Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-27
BY MRS. VI. A. WILSON

Copyright. 1920. by Mrs. ". A. Wilson. All
rIOhtS reserved.
T DETERMINED to know just what
l the housewife had in her mind as
suitable diet iur Hrr family. so |
started n menu contest. limiting the
price of the dinner for four people
TO S1.50. After looking over the menus
submitted ] am forced to say ! surely
feel very sorry for the man in the
average hone IL no has to depend upon
the food furnished from this meal.
which should be the sustaining meal OF
the day.
About 210O menus were received in
the early part of the contest from
women Of evident refinement and living
IN homes that wore nirolv locotcd
There were eight boiled dinners. one
vegetarian meal. ten m"nu, eating I"r
fish. The balance wr"" fried meats.
This same condition existed in another
large cosmopolitan city where | held
the contest last spring.
The astonishing use of fried meats
led me to sock Information among tho
Cattlemen, thr packers and finally the
butcher in the home town. One and
all agree that since the increasing price
Of meat the average housewife demands
small steak or ChOps-hpnCe the cat .
tleman in turn is producing the light
weight beef This means that she re-
ceives meat that is of inferior quality.
as IL lacks the weight and the fat OF
high grade meat, and therefore it con
tains less nutriment to the pound,
The housewife Of yestprycar would
not think Of selecting meat Of this quail o
ity. because she knew very we'll that
heavy high grade beef. with n proper
tionate amount Of fat. gave the best
value for the money.
Many butchers say that it Is almos,
impossible To sell the forequarters Ot
beef to the American housewife. and
If it were not for our foreign popu
lation the increased cost Of steaks ant
chops would make them prOhibitive fol
the average American table.
| have personally seen the butcher
take the neck and various parts Of tn,
chuck and prepare it into chopped mea
or hamburg steak and then sell mOr'
of it than he could prepare. He tolc
me that the housewife wants something
that can be- cooked quickly.
This kind of meat requires long, mois
cooking. and no amount Of choppin
or cutting will make it tender. There
fore. when this finely chopped meat
formed into cakes and fried quickly
in hot fat, it contains little real nutri
ment.
In seeking the cause for this grca
demand for meats that cook quickly
from the housewives point of view,
found II a combination Of n desire I
evade the cooking and lack of th
real knowledge Of the methods OF usin
the gas range.
Use of Gas Range
The gas range has superseded IN
coal fire in large cities and rural dis
tricts and the idea Of large gas b
prevents many women from cOOkin
foods as they should be done.
This is a mistaken economy. If III
housewife will but study her range
she will realize that it is far chrape
TO use the gas range for cooking tha
II she could hu~ coal for So tor
And why is this? Because no fu,
need be wasted, but. 10 obtain ret
economy. pIan to utilize the oven to il
full capacity.
have seen a housewife start foo
10 cook on a large burner and ther
when the boiling point was reached
refuse to turn down the flame of tn
burner. because of the mistaken ide
that this increasing heat would coo
the food more quickly. This is yer
serious mistake and one Of the caus,
of exorbitant gas bills. Once the boil
Ing point is reached it is impossib
20 increase the heat or temperature {
the contents of the saucepan beyon
212 degrees. without the use Of II
pressure cooker This increase of hei
does not cook the food any moi
quickly; il really toughons the fibei
and then they fall apart in bundle
This rapid boiling also dissolvcs an
permits the escape of the volatile OF
or havoring in the meat. While,
this meat, when the boiling point
reached, were at once transferred
the simmering burner, 1t would continy
20 cook slowly and the result would
food containing a better favor m
more nutriment.
There Is also a decided reduction
the eosf~a; this method of cooking. I'll
giant b5yner on the gas range cor
nnnea ~ samn amount a. xhD m
!. E41 h. NJ I..[ .s1 ~. AZ Ia IL sly.. 40.