The circle banner., 1917-11-16
Same Food In Field.

| the men can have the same food in
the field as they do in barracks. This
is accomplished by the bakeries. which
are portable, easily taken down and
set up, and by the very remarkable
trolling Kitchens" which cook a meal
as the army marches, having lunch or
supper ready when the order comes to
pitch camp. There are several models
of this rolling kitchen, some more in
tricate than others and some very
much more substantial than others.
The government has ordered a large
number of model which weighs 5000
pounds. All of these kitchens have
stoves for burning oil and also ar
rangements for the use of coal or
wood.
There is also an oven where roast
surprise to you, a big, smooth plate
where fiapjacks come to life. One
kitchen will feed 200 men, war
strength company, and it will need
three men to operate it at its maxi
mum capacity.
Trailing each kitchen is a fireless
cooker with four large compartments.
There are now four regular schools
for army cooks-at Fort Sam Houston,
Tex; Fort Riley, Kan; Monterey,
CAL; and Washington Barracks. The
new cantonments will increase these
schools MANIFOLD. 1t takes about four
months of rigorous instruction to make
a first-class army cook, but under the
intensive method the cantonment cooks
will be educated in half this time.
Oddly enough, the fact that man
has had previous experience is more
apt to be hindrance than help, and
there is great deal in his natural
endowment. AS the sergeant in charge
of the cooking school at Washington
Barracks said, ''You can do more with
some men in five minutes talk than
you can with another in a months
hard work" The work begins with a
talk on spices, which, to most of us,
seems the final touch rather than the
rudiments of cooking. But in the ar
my they really begin with the first
principles. The desire for food known
as appetite, and certainly spices dc
much toward making simple dishes
tempting and palatable.
Take, for instance, the army Irish
stew. 1t is far removed from the dull
wash-day dish which answers to that |
name in most households. The vege- |
tables are tender and fiavorous; the |
meat Ground steak is very delicious, |
because it is properly cooked; and the
gravy; it's thick, but not thickening |
and so very good with the meat juices
and vegetable fiavorings skillfully ac-
cented with spices that there is a
justifiable temptation to wipe the last
bit of it from the plate with piece
of the excellent army bread.
Bread Without Milk.
To the average cook and housewife
this bread is remarkable, for it is
made without milk and without lard.
When you see it going into action in
the Toured hands of squad of bakers
your comment is that the shortening is
'elbow grease" for it is worked until
he dough is perfectly smooth. They
cut it over'' five times, which takes
ibout IS minutes of hard working, so
lard no mixing machine is strong
enough to do the work.
The most difficult thing to teach the
student bakers, or .'slick ears" as
hey are casIed, is the shaping of a
oaf. This most be uniform, as there
must always be J2 pounds, divided into
TX equal loaves, in a pan. The recipe
or a batch of bread calls for 2OO
pounds flour, pounds sugar, pounds
alt, IL pounds yeast, and 1874 gallons
# water The bakery at Washington
Barracks turns out $500 pounds day,
nd every man gets his pound.
There are many very delicious and
efficient recipes in the
manual for army cooks, and Uncle
lam gives his boys all three of their
xcellent meals for an average OF 4O
ents a day. If the economy of the
rmy kitchen could be brought into
II American homes we would hear lit
e of food conservation, for the utiliza'
on of every edible molecule is moth
lg short of marvellous, as Is the sys'
I'm of accounting for every ingredi'
ut that comes out of the storeroom-