Foods and Household Management Part 14

(6) Boil down the sirup and pour it over the apples.

(7) Chill, before serving with plain or whipped cream.

=4. Apple sauces.=--In the cooking of the whole apple you have all the principles and processes of apple cooking. You can now make apple sauce of your own invention, and need no printed directions. Answer these questions before you begin work. After you have made the sauce, record the work exactly in your notebook.

If you want the slices of apple to remain whole, will the method be like 1, 2, or 3?

If you wish a smooth sauce, what utensil will you need?

How will you determine the amount of sugar required? If you are very fond of sugar, your taste may not be the safest guide.

_Practical home work._--If you can secure a very slow oven, say a coal oven at night, or a gas oven with a low flame, make an apple sauce in an earthenware pot, as heavy as a bean pot, closely covered, leaving the pot in the oven from six to eight hours. This process is satisfactory in a fireless cooker where a hot stone or iron is used. Remember that water keeps down temperature, and also that it evaporates steadily even in a slow oven. How much water will you put over the apples when the process begins?

If you have never cooked apples in this way you will be surprised at the color and flavor.

_Some other fruits._--_Pears_ and _quinces_ develop pleasing flavors when baked.

Cook the quinces sliced, as suggested for the apples, in the bean pot, using a little mola.s.ses for sweetening and you will have the delicious old-time "mola.s.ses quince."

_Prunes._--We are dealing now with a dried fruit. If you compare the raisins with the grapes in Fig. 26, you will see how much water is lost in the drying process. The same difference would be evident if you had pictures of a fresh plum and a prune, side by side. This water must be supplied in the process of preparation. The best way to accomplish this is by soaking the prunes many hours, say over night. Prunes have a most undeserved reputation, because they are not well cooked, and at some tables are served too often.

With this one new step introduced you may plan the cooking of the prunes, from what you know of apple sauce. The slower and longer the process, the better. The cheaper kinds of prunes will be very satisfactory, with the soaking and slow cooking. What is the sensible thing to do in regard to sugar?

If on some occasion you would like prunes to be unusually nice, remove the stones carefully, and in their places slip in seeded raisins which have also been soaked and gently stewed.

_Other dried fruits_ may be treated in the same way.

Apricots and peaches yield delightful flavors when carefully prepared; and dried apples are also excellent.

PRESERVATION OF FRUIT AND OTHER FOODS

The preservation of fruit and other foods has been a household industry for generations, and it is now an important commercial industry. The old-time farm had its smokehouse where hams and beef were "cured," the barrel of brine stood in the cellar for pork and corned beef, apples and corn were dried for winter use, and rows of preserve jars stood upon the shelves. Food was preserved by simple processes long before the reason for the decay and spoiling of food was fully understood, but with larger knowledge and better appliances, we now preserve food more effectively and in quant.i.ties larger than were possible in former days.

Fruit is the food material now most commonly preserved in the home kitchen. Vegetables need to be subjected to heat for a much longer time than fruit, and many people prefer to buy canned vegetables rather than to go to the trouble and expense of canning them at home. Where there is an oversupply of vegetables in the home garden, it is sometimes economy to can them, and this may be done if care is exercised. The cost of fuel and labor must be counted in, when studying the question of home preserving versus buying the canned product.

Whatever the food material, and the process, the principles of preservation are the same for all.

=Why does food spoil?=--The decay and moldiness of fresh fruit are matters of common observation; and the housekeeper knows that mold is liable to cover the top of a jelly gla.s.s, and that a can of fruit will ferment at times, even to the point of bursting the can.

We recognize another kind of deterioration in meat and fish that have become tainted, even when no mold is visible, and there is no opportunity for ordinary fermentation. The microscope has given us eyes to see, and as a result of the patient work of the scientist with this instrument we now know that the difficulties in keeping food are caused by the presence of minute vegetable organisms known as molds, yeasts, and bacteria. It is impossible in some cases to draw a sharp line between these different forms of lower life, yet we are able to distinguish them sufficiently for practical purposes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 28.--Three species of mold. _Buchanan's Household Bacteriology._]

Ma.s.ses of _mold_ that can be seen with the naked eye are distinguished by a feathery appearance and bright color. Figure 28 shows three species of the green mold that affects jam and jellies. Other species are found in Roquefort and Camembert cheese, and give the flavors characteristic in these cheeses.

The presence of _yeast_ can be detected by its action, but it cannot itself be seen without the microscope. When canned fruit or homemade fruit juice "works," yeasts cells are present in great number. Figure 29 shows one form of yeast, highly magnified, and Fig. 30 shows a single yeast cell. The yeast cake is a mixture of thousands of such cells with some flour or flour and meal, and the cells lie dormant in the cake, until we are ready to use them in bread. (See Chapter XII.) The actual yeast, however, is what Fig. 30 shows it to be, a tiny, one-celled plant, increasing in number by the division of the single cell, or by the budding out of one cell from another. When conditions are favorable the yeast cells increase in number with great rapidity, and some of the sugar that is present is broken down into carbon dioxide gas and alcohol. It is this gas that causes the familiar bubbling when fermentation is taking place.

We put yeast cells into bread and cultivate it for this gas. But how does it occur in canned fruits, when its presence is not desired? _Wild yeast_ floats in the air, and lies upon the surface of fruit. All cultivated yeast has been derived from wild yeast. In old-fas.h.i.+oned ways of bread-making no yeast was introduced, a soft dough being left in a warm place to ferment naturally, the yeast cells probably being present in the flour. The yeast that spoils the canned fruit is present in the fruit, in the utensils, or can, and has not been killed as it should be in the canning process.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 29.--One form of yeast. _Buchanan's Household Bacteriology_]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 30.--A yeast cell. _a_, cell wall. _b_, vacuole. _c_, granules. _d_, nucleus. _e_ and _e_, buds. _Buchanan's Household Bacteriology._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 31.--The four types of bacterial cells. _A_, cocci.

_B_, bacilli. _C_, spirilia. _D_, branched filamentous organism.

_Buchanan's Household Bacteriology._]

The _bacteria_ are also one-celled microorganisms, smaller than the yeast.

Figure 31 shows the four types of bacterial cells. Their size is measured by the unit used in the microscope, called the micron, which is about 1/25000 of one inch. Bacteria may measure from one to three or four of these microns in length. Some bacteria are reproduced by means of spores which form within the cell. Bacteria, as they develop in some material, produce substances from the material that may or may not be injurious to us. One important truth about the bacteria is this: that many of them are harmless, and may even be made useful, as in the manufacture of fruit vinegar. The pleasant acid of b.u.t.termilk and of sour milk is due also to bacteria which are not harmful to us. However, there may be disease producing bacteria present in milk that is not clean, and their presence must not be tolerated. Other bacteria, developing in meat and fish, produce substances known as _ptomaines_, which are dangerous poisons; or, more often, the kinds of bacteria which thrive in meats and fish may themselves be directly injurious to man.

It is evident, therefore, that the problem before us is the control of these lower organisms, that we may increase or destroy them as we will.

=The control of microorganisms.=--With warmth, water, and food all living things flourish and grow; most organisms require air, but some of the microorganisms do not. Where these conditions are best met, the organism is most active and multiplies most rapidly. To r.e.t.a.r.d growth or to destroy life, the conditions must be the reverse of favorable. While warmth, say a temperature from 70 to 90 F., promotes the life of most microorganisms, intense heat destroys it. The boiling temperature, 212 F., will kill these lower organisms, although this heat has to be continued for some length of time, particularly in the case of spores. The spores of certain bacteria are quite resistant. A temperature of 32 F. and lower r.e.t.a.r.ds growth, but it requires extreme cold to destroy bacteria. Since moisture is necessary to all the lower organisms, they do not develop in a dry material or dry place.

We cannot destroy these lower forms of life by removing food from them, since they are ever present, but we can make the food unavailable to them through the introduction in the material of certain substances called preservatives which prevent their growth. The preservatives long familiar are salt, sugar, wood-smoke, spices, vinegar, and alcohol. While a small amount of sugar is necessary in the fermentation process, a large amount acts as a preservative, as in candied fruit. It is an interesting fact that alcohol and vinegar, products of fermentation processes, tend (when sufficiently concentrated) to stop the growth of the fermentation organisms.

To the reader who desires a fuller account of the bacteria, yeast, and molds, especially as related to household affairs, Buchanan's "Household Bacteriology" is recommended as the most recent and satisfactory book in this field.

=A word about buying canned goods.=--When canned goods are put up in large quant.i.ties at the factory, abuses are likely to exist. Poor, even decayed, fruit may be used, the whole process may be unclean from beginning to end, and undesirable preservatives or an excess of sugar or spice may be introduced to cover the use of poor materials or methods. The condition of the worker in the cannery is one of the important industrial problems at the present time. Unhappily, poor conditions do often exist in canneries that turn out a cheap product. On the other hand, there are firms that may well take pride in their system from beginning to end.

=Serving canned food.=--All canned food should be exposed to the air for a short time before serving, and stirred that the material may be aerated.

This partially removes a certain flatness of taste. Canned fruit is improved by reheating, even.

When possible, vegetables bought in a tin can should be washed in the colander before they are heated. This greatly improves the flavor.

=Principles of preservation.=

Sterilization of food and all apparatus by the boiling temperature, 212 F.

The removal of moisture by some drying process.

The addition of a preservative.

Sealing, to prevent the entrance of air.

=Practical methods.=

_Canning._--Fruit or vegetables sterilized at 212 F. and tightly sealed in jars or cans.

_Preserving._--Whole fruit, sterilized, large amount of sugar added, and sealed or covered in jars.

_Jam making._--Fruit broken up, sterilized, sugar added, and covered.

_Jelly making._--Fruit juices, sterilized, sugar added, covered.

_Pickling._--Fruit and vegetables sterilized, vinegar, spices, and sugar the preservatives used.

_Drying._--Fruits and vegetables protected from dust and insects, and slowly dried by the sun's heat or artificial heat.