Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-12-23
FOOD AND HEALTH
By W1NIFRED STUART GIBBS.
Food Specialist.
Flour. yeast, salt, water. fat,

Flour, yeast. salt, water, fat.
We take these materials SO as
| matter OF course that We sometimes
! lose sight Of important facts that
| should be remembered in connection
| with their joint work when they are
brought together to produce a loaf Of
| bread.
History tells us that even when the
daughter of Pharaoh found Moses in
the bullrushes grain was in use for
| bread making. From that day until
| our own. when almost perfect -four Is
produced quite as q matter of course,
| there have been some interesting de-
| velopments in the manufacture of
! this important foodstuff. There are
| simple tests for selecting flour when
bread is made at home, although in
passing it may be interpolated that
the wise woman buys most of her
| bread. Good flour is slightly creamy
| In color. When rubbed between the
fingers there should be a distinctly
granular feeling. In taste, it is nutty,
| and when placed under conditions
| where absorption Of moisture Is in
| order, this absorption should be con.
| siderable. Good -four contains the
necessary quantity Of gluten, and its
! individual particles should be. as one
| writer expresses it, vaguely distin-
| guished.'
White -four contains a little more
than IL per cent water, rs per cent
| OF starch. a little more than 10 per
cent of protein or bodybuilding ma.
| terial. 4-10 per cent OF mineral salts
and BIO per cent of fat.
The bodybuilding part of the flour,
i or the protein, exists in the gluten.
This Is An elastic substance and be-
cause OF Its power Of expansion 1t
makes the foundation of the loaf of
! bread. The study of the number of
proteins or bodybuilding substances
present in various forms is important.
Now yeast. For this important ele-
| ment Of our loaf of bread we have to
! thank a slave ut the court of the
Queen Of Sheba. This man, we are
told. accidentally left a mixture Of
f1our and water exposed to the sun
and air for period of time. When
the dough" was baked the world had
Its first loaf of leavened bread.
The yeast-making industry. however,
did not thrive at once and, like the
history of -four. forms story in
itself. Today, when we use the COM
pressed yeast which we know so we'll,
we have several tests to apply. First.
when II Is broken the break should
be clean without an opening of the
cake. 1t should be brittle and ma.
turally free from spots or dark colors
For a number Of years yeast has
been known to the medical profession
| as an effective remedy for boils. 1t is
only within comparatively few years,
however, that we have learned that
this property owes it's existence to the
vitamins contained in the yeast. Since
this interesting discovery was made
the use or yeast as a remedial agent
has extended considerably, being use
full in certain forms of indigestion and
constipation.
Without salt, bread would lose much
of its SAVIOR. The exactly right pro-
portion of salt in baking will regulate
the fermentation so satisfa ctoriIy that
what used to be known as having good
luck with ones baking is very much
more apt to follow.
Water, or the foundation liquid used
| In bread making. is usually one of the
most important elements. It may
sound bit odd. but water is impor-
tant because of milk. In other
words. while very light bread may be
made with merely water as a founda-
ton liquid. the entire nutritional
value of the loaf depends on eombip-
ing this water with a goodly proper
ton of milk. and this is general prac-
| tice today both at home and in the
shop of good baker.
Finally comes the fat or shortening.
In early Roman days vegetable oils
were used in making bread, but so
| rapidly has the art of making shorten
ing advanced that today we have a
| number from which to choose. Some
| Of those are vegetable, some COM
| bined animal and vegetable, such as
! lard and cottonseed Oil, and again
there are persons who prefer to use a
mixture of lard and butter.
1t Is the shortening in the bread
which makes the crust tender and
keeps the loaf moist.