The Golden Age Cook Book Part 1

The Golden Age Cook Book.

by Henrietta Latham Dwight.

PREFACE.

I send this little book out into the world, first, to aid those who, having decided to adopt a bloodless diet, are still asking how they can be nourished without flesh; second, in the hope of gaining something further to protect "the speechless ones" who, having come down through the centuries under "the dominion of man," have in their eyes the mute, appealing look of the helpless and oppressed. Their eloquent silence should not ask our sympathy and aid in vain; they have a right, as our humble brothers, to our loving care and protection, and to demand justice and pity at our hands; and, as a part of the One Life, to--

"life, which all can take but none can give; Life, which all creatures love and strive to keep; Wonderful, dear, and pleasant unto each, Even to the meanest; yea, a boon to all Where pity is, for pity makes the world Soft to the weak and n.o.ble for the strong.

Unto the dumb lips of the flock he lent Sad, pleading words, showing how man, who prays For mercy to the G.o.ds, is merciless, Being as G.o.d to those; albeit all life Is linked and kin, and what we slay have given Meek tribute of their milk and wool, and set Fast trust upon the hands which murder them."

If the cruelty and injustice to animals are nothing to us, we have still another argument to offer--the brutalization of the men who slaughter that we may eat flesh. Mrs. Besant, in "Why I Am a Food Reformer," says:

"Lately I have been in the city of Chicago--one of the greatest slaughter-houses of the world--where the slaughter-men, who are employed from early morn till late at night in the killing of thousands of these hapless creatures, are made a cla.s.s _practically apart from their fellow-men_; they are marked out by the police _as the most dangerous part of the community_; amongst them are committed most crimes of violence, and the most ready use of the knife is found. One day I was speaking to an authority on this subject, and I asked him how it was that he knew so decidedly that most of the murders and the crimes with the knife were perpetrated by that particular cla.s.s of men, and his answer was suggestive, although horrible. He said: 'There is a peculiar turn of the knife which men learn to use in the slaughter-house, for, as the living creatures are brought to them by machinery, these men slit their throats as they pa.s.s by. That twist of the wrist is the characteristic of most crimes with the knife committed amongst our Chicago population.' That struck me at once as both a horrible and significant fact. _What right have people to condemn other men to a trade that makes them so readily take to the knife in anger; which marks them out as specially brutalized--brutes amongst their fellow-men?_ Being constantly in the sight and the smell of blood, their whole nature is coa.r.s.ened; accustomed to kill thousands of creatures, they lose all sense of reverence for sentient life, they grow indifferent to the suffering they continually see around them; accustomed to inflict pain, they grow callous to the sight of pain; accustomed to kill swiftly, and sometimes not even waiting until the creature is dead before the skin is stripped from it, their nerves become coa.r.s.ened, hardened, and brutalized, and they are less men as men because they are slaughterers of animals. _And everyone who eats flesh meat has part in that brutalization; everyone who uses what they provide is guilty of this degradation of his fellow-men._

"If I may not appeal to you in the name of the animals--if under mistaken views you regard animals as not sharing _your kind of life_--then I appeal to you in the name of _human brotherhood_, and remind you of your duty to your fellow-men, your duty to your nation, which must be built up partly of the children of those who slaughter--who physically inherit the very signs of this brutalizing occupation. I ask you to recognize your duty as men and women who should _raise_ the Race, not _degrade_ it; who should try to make it _divine_, not _brutal_; who should try to make it _pure_, not _foul_; and therefore, in the name of Human Brotherhood, I appeal to you to leave your own tables free from the stain of blood and your consciences free from the degradation of your fellow-men."

That flesh-eating is not necessary to the perfect health of man is attested by many scientists. The following testimonies from some very prominent physiologists and anatomists may prove interesting:

Sir Charles Bell, F. R. S.: "It is, I think, not going too far to say that every fact connected with the human organization goes to prove that man was originally formed a frugivorous animal. This opinion is princ.i.p.ally derived from the formation of his teeth and digestive organs, as well as from the character of his skin and the general structure of his limbs."

Sylvester Graham, M. D.: "Comparative anatomy proves that man is naturally a frugivorous animal, formed to subsist upon fruits, seeds, and farinaceous vegetables."

Professor Wm. Lawrence, F. R. S.: "The teeth of man have not the slightest resemblance to those of carnivorous animals; and, whether we consider the teeth, jaws, or digestive organs, the human structure closely resembles that of the frugivorous animals."

Dr. Jozef Drzewiecki: "There is no doubt that fruit and vegetable food purifies the blood, while meat inflames and is the source of many diseases, which are the punishment for breaking the natural law and command."

Professor Vogt: "The vegetarian diet is the most beneficial and agreeable to our organs, as it contains the greatest amount of carbon hydrates and the best proportion of alb.u.men."

Sir Henry Thompson, M. D., F. R. C. S.: "It is a vulgar error to regard meat in any form as necessary to life. All that is necessary to the human body can be supplied by the vegetable kingdom.... The vegetarian can extract from his food all the principles necessary for the growth and support of the body, as well as for the production of heat and force. It must be admitted as a fact beyond all question that some persons are stronger and more healthy who live on that food. I know how much of the prevailing meat diet is not merely a wasteful extravagance, but a source of serious evil to the consumer."

The following special cablegram from London to the New York "Sun," July 3d, 1898, contains a practical ill.u.s.tration of the superiority of a vegetable diet:

"The vegetarians are making a great ado over the triumph of their theory in the long-distance test of walking endurance, seventy miles, in Germany, this week. The twenty-two starters included eight vegetarians.

The distance had to be covered within eighteen hours. The first six to arrive were vegetarians, the first finis.h.i.+ng in 14 hours, the second in 14 , the third in 15 , the fourth in 16, the fifth in 16 , and the sixth in 17 . The last two vegetarians missed their way and walked five miles more. All reached the goal in splendid condition. Not till one hour after the last vegetarian did the first meat-eater appear, completely exhausted. He was the only one. Others dropped off after thirty-five miles."

There is no question of the great economy of vegetarianism. Dr. Alcott, in "Arguments for Vegetarianism," says:

"Twenty-two acres of land are needed to sustain one man on fresh meat.

Under wheat that land will feed forty-two people; under oats, eighty-eight; under potatoes, maize, or rice, one hundred and seventy-six; under the banana, over six thousand. The crowded nations of the future must abandon flesh-eating for a diet that will feed more than tenfold people by the same soil, expense and labor. How rich men will be when they cease to toll for flesh-meat, alcohol, drugs, sickness, and war!"

"Suffer the ox to plough, and impute his death to age and Nature's hand.

Let the sheep continue to yield us sheltering wool, and the goats the produce of their loaded udders.

Banish from among you nets and snares and painful artifices, Conspire no longer against the birds, nor scare the meek deer, nor hide with fraud the crooked hook; ....

But let your mouths be empty of blood, and satisfied with pure and natural repasts."[1]

[1] Imputed to Pythagoras.

"O Golden Age, whose light is of the dawn, And not of sunset, forward, not behind, Flood the new heavens and earth, and with thee bring All the old virtues, whatsoever things Are pure and honest and of good repute, But add thereto whatever bard has sung Or seer has told of when in trance or dream They saw the Happy Isles of prophecy!

Let Justice hold her scale, and Truth divide Between the right and wrong; but give the heart The freedom of its fair inheritance."

--WHITTIER.

Bread, Biscuit, and Rolls.

BEATEN BISCUIT.--No. 1.

One quart of flour, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder sifted with the flour, a quarter of a teaspoonful of salt, a large heaping tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, milk enough to make a stiff dough. Beat with a rolling pin or in a biscuit-beater for ten or fifteen minutes until the dough blisters.

Roll out about half an inch thick or less, p.r.i.c.k well with a fork and bake in a quick oven.

BEATEN BISCUIT.--No. 2.

Two quarts of flour, three ounces of b.u.t.ter, a little salt and enough water to make a stiff dough. Beat with a rolling pin or in a biscuit-beater twenty minutes until the dough blisters or snaps. Roll out about half an inch thick, p.r.i.c.k well with a fork and bake in a quick oven. This dough rolled very thin, cut with a large cutter, p.r.i.c.ked well and baked in a quick oven makes delicious wafers to serve with tea or chocolate.

BAKING-POWDER BISCUIT.

One quart of sifted flour, three-quarters of a cup of b.u.t.ter, two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder, one teaspoonful of salt, enough milk to make a soft dough. Do not handle any more than is necessary.

Roll thin, cut in small biscuits, p.r.i.c.k with a fork and bake in a quick oven.

CREAM BISCUIT.

One quart of flour sifted, two rounded teaspoonfuls of Cleveland's baking powder, two cupfuls of cream and a little salt. Mix, roll out about a quarter of an inch thick, cut with a small biscuit-cutter, p.r.i.c.k with a fork and bake fifteen or twenty minutes in a quick oven.

FRENCH ROLLS.

Two quarts of sifted flour, a pint of warm milk, half a cup of b.u.t.ter melted in the milk, a quarter of a cup of sugar, three or four eggs beaten light, a little salt, a half cake of compressed yeast, dissolved in a little warm milk. Make a batter of the milk and flour, add the eggs and sugar, beat hard for fifteen minutes. Cover the pan and set to rise, over night if for luncheon, in the morning if for tea. Knead well, but do not add any more flour. Make them into shape and let them rise again until light. Bake about fifteen minutes in a quick oven. For buns add cinnamon. Sift the flour before measuring, and measure lightly.

RAISED FINGER-ROLLS.

Half a pint of milk, half a pint of water, one-third of a compressed yeast cake, one teaspoonful of sugar, two teaspoonfuls of b.u.t.ter, one teaspoonful of salt. Dissolve the yeast cake in a little tepid water, mix as usual, make into a soft dough at night, bake for breakfast or luncheon.

WINDSOR ROLLS.

Melt half a cup of b.u.t.ter in three-quarters of a pint of warm milk, dissolve one cake of compressed yeast in a little tepid milk, stir together and add a teaspoonful of salt and enough flour to make like bread dough, set to rise in a warm place. It will rise in about two hours. Roll out the dough, using as little flour as possible to keep it from sticking, and cut with a biscuit-cutter, or mould with the hands into rolls, put them in pans, and set on the shelf over the range to rise about ten or fifteen minutes. Bake fifteen or twenty minutes.