Chapter X
INTRODUCING THE COOKING OF CARBOHYDRATES, THE TRUE HEAT AND WORK FOODS "Cooking is an essential preliminary to the ingestion of starch-containing foods, for uncooked starch cannot be utilized in any degree by man."-- Chittenden.
SAUCES AND CREAM SOUPS Up to this time we have been dealing with proteid food that is cooked delicately; but in the average diet of an adult only one part of proteid is needed for five and three-tenths parts of carbohydrate and fat, and of the carbohydrate the principal part is starch. Prehistoric and early man, endowed with strong digestive power, was undoubtedly able to digest, in some measure, crude starch. But the digestive power of civilized man has been gradually weakened by his habits of life, and, in order that his organism may convert starch into a form that can be made use of in his body, it must first be changed, by the action of strong heat, into sweet substances akin to sugar. In this connection, it may be well to add that the mouth is the great starch-digesting organ of the body. The salivary glands of the mouth secrete a ferment, which continues the digestive process begun in cooking. It is well to lighten the labor of the stomach by dividing minutely in the mouth meat and other proteid substances, yet this is not obligatory. But when we come to the mastication of starchy food we are dealing with quite another matter. Starchy food must be chewed and chewed until it is impregnated through and through with ptyalin, the starch-digesting ferment of the mouth, or the chances are that the starch will be cast out of the system as waste material. In some forms of cooking more starch is changed into sweet substances than in others. Thus in a baked potato the conversion of starch has been carried further than it has in a boiled potato, and in the brown crust of a loaf of bread than in the crumb at the center.
In general, the higher the degree of heat to which it is possible to subject the starch, the greater is the conversion, though heat at a lower temperature, long continued, brings about very nearly the same result. Let us see now how the cooking of starch may be carried out in the matter of sauces. REGARDING SAUCES Often richness or moisture, one or both, would improve an article of food, and, sometimes, we wish to add to the bulk of certain articles, to make them "go farther." In either case we may have recourse to sauces. Sauces are combinations of fat -- usually butter or dripping -- milk, broth, vegetable purees, or water and flavorings, with eggs or some form of starch, to give body or consistence to the mixture. The thing that interests us just now is the ways in which the starch in our dish may be cooked with the other ingredients, to produce the desired result. This may be done in three different ways.
PROPORTIONS OF THE INGREDIENTS IN SAUCES Sometimes we may wish a very rich and buttery sauce; and, for some uses, a very thick sauce, as in making croquettes; for general use, however, no matter how the sauce is put together, the proportions of the various ingredients are the same, i.e.: For one cup of sauce, take 2 tablespoonfuls of fat 1/4 teaspoonful of pepper 2 tablespoonfuls of flour 1 cup of liquid 1/4 teaspoonful of salt 1. Melt the fat in a small saucepan, set directly over the fire; add the flour, sale and pepper, and stir until frothy throughout, then add the cold liquid and stir constantly and vigorously until the mixture is smooth, thick and boiling. The liquid may be added hot, if the hot mixture of butter and flour be cooled before such addition. 2. Heat milk or cream over hot water (in double boiler), other liquids directly over the fire. Beat the butter to a cream; gradually heat into it the flour and seasonings; dilute this with a little of the hot liquid, and stir until the ingredients are evenly blended; then turn into the rest of the hot liquid and continue to stir (over the fire) until the sauce boils and is smooth, or (in double boiler) until the sauce thickens and is smooth, then cover and let cook ten minutes or longer, stirring occasionally. 3. Use a little of the cold liquid in stirring the flour and seasonings into a smooth batter. Scald the rest of the liquid, if it be cream or milk, over hot water, or heat other liquids to the boiling point directly over the fire. Stir the batter into the hot liquid -- dilute first with a little of the hot liquid, then when smooth stir into the rest of the hot liquid. If the double boiler be used, stir and cook until smooth, then cover and let cook ten or fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally; if cooked directly over the fire stir and cook until boiling. Just before serving, add the butter in little bits, beating in each bit thoroughly before the next is added. THEORY OF THE THREE WAYS OF MAKING SAUCES By the first method the sauce is very quickly made; thus, when time is an object, this way should be employed. The temperature of hot fat is considerably higher than that of scalding milk or boiling water or broth; thus, when the flour (starch) is cooked in hot fat, it is cooked more quickly and thoroughly than when it is cooked in liquid. But fat that has been heated to a high temperature is not very easily digested, and thus the first method of making a sauce should not be chosen, when the food is designed for children or those of weak digestion. What is gained in the thorough cooking of the starch is more than lost in the overheating of the fat. In cooking starch in the liquid considerably more time must be allowed. In following the last method the flavor of the butter is more nearly retained. All sauces made by these formulas are known as white sauces. When milk or cream is used as the liquid, the sauce is called cream sauce; when tomato is used tomato sauce. When the broth (veal, chicken or fish) is flavored with vegetables the sauce is called V eloute.