Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-25
Food Made Appetizing by Spices
BY BETSY CALLIsTER,

r = SEQ with q lavish hand spices
/ ruin the best Of foods. but
added in very small quanti-
ties they give variety to the
flavor Of commonplace FOODS
and in some cases actually bring out
the flavor characteristic Of the food
itself. Used in large quantities spices
are undoubtedly injurious. Old people
and children especially should avoid
highly spiced foods. But used in mod
Grafton spices DO no harm-and often
much good by making foods appetlz-
ing.
Cinnamon, mustard. ginger nutmeg
| afisoice and cloves are undoubtedly the
most usually used spices In most Amerl-
can Kitchens, aside from various sorts
of pepper-red. white, black ana
paprika, sometimes called Hungarian or
Krona pepper; Mace; which is mace
meg and has somewhat the same fAvor,
is used in some American households,
though perhaps not so much here as
| abroad.
II was customary in days gone by to
serve various favorite spices on the din
ner table, just as we now serve pepper
and salt. These are the sole SURVIVORS
of quite a list OF food accompaniment
that used to be sprinkled on 1000 70
suit the taste of the diner. The time
may G. ne when salt and pepper also
are crowded from the table, as, In fact,
they should be when food Is sufhciently
seasoned In the kitchen. With addi-
tior1al salt and pepper at hand there is
always a temptation to use too mucn OF
them and to use them to the exclusion
Of other seasonings that are more ap-
propriate.
Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and
sweet dishes. All five are used Singiy
or In combination in making spice
cakes. Mace and mustard are not USED
with sweet dishes, though little sugar
is usually added in mixing mustard 10
use on meats. AS every one knows, even
a little mustard would be inappropriate
in q spice cake, though it would be hard
to say why allspice may be used IN this
connection and mustard may not.
While nutmeg is sometimes used IN
sweet dishes it is often used IN meat
in fact, be used in moderation AL
most anywhere that mace may be USED:
A very, very little nutmeg may be ADDED
to vegetable soup and to stumngS, es-
pecially those to be used in Ash. Nut
meg and mace are used together very
sparingly in making certain dishes OF
stewed fish. have before me recipe
for potato souf1ie that calls for few
grains Of nutmeg, and 1t is also usee
Sometimes in niade-over dishes Of lamb.
It is sometimes added-very sparingly--
to mixed dishes containing lobster.
Mace is used In small quantities IN
some white sauces to be served on meats
or vegetables. A celery sauce to be USED
with chicken contains few grains OF
mace, and 1t is also sometimes included
in dishes Of oxtail, liver and other So
called gland cuts, OF meat such Is
kidney, sweetbreadS,. brains, and % on.
The only meat dishes In which cloves
are used are usually those containing
ham or other pork products. Baked
ham would not be up to par II 1t had
not been stuck literally with whole
cloves, usually used In connection with
a layer OF brown sugar. English cooks
sometimes add one or two, cloves to
bread sauce to be used with chicken.
They add a Glove to stock that Is to be
used for clear soup and sometimes to
gravy.
Even allspice is sometimes used In
England In preparing meat stocks and
gravies, always sparinely, let us hope,
and there are dishes Of spiced beef in
which allspice makes It's appearance.
Curr..' ID gaining favor In this country.
1t Is used usually to flavor meat dishes
or dishes to be eaten with meats, and
is used rather Ayishly, not 30 much to