The true Democrat. [volume] (Bayou Sara [La.]) 1892-1928, 1908-02-08

speedier of dissolying in the mouth
than our own rock candy, which is "un-
interesting" in comparison. This, then,
is the Sunday afternoon stock candy or
millions of Mexicans. And, while 1t IS
almost nations only candy, it Is pro-
badly the purest candy on earth-it is
just the God-given, nature-giyen con-
centrated sweetness. 1t Is now thir-
teen years since | first made its ac-
quaintance while touring among the
Sierras Of Mexico, and | have liked 1t
ever since. This is the simple life"
in candydom, and is the nearest to ma
ture ''goody" yet produced.
Mexican vaqueros-cowmen, ranch
men and the like-have been known,
when otherwise foodless or astray in
the Sierras, to support life for days on
just that candy-a proof OF its natur-
al nutritiveness and purity.
| This Mexican azukar, technically
known among sugar experts as muske'
vedo-a word which is also spelled half
dozen other ways-is unobtainable in
the United States anywhere north OF
the Rio Grande. 1t is not for sale even
in the large cities Of the United
States.
Melon sugar candy l heard OF also
while in Mexico, but never saw It,. 1t
| is just the sun dried juice Of the melon;
the left behind pulp forms a cattle
feed.
In the travels Of Marco Polo, Of near
ly 900 years ago, you read of the ball
butter of the Tartars-butter worked
I'D into ball form, size of the fist, then
enclosed In a casing of pure cheese
preserving the butter from the outside
air, and the butter keeping the cheese
from becoming hard as a rock"
The same system of butter preserVa-
| ton continues to this day among the
Orientals, except where displaced by the
timed or canned notions of the west
ern world. Hundreds Of years ago
the idea travelled to and was copied
by the ArmeniaHs, Turks, Greeks and
Italians, but has never been adopted
by Americans.
Butter can thus be preserved for a
score of years or more. have used up
scores of them during travels; some
times, on opening, there may be fee
lie odor of rancidity on the butter sur
face, but the inner portion is rarely af-
fected. The rancidity will be due to
small pocket of air being left inside
when folding the cheese envelop about
the butter, which in time "goes bad"
so to speak. It is considered bad work.
manship to allow any particle of air
to remain within the casein envelop.
The cheese-in the making up OF this
ball butter-is rolled out like SO much
dough-"like mother used to do" the
butter ball placed inside, then the
cheese covering is worked up around
the butter by hand with the close dex-
terity coming from long practice. The
cheese casing varies from one-half to
one centimeter in thickness. Sometimes
it imparts a slight cheesy taste to the
butter but that you sometimes notice
even in fresh American buffers.
I Confectioners thus preserve their but
ter shortening for years. The ball but
ter is sent in sacks on camel back to
the innermost cities of China being
sometimes fifteen months in transit,
"as in the time of Moses"
This ball butter should be another
pointer" in preservation for the Am
erican trade.
Dried cream with all the butter fat
intact and dried eggs have only been
known in recent years to the Ameri-
can confectionery trade; yet the Asia
tics have had them since history was
'lost in the night Of time" The Chi
ness have also a system Of preserving
soft liquid eggs in the shell for scores
of years, by immersing them in pickle
and earth, but the yolk becomes rather
solid, and can be cut by a knife.
Most of the dried milk on the mar
ket today can scarcely be justly called
milk at all. 1t is just refuse skim milk
evaporated by boiling at temperatures
over $50 degrees Fair, which coagu-
lates and destroyes the nutritive values
of the milk corpuscles so that they pass
through the economy without nutrify-
ing it.
Still, there are some grades of skim
milk powder in the manufacture OF
| which care is exercised not to reach
the coagulating point A simple way
to test this is as follows: Mix some
in glass of water, give it fair shak-
ing and let it stand. II any settles to
the bottom within few hours reject
1t.
Dried pure milk with its fat intact
can be tested by mixing thoroughly
and allowing to stand for the cream to
rise. Your own sense will tell you
whether the fatty cream is bona-flde or
has been substituted for solidifed cot
ton-seed oil, ct al. If any sediment