The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1917-01-04
WAYS TO ECONOMIC
The Science Of Cooking
By FREDERIC J. HASKlN

Is very nlgn, having more tuel value
than the average man needs in one day.
The fuel value of ordinary milk is so
ow in comparison that one wonders
why it is ever recommended by
physicians as a means of acquiring
flesh.
Ali fiours and meals have a high
caloric scontent, oatmeal ranking
highest on the list. In these -four pro-
ducts are included wheat flour, graham
flour, rye flour; wheat breakfast food
and oat breakfast food, rice, tapioca,
starch and macaroni. There is very
little difference between a pound of
macaroni and pound of graham flour,
the latter having five more calories
than the former. All breads have a
high fuel value, and are the first food
to be eliminated from the diet of the
person who would be thin.
One OF the most nutritious foods is
honey. A breakfast of toast and honey
and coffee, with cream and sugar, is
sufficient to keep the average individual
energetic until luncheon. Vegetables
on the whole, have a low fuel value,
with the exception of beans and peas.
A pound of potatoes has fuel value of
only 295 calories as compared to a pound
of dried beans with l, $40 calories. From
this 1t may be seen that two vege-
tables for dinner is a great eXtrava-
gance in these days of high prices.
With the exception of persimmons, the
fuel value in all fruits is somewhat
negligible, although in dried fruits,
such as apples, apricots, dates, figs and
raisins the calorlc contents is consider
able. All nuts have high fuel value
we could live on pound Of nuts day
and, above all, candy, especially choco-
late candy, is highly nutritious.
Unfortunately for the problems of
the housewife, however, nutrlment in
the family diet is not the sole factor to
be considered. 1t would be a COM
paratively easy matter to hand John a
box of candy for his breakfast and tell
him to eat that during the day to supply
the energy his system needed, but three
or tour days of such diet would put
John in the hands of stomach
specialist. Too much sugar or too
much starch, too much protein or too
much mineral, are apt to upset the
digestion. Only too often does this
happen at present. The diet of the
family should be carefully studied from
health standpoint as we'll as with a
view to economy.
Eating is a subject that everyone
should understand, the American mar
ried woman most of all. Cooking these
days is not the humdrum routine that
it was century ago, but an accurate
science based on the studies of years
and as interesting to the intesIing to
the intelligent woman as law or med
icine or architecture is to men. And
scientific cooking, if we are to follow
the example of the Germans, is the one
practical answer to the present high
cost of living. The housewife knows
approximately how much food her
family needs to keep it energetic and
healthy-or if she does not know she
can find out; she knows what foods con-
tain the greatest amount of fuel value,
and she knows how much these foods
cost. If she does not plan her menus
on an economical and business basis.
buying the greatest amount of food
value for the least possible cost, she is
being extravagant and is open to
censure as the notorious middemen
who are sending the prices of foodstuffs
up.
Say, for instance, that John eats a
grapefruit, corn flakes, creamed chip
ped beef, fried potatoes and coffee for
breakfasu. Is that the best break
fast she can possible plan for John
at eighteen cents? Perhaps she finds
that by substituting an orange for the
grape fruit she will save three cents;
by giving him oatmeal instead of corn
flakes she can cut out the fried potatoes,
and by changing the Clipped beef to
scrapple she increases the fuel value of
the breakfast by several calories. In
this. however, she must not neglect to
figure in the gas or coal burned in the
cooking. Can Clipped beef be cooked
quicker than scrappel? And, if so, how
much will be saved? All these things
have an important place in her problem.
Also, good deal depends on John. If
John prefers grapefruit to an orange,
and Clipped beef to scrappel, the bust
ness of economy becomes a delicate
matter.
After all, if we bear in mind the
Germans, the present high prices of
food are not without their brighter side,
Since the women have had to economic
in Germany, the German stomach is
losing its former anatomical conspicuous
ness and gastronomlc troubles have de-
creased marvelously. The house frau