Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1918-04-13
Corn AS a Substitute for Wheat.
BY MRS. L. R. sIssELL.

In this crisis of our country's history,
America expects every woman to do her
duty, as she expects every soldier to do
his the soldier to fight and the woman
to save food so he may be fed. Not only
are own soldiers to be supplied, but our
allies are dependent upon US for food;
their very lives are in our hands. Now.
if we would be true to our trust, if we
would show the full measure of our de-
votion to this great cause, we will heed
the appeal of our government to save and
to substitute.
The object of the $3.50 combination
sale of flour with other cereals is to bring
about a reduction in the consumption of
wheat -four, and to insure the supply that
must be shipped to the allies. We are to
save 225,000,000 bushels of wheat for ex-
port, and in order to do this we must
make bread of other things than -four.
In going over the list of substitutes, the
| first one to present itself to our minds is
corn. Indian corn is our most abundant
cereal; it is palatable and nutritious, and
and is the best and most economical sub
stitute for wheat. 1t is native to Ameri-
can soil, and was the only cereal known
to the Indians, from whom the Colonists
| learned its food value. When the states
of the Middle West were being carved
out of the untracked forests, the food that
sustained the pioneers and gave them
| the strength necessary for their hercu-
lean tasks, consisted of fish, game and In
dian corn. This fact alone should be
convincing proof of the nutritive value of
corn, and should silence all doubts as to
whether it is proper food for laboring
MEN and women and growing children.
| But let us go farther and see what scien-
| tihc investigation teaches us regarding
corn as food. A comparison of corn
and other cereal grains, such as wheat,
rye, rice, oats, barley and buckwheat,
shows that these cereals are practically
the same in composition, so far as their
nutritive value is concerned. Corn
meal contains protein, fat and starch
| Equal parts of corn meal mush and milk
| form food which very nearly meets the
| physiological requirements of the body.
A variety of pleasing and healthful dishes
may be made with corn meal as foun-
dation bnt it is as substitute for -four
| in the making of breads that we shall
consider it in this article.
| Corn meal breads, though of great va
riety, fall into three general classes; those
raised by air beaten into them, those
/
those raised by yeast. Breads of the
| first class are very simple, often contain
| ing nothing more than meal, salt and
water or milk. A small amount of fat is
sometimes added. These breads are easy
to prepare and are very palatable, being
| tender and light. The old-time hoecake,
made of the above-named ingredients,
and cooked slowly on both sides or we'll
creased griddle, is a type of this type of
| bread.
| In the breads where baking powder or
soda is used, the gluten efficiency of the
corn meal is made up by the use of eggs,
which hold the air bubbles and make it
| light A good bread of this class is made
as follows and may be called "Sweet-milk
corn bread" One cup meal, one-half cup
wheat flour, one cup milk. one-fourth cup
sugar, One-half teaspoonful salt, one egg,
one and one-half teaspoons baking pow
der. Mix and sift dry ingredients, add
egg, well beaten, and milk. Bake in
moderate oven one-half hour. This
serves four people.
Spoon Corn Bread One-fourth cup
corn meal, one teaspoon butter, one table
| spoon sugar, one teaspoon salt, one or
two eggs, two cups milk. Mix meal and
milk and bring slowly to the boiling point
and cook few minutes. Add butter
sugar, salt, and yolks of eggs, lastly fold
in the stiffly beaten whites. Bake in a
hot oven 80 minutes and serve in the
dish in which it is cooked. This serves
six people.
In the breads made with yeast the
gluten deficiency of the meal is supplied
| by the addition of either wheat or rye.
Yeast.raised corn breads keep moist
longer than other kinds, and are palata-
BILE, either warm or cold Corn meal
puffs, waffles and griddle cakes are easy
to make, and very good. Indian pud
ding is a nutritious dessert and may be
made entirely of corn meal, combined
with milk. molasses. salt and ginger, and
served with cream.
Let us remember that the more corn
we use at home. the more food can be
sent abroad. By making corn meal our
ally, the wheat supply can be sent to
| those who are making the supreme sacri-
flee over there"
1t is very small thing that we house
wives as asked to do, compared with
what our soldiers are doing, and if we
fail in our duty it will forever be a stain
on the name of American womanhood