Evening star., 1924-10-17
Preparation of Flour Sauces.

This is a plea for the digestion Of
the native (to say nothing of the
stranger within our gates).
A little while ago an old lady who
had successfully brought up and
launched in the world a very large
family indeed-some round dozen Of
children-remarked: "If any one did
to US what we do every day to our
digestive apparatus we'd-well, we'd
have him arrested, or put in Jail, or
some other dreadful thing. Even the
greatest pacifists among US would not
consider such a person, such an Of
fender, a friend Far from it," And
she was right
Abroad we Americans are termed
a nation OF dyspeptics, and in the
main, perhaps, the libel-on the basis
that the greater the truth the greater
the libel-was more or less justified
Perhaps the most potent cause of
the dyspeptic charge is the uncook ed
or half-cooked flour sauce. known
under many names, but just as un-
desirable under the one as the other.
Milk. or milk and water, more or less
butter, and some raw flour, hastily
mixed and boiled up for few min
utes, constitute the offense. Small
wonder that tho results are any
thing but happy for even the strong
est digestion, while as for those
whose digestion is not Of the strong
est or most active-well, the eating
Of such a sauce is a pennance, a pun
ishment, inflicting a suffering as un-
necessary as it Is undeserved
Without going into the chemistry
Of food and digestion, let us look at
this flour sauce sensibly. When we
make a cake, how long does it take
for the cake to rise, to swell, to
double it's bulk or more until the
fiour has absorbed all Of the liquid.
and the cake becomes a solid instead
of liquid or a semi-liquid prepara-
ton? 1t takes just the time that is
required for the starch granule of
the -four to burst and to absorb to
capacity the liquid In which it Is sus-
pended, and that Is anywhere from
20 to 40 minutes, according to the
size of the cake loaf and the heat
applied.
Now, when the -four -thickened sauce
is expected to accomplish this important
change in anywhere from two to five
minutes, what happens? Just this: The
uncooked and unburst starch granule
Of the f1our-and there are thousands of
granules to each tablespoon of flour
which requires both heat and moisture
for its ripening and bursting, instead Of
accomplishing this necessary process by
sufficient cooking, is taken into the
digestive tract in an uncooked state,
and the heat and moisture of the
mucuous membrance lining the aliment-
ary canal does for the uncooked flour
what continued cooking should have
done. The uncooked flour naturally
swells up in the digestive tract Gust
as 1t would have sweiled up in cooking
II given opportunity, which Is not
equipped for such function. a ferment-
ative gas arises, and physical distress
ensues.
Where it is not possible to follow this
very necessary plan, use cornstarch for
thickening, since in this the starch
granule is already partly cooked in the
course Of manufacture
A few successful recipes for this al
most universally used sauce are append
ed, and by varying the f1avoring some-
what, sense of sameness will be
avoided. ~
When using fiour-thickened sauce
always allow at least 20 minutes for
it to cook thoroughly; and 30 to so
minutes is that much better. Although
most cookbooks will instruct to melt
the butter, blend the flour into the but
ter in the saucepan; there is always
possibility that the butter will boil, and
the. boiling grease will then coat each
starch granule Of the -four so that its
ultimate bursting Is thus retarded. The
practice amohg Nench chefs is to blend
the -four 30 a m..oth mass, semi liquid,
with either miIx~os water or clear soup
stock, as may be preferred, and keep
stirring in one direction only until abso-
lutely smooth and the mixture leaves
the sides of the bowl or Gun clean. This
Is then poured into the simmering milk
edo not let it boiD, and still stirred in