The Alaska citizen., 1910-08-22
Texture and Flavor of Meat.

The amount or Iat WHICH they tbl- lain and 10 much less degree in the protein content, the chief differ er and more expensive cuts is not so much in their nutritive value as in their texture and flavor. All mus cle consists of tiny fibers which un- der the microscope are seen to have the form of little tubes. These f. bers are tender in young animals and in those parts of older animals in which there has been little mus Cular strain. Under the backbone in the hind quarter is the place from which the tenderest meat comes. This is usually called the tender loin. Sometimes in beef and also in pork it is taken out whole and sometimes is is left to be cut up with the rest of the loin.
 In old animals, and in those parts of the body where there has been much muscular action, the neck and the legs for example, the muscle fibers are tough and hard. But there is another point which is of even greater importance than this. The fbers of all muscle are bound to- gether in bundles and in groups of bundels by a thin membrane which is known as connective tissue. This membrane, if heated in water or steam is converted into gelatin The process goes quickly if the meat is young and tender; more slowly if it is tough Connective tissue is also soluable in acetic acid, that acid to which the sourness of vinegar is due. make meat more tender by soaking it in vinegar or in vinegar and wa ter, the proportions of the two de pending on the strength of the vine gar. Sour beef or "sauer feisch," as it is known to Germans, is palatable dish of this sort. Since vinegar is a preservative this sug- gests d method by which a surplus of beef may be kept for several days and then converted into a palatable dish.
 In q study of factors which intiu- ence tenderness, the government in vestigators measured eXperimentally the relative tenderness of raw meat and young animals, the effect of hanging and freezing upon tender ness, and also the effects of cook ing According to his summary, the toughness or tenderness of the indi- vidual meat fibers is a matter of the location of the cut, and his measure ments showed that the raw tibers from an exterior cut (hank) were almost two and half times as tough as those from an in terior cut (tenderloin).
 In the case of veal, the two sorts of cuts showed the same general diff ferences as beef, but in a greater degree. The muscle tbers of mutton and pork. according to the expert mental data which Lehman cites, were in general more tender than beef
 Flavor Tn meat depends mainly on certain nitrogenOus substances which are called extractives because they can be dissolved out or "ex- tracted" by soaking the meat in cold water. The quality of the ex- tractives and the resulting flavor of the meat vary with the condition of the animal and in different parts of it's body. They are usually consider ed better developed in older than in very young animals. Many per sons suppose eXtractives or the fla vor they cause are best in the most expensive cuts of meat; in reality, cuts on the side of beef are often of better flavor than tender cuts, but owing to the difficulty of masti- cation this fact is frequently not de tected. The eXtractiveS have little or no nutritive value in themselves, but they are of great importance in causing the secretion of digestive juices at the proper time, in the right amount, and of the right chem ical character The digestive tract may be likened to a piece of machin cry which is beautifully built and adjusted and is ready to run and turn out its product as soon as a lever is moved which sets it in motion. The fiavoring bodies of food, and especi- ally those contained in meat, can be likened to the lever which sets the machinery in motion. Excitants to normal digestion are supplied by other foods as we'll, but meats, so physiologists believe, are especially important for the purpose It is this quality which justifies the talk ing of soup at the beginning of a meal and the giving of broths, meat extracts, and similar preparations to invalids and weak persons These fpOdc haya litt1a putritivo ypotor;ol I