marked the middle ages.
Whatever knowledge We possess of their
civiiza ton we owe to the many monastc
orders of Europe. whose members preserv-
ed and cultivated, among other things. the
traditions of the culinary art until the
renaissance, in the reign Of Louis XIV of
France and his successors. The influence
of France on the menus of the world mas
continued uninteruptedly down to the pres
ent day The principles of cooking, speak
ing of the latter in a general sense We're
developed by the early Romans in a purely
empirical fashion. Now they have been
| made the subject of scientific investigation
and found to rest on firm and sound ba-
sis The Roman psychologist Pavlov has
clearly demonstrated, in his researches on
digestion, that the ingestion of substances
with a purely nutrient value does not sur
fciently satisfy the demands of the BODY
taste and appetite must also be taken INTO
consideration. Those are satisfied only by
the addition to the food Of spices and salt,
and 1t is largely due to the influence or
these condiments that the proper amount
of gastric juice Is liberated by the mucous
membrance of the stomach. The action
upon the stomach Of reflex stimuli is shown
by the favorable effect on the now OF the
gastric secretions made by sight and odor
of a well-prepared dish. In this manner
Epplen (Reichs Medicinal AnZeiger, No. Is.
1850 leads up to the broad claim that the
proper preparation of all food, as demand
ed by the essential requirements OF the cult
nary art, Is not a luxury, but physiologf-
cal necessity, and to develop and dissent
nate this knowledge is an act beneficial TO
the public welfare. There is happily an in
creasing interest taken by physicians in
detetics and cooking, for these two sub
jects go hand in hand, and this interest 1t
should be the aim of the medical man to
transmit to his patients or TO those who
have care of them.