The Washington times., 1916-02-24
Doughnuts To
The Fore
BY MRS. CHRISTINE FREDERICK
ny THILE apretites in summer
AN/ turn away from oil fried
Wv feeds and rich pastries.

Wv feeds and rich pastries.
.'y the sharL nipping winds
mako welcome foods rich ir fat.
Perhaps VIC may scorn douShnuts,
fritters. "sinkers." and allied mem
bers of the tI!bue. hat properly
made. there Is nothing thot can no
said against a moderate use Of even
these fried foods.
Starch is first digested in the
mouth; fats arc digcsted IN the in
testlnes where the pancreatic juice
divides tho fat into smaller and
still smaller particles. The reason
that dcrghnutS and other fried foods
are generally UNIV holcsomo is that n
doughnut consists chiefly Of -four or
starch. when cooked in dccp fat
IL becomes coated with the fat. For
this reason. tho starch Of which Il
is con POSED cannot I've reached ny
the saliva In the mcuth. but Is taken
undigested into the stomach and in-
testlnes. This is tho explanation of
the indigestibility OF many fried
products.
But fried In the right way. these
foods arc not harmful m soIall guam
tity, especially in cold weather when
the body needs and can digest fats
more easily. The most important
part of deep fat fry ing Is tho kcttlc
or, bowl In which IL is dcne. This
should be deep and broad So as to
give chGLce for several dou shruts
To be fried at once and yet not
touch each other. What is known
rs a Scotch bowl OF aluminium with
bail handle is tho lest. II must ne
filled within an inch or two OF tho
top with fat. This fat should prefer
ably be vegetable and not lard.
which Is harder tc digest and which
smokes more easily.
The mixture for the fritters. etc.
must be prepared at the last moment
just as the fat becomes ready to use.
1t can ne tested by dropping in an
inch cube of stale bread and seeing
: II 1t becomes a golden brown in forty
seconds. Then gently lift In or drop
from 2 spoon the fritter or dough-
nut. 1t should at once rise to the
surface and begin to brown Do not
pierce them with a fork. but turn
over gently with a ladle or skinner.
and as soon as brown on reverse
side. lift with drainer. and then Law
on several thicknesses of absorbent
WtitC 10 not allow tnem 10
touch each other or cover them, as
this will generate steam and make
them soggy.
The cook book OF our grand
pothers, and even many of the cook
books OF today are what might he
called compendiums of the cooking
OF all Kinds OF foods. Beginning per-
haps with breads. they take up in
rotation cakes, desserts, meat and so
on through preserving, household
hints, and hoy to tell T bone steak
from the flank. There is a great
use for such general books and no
Kitchen is complete without the best
of this type.
But the woman who wants new
dishes and new ways Of preparing
common foods must look to the spe-
eialized cook book, the one which
does not treat n dozen classes of
foods. but which exhaustiyelv ex-
pounds on one subject only. There's
oranges. for instance, and two or
three recipes for this fruit may be
included In the general book. and
that is all. Perhaps some of us
indeed never go further in their use
than slicing them and serving with
cocoanut! But suppose there was a
book devoted to nothing but orange
recipes-what golden. luscious ideas
II would contain. And that Is just
what there Is!
How a-weary We become of eggs.
versatile as they are. True. the
usual book may devote several pages
to their cooking, and &c may piece
II out with a printed recipe from
here or there. But. does not the
imagination soar at thought of a
book with nothing but egg recipes
hundreds of them-so that there need
never be any more nlebeian fried egg
or three-minute boil -
Salads, too, may be covered by
general work, but how helpful to
have an exclusive salad volume.
(copy't., 1916, by Mrs. Christine Frederick.