Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-12-31
FOOD AND HEALTH
BY WINIFRED STUART GIBBS.
Food Specialist.

Just as one may overorgan1Ze his
business, so he may overstandardize
his diet. He may fall into a rut and be
come SO exact, following tradition and
custom so Slavishly. that there is no
trace of that divine spark OF magma
ton capable of turning corned beef
hash into an entree, and Il delicious
entree at that
Shakespeare's shade, if he hauntS
these parts, must by this time be
accustomed to hearing himself mis-
quoted; therefore, when we reflect
one food in its time plays many
parts. the genial ghost decides, We
trust, to laugh that Off"
For one food does play many parts.
Fully to realize this fact is one OF
the best methods of acquiring that
very spark of dietary imagination
without which bread is bread, or
meat is meat
That bread may be not alone bread.
one OF the fundamental and basic
elements of bread and butter" the
gold headed cane of life but that
1t may also serve as the starting
point for the connection of delicious
buildings, saVory omelets and crisp
and brown and tender griddle cakes
as WELL is oneebit to store away in
the conveniently elastic subcon-
seriousness. and similar facts in rela
ton to all other staples should have
many new ideas" recipes and the
like may thus be acquired.
So much for the purely culinary
aspect of the question.
1t is with the dietetic. the nutri-
tional aspect. that most work is need
ed, however. The normal woman.
whether she presides over kitchen
cite or mansion. has tucked away u
real enthusiasm for feeding folk. She
herself may be unconscious of it.
her Job" in life may make it diff
cult or even impossible for her to
indulge her fondness, but it is there.
The very word lady" means loaf
giver.'
So TO return to the part played by
a, single food in nutrition as well as in
cookery. Let US accuStom ourselves to
the study of each and every foodstun
that enters into a dish, so that IN
stinctively we may come to an almost
unconscious evaluation of such a dish
from the standpoint of nutrition.
Just by way Of illustration, take the
italian pasteS, spaghetti and maca-
roni. Most of us think of "macaroni
and cheese" as a meat substitute"
and let it go at that. AS a. matter OF
fact, those who have made business
OF studying different ways and means
of using these paSteS have evolved
numerous recipes, such as spaghetti
SOuffie, macaroni with peas, elbow
salad, macaroni and lobster croquettos
noodle pudding, spaghetti chop suey
and macaroni with ham and eegs-to
mention but a few.
1t does not take a food chemist 10
see at a glance that just this one
group of foods may serve as a vehicle
for introducing fresh vegetables as in
the case Of the attractive dish made
with peas; body building material. as
with the souffie: digestible desserts. as
witness the various buildings. and
so on.
Similar studies may be made of other
foods, and the habit, once established.
Will be both fruitful and fascinating.
Let us study our cook books. not alone
as guides TO food preparation, but also
as sources of suggestion for further
study of nutritional problems After
all, Is not this the principle on which
languages are taught today: the learn
ing by actual contacts with EVERYDAY
problems? So, after devoting all our
artistic skill TO the task of following
the cook books directions. we NAV
well study it as a text book on nutri-
ton.
Dads favorite apple pie or Jacks
special dish of prune whip take on
new significance when we think OF
them as the means of introducing
th-giving fruit and bodybuilding
egg into Dads and Jacks daily diets,
SCopyright. 1921