WOMAN'S INSTITUTE LIBRARY OF COOKERY. VOLUME 5: FRUIT AND FRUIT DESSERTS; CANNING AND DRYING; JELLY MAKING, PRESERVING AND PICKLING; CONFECTIONS; BEVERAGES; THE PLANNING OF MEALS TEXT

alcoholic beverages include such drinks as beer, wine, whisky, etc., some of which are used more in one country than in another. In fact, almost every class of people known has an alcoholic beverage that has come to be regarded as typical of that class. Alcoholic fermentation is supposed to have been discovered by accident, and when its effect became known it was recognized as a popular means of supplying a beverage and some stimulation besides. Under stimulating beverages come tea, coffee, and cocoa. These are in common use all over the world, certain ones, of course, finding greater favor in some countries than in others. With the exception of cocoa, they provide very little food value. In contrast with these drinks are the non-stimulating beverages, which include fruit punches, soft drinks, and all the milk-and-egg concoctions. These are usually very refreshing, and the majority of them contain sufficient nourishment to recommend their frequent use. WATER IN BEVERAGES 4. Many persons restrict the term beverages, contending that it refers to refreshing or flavored drinks. It should be remembered, however, that this term has a broader meaning and refers to any drink taken for the purpose of quenching thirst. Water is the simplest beverage and is in reality the foundation of nearly all drinks, for it is the water in them that slakes thirst. Flavors, such as fruit juice, tea, coffee, etc., are combined with water to make the beverages more tempting, and occasionally such foods as eggs, cream, and starchy materials are added to give food value; but the first and foremost purpose of all beverages is to introduce water into the system and thus satisfy thirst. 5. KINDS OF WATER.--Inasmuch as water is so important an element in the composition of beverages, every one should endeavor to become familiar with the nature of each of its varieties. SOFT WATER is water that contains very little mineral matter. A common example of soft water is rainwater. HARD WATER is water that contains a large quantity of lime in solution. Boiling such water precipitates, or separates, some of the lime and consequently softens the water. An example of the precipitation of lime in water is the deposit that can be found in any teakettle that has been used for some time. MINERAL WATER is water containing a large quantity of such minerals as will go in solution in water, namely, sulphur, iron, lime, etc. DISTILLED WATER is water from which all minerals have been removed. To accomplish this, the water is converted into steam and then condensed. This is the purest form of water. CARBONATED WATER is water that has had carbon-dioxide, or carbonic-acid, gas forced into it. The soda water used at soda fountains is an example of this variety. Carbonated water is bottled and sold for various purposes. 6. NECESSITY FOR PURE WATER.--The extensive use made of water in the diet makes it imperative that every effort be exerted to have the water supply as pure as possible. The ordinary city filter and the smaller household filter can be depended on to remove sand, particles of leaves, weeds, and such foreign material as is likely to drop into the water from time to time, but they will not remove disease germs from an unclean supply. Therefore, if there is any doubt about water being pure enough to use for drinking purposes, it should be boiled before it is used. Boiling kills any disease germs that the water may contain, but at the same time it gives the water a very flat taste because of the loss of air in boiling. However, as is mentioned in _Essentials of Cookery_, Part 1, the natural taste may be restored by beating the boiled water with an egg beater or by partly filling a jar, placing the lid on, and shaking it vigorously. RELATION OF BEVERAGES TO MEALS 7. About one-third of all the water required each day is taken in the form of beverages with the meals. It was formerly thought that liquids dilute the gastric juice and so should be avoided with meals. However, it has been learned that beverages, either warm or cold, with the exception of an occasional case, may be taken with meals without injury. The chief point to remember is that it is unwise to drink beverages either too hot or too cold. For the best results, their temperature should be rather moderate. 8. Foods that may be dissolved in water can be incorporated in a beverage to make it nutritious. With many persons, as in the case of small children and invalids, this is often the only means there is of giving them nourishment. In serving beverages to healthy persons, the food value of the meal should be taken into consideration. The beverage accompanying a heavy meal should be one having very little food value; whereas, in the case of a light meal, the beverage can be such as will give additional nutrition. For instance, hot chocolate, which is very nutritious, would not be a good beverage to serve with a meal consisting of soup, meat, vegetables, salad, and dessert, but it would be an excellent drink to serve with a lunch that is made up of light sandwiches, salad, and fruit. ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES 9. ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES are made by allowing yeast to ferment the starch or the sugar in a certain kind of food, thus producing acid and alcohol. Grains and fruits are used oftenest for this purpose. In some cases, the fermentation is allowed to continue long enough to use up all the starch or sugar in the material selected, and in this event the resulting beverages are sour and contain a great deal of alcohol. In others, the fermentation is stopped before all the sugar or starch is utilized, and then the beverage is sweet and contains less alcohol. The higher the percentage of alcohol a beverage contains, the more intoxicating it is and the more quickly will a state of intoxication be reached by drinking it. 10. HARMFUL EFFECTS OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES.--In years past, alcoholic beverages were considered to be a necessity for medicinal purposes in hospitals and in homes, but this use of them has been very greatly decreased. In fact, it is believed by most authorities that often more harm than good is done by using alcoholic beverages as a medical stimulant or as a carrier for some drug. As these drinks are harmful in this respect, so are they detrimental to health when they are taken merely as beverages. It is definitely known that alcohol acts as a food when it enters the body, for it is burned just as a carbohydrate would be and thus produces heat. That this action takes place very rapidly can be detected by the warmth that is produced almost immediately when the drink is taken. Some of it is lost through the breath and the kidneys without producing heat, and it also acts upon the blood vessels near the skin in such a way as to lose very quickly the heat that is produced. It is never conserved and used gradually as the heat from food is used. The taking of alcohol requires much work on the part of the kidneys, and this eventually injures them. It also hardens the liver and produces a disease known as hob-nailed, or gin, liver. In addition, if used continuously, this improper means of nourishing the body produces an excessive amount of fat. Because of these harmful effects on the various organs, its too rapid loss from the body, and the fact that it does not build tissue, alcohol is at best a very poor food and should be avoided on all occasions. 11. KINDS OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES.--In spite of the truth that beverages containing alcohol are found to be harmful, many of them are in common use. Following are the names of these, together with a short account of their preparation: BEER is an alcoholic beverage made from certain grains, usually barley, by malting the grain, boiling the product with hops, and finally fermenting it with yeast. The malting of grains, it will be remembered, is explained in _Cereals_. The hops are used to give the beer a desirable flavor. This beverage is characterized by a low percentage of alcohol, containing only 2 to 5 per cent., and consequently is not very intoxicating. WINE is a beverage that is usually made from grapes, although berries and other small fruits are occasionally used. It contains from 7 to 16 per cent. of alcohol and is therefore more intoxicating than beer. The wines in which all of the sugar is fermented are known as _sour_, or _dry, wines_, while those in which not all of the sugar has been fermented are called _sweet wines_. Many classes of wines are made and put on the market, but those most commonly used are claret, sherry, hock, port, and Madeira. BRANDY is an alcoholic liquor distilled from wine. It is very intoxicating, for it consists of little besides alcohol and water, the percentage of alcohol varying from 40 to 50 per cent. Upon being distilled, brandy is colorless, but it is then stored in charred wooden casks, from which it takes its characteristic color. GIN is a practically colorless liquor distilled from various grains and flavored with oil of juniper or some other flavoring substance, such as anise, orange peel, or fennel. It contains from 30 to 40 per cent. of alcohol. It is usually stored in glass bottles, which do not impart a color to it. RUM is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting cane sugar, molasses, cane juice, or the scum and waste from sugar refineries and then distilling the product. It contains from 45 to 50 per cent. of alcohol, and has a disagreeable odor when it is distilled. This odor, however, is removed by storing the rum in wooden receptacles for a long period of time. CORDIALS are beverages made by steeping fruits or herbs in brandy. _Absinthe_, which is barred from the United States because it contains wormwood, a very injurious substance, is a well-known cordial. Besides being extremely intoxicating, it overstimulates the heart and the stomach if taken in even comparatively small quantities. WHISKY is an alcoholic beverage obtained by distilling fermented grain several times until it has a strength of 40 to 50 per cent. of alcohol. Then it is flavored and stored in charred casks to ripen and become mellow, after which it has a characteristic color. As can readily be understood, distilled liquors contain the highest percentage of alcohol. * * * * * STIMULATING BEVERAGES NATURE OF STIMULATING BEVERAGES 12. STIMULATING BEVERAGES are those which contain a drug that stimulates the nervous and the circulatory system; that is, one that acts on the nerves and the circulation in such a way as to make them active and alert. Common examples of these beverages are coffee, tea, and cocoa or chocolate. If the nerves are in need of rest, it is dangerous to stimulate them with such beverages, for, as the nervous system indirectly affects all the organs of the body, the effects of this stimulation are far-reaching. The immediate effect of the stimulant in these beverages is to keep the drinker awake, thus causing sleeplessness, or temporary insomnia. If tea and coffee are used habitually and excessively, headaches, dull brains, and many nervous troubles are liable to result. 13. The stimulant that is found in the leaves of tea is known as _theine_; that found in coffee beans, _caffeine_; and that found in cacao beans, from which cocoa and chocolate are made, _theobromine_. Each of these stimulants is extracted by the hot liquid that is always used to make the beverage. It is taken up by the liquid so quickly that the method used to prepare the beverage makes little difference as to the amount obtained. In other words, tea made by pouring water through the leaves will contain nearly as much of the stimulant as tea made by boiling the leaves. 14. In addition to the stimulant, tea and coffee contain _tannin_, or _tannic acid_, an acid that is also obtained from the bark of certain trees and used in the tanning of animal hides in the preparation of leather. Tannin is not taken so quickly from tea and coffee by the hot liquid used in preparing the beverage as is the stimulant, so that the longer tea leaves and coffee grounds remain in the liquid, the more tannic acid will be drawn out. This fact can be detected by the bitter flavor and the puckery feeling in the mouth after drinking tea that has been allowed to remain on the leaves or coffee that has stood for some time on the grounds. Tannic acid has a decidedly bad effect on the digestion in the stomach, so that if improperly prepared tea or coffee is indulged in habitually, it may cause stomach disorders. TABLE I STIMULANT AND TANNIC ACID PRESENT IN STIMULATING BEVERAGES ------------------------------------------------------------- Quantity of Quantity of Beverage Stimulant Stimulant Tannic Acid Grains Grains ------------------------------------------------------------- Coffee Caffeine 2 to 3 1 to 2 Tea Theine 1 to 2 1 to 4 Cocoa or chocolate Theobromine 1 to 1-1/2 1/2 to 1 ------------------------------------------------------------- 15. The quantity of stimulant and tannic acid contained in an ordinary cup of tea, coffee, and cocoa or chocolate is given in Table I. As this table shows, the quantity, which is given in grains, does not vary considerably in the different beverages and is not present in such quantity as to be harmful, unless these beverages are indulged in to excess. To reduce the quantity of caffeine contained in coffee has been the aim of many coffee producers. As a result, there are on the market a number of brands of coffee that have been put through a process that removes practically all the caffeine. The beverage made from coffee so treated is less harmful than that made from ordinary coffee, and so far as the flavor is concerned this loss of caffeine does not change it. 16. Neither tea nor coffee possesses any food value. Unless sugar or cream is added, these beverages contain nothing except water, flavor, stimulant, and tannic acid. Chocolate and cocoa, however, are rich in fat, and as they are usually made with milk and sugar they have the advantage of conveying food to the system. Because of their nature, tea and coffee should never be given to children. Cocoa and chocolate provide enough food value to warrant their use in the diet of young persons, but they should not be taken in too great quantity because of the large amount of fat they contain. Any of these beverages used in excessive amounts produces the same effect as a mild drug habit. Consequently, when a person feels that it is impossible to get along without tea or coffee, it is time to stop the use of that beverage. * * * * * COFFEE HISTORY AND PRODUCTION 17. COFFEE is the seed of the coffee tree, which in its wild state grows to a height of 20 feet, but in cultivation is kept down to about 10 or 12 feet for convenience in gathering the fruit. Coffee originated in Abyssinia, where it has been used as a beverage from time immemorial. At the beginning of the 15th century, it found its way into Arabia, where it was used by the religious leaders for preventing drowsiness, so that they could perform religious ceremonies at night. About 100 years later it came into favor in Turkey, but it was not until the middle of the 17th century that it was introduced into England. Its use gradually increased among common people after much controversy as to whether it was right to drink it or not. It is now extensively grown in India, Ceylon, Java, the West Indies, Central America, Mexico, and Brazil. The last-named country, Brazil, furnishes about 75 per cent. of the coffee used in the United States and about 60 per cent. of the world's supply. 18. Coffee is a universal drink, but it finds more favor in some countries than others. The hospitality of a Turkish home is never thought to be complete without the serving of coffee to its guests; however, the coffee made by the Turks is not pleasant except to those who are accustomed to drinking it. As prepared in Turkey and the East, a small amount of boiling water is poured over the coffee, which is powdered and mixed with sugar, and the resulting beverage, which is very thick, is served in a small cup without cream. The French make a concoction known as _café an lait_, which, as explained in _Essentials of Cookery_, Part 2, is a combination of coffee and milk. These two ingredients are heated separately in equal proportions and then mixed before serving. This is a very satisfactory way in which to serve coffee if cream cannot be obtained. 19. OBTAINING THE COFFEE SEEDS.--The seeds of the coffee tree are enclosed in pairs, with their flat surfaces toward each other, in dark, cherry-like berries. The pulp of the berry is softened by fermentation and then removed, leaving the seeds enclosed in a husk. They are then separated from the husks by being either sun-dried and rolled or reduced to a soft mass in water with the aid of a pulping machine. With the husks removed, the seeds are packed into coarse cloth bags and distributed. 20. ROASTING THE COFFEE BEANS.--The next step in the preparation of coffee for use is the roasting of the coffee beans. After being separated from the husks, the beans have a greenish-yellow color, but during the roasting process, when they are subjected to high temperature and must be turned constantly to prevent uneven roasting, they turn to a dark brown. As the roasting also develops the flavor, it must be done carefully. Some persons prefer to buy unroasted coffee and roast it at home in an oven, but it is more economical to purchase coffee already roasted. In addition, the improved methods of roasting produce coffee of a better flavor, for they accomplish this by machinery especially devised for the purpose. 21. GRINDING THE COFFEE BEANS.--During the roasting process there is developed an aromatic volatile oil, called _caffeol_, to which the flavor of the coffee is due. This oil is very strong, but upon being exposed to the air it passes off and thus causes a loss of flavor in the coffee. For this reason, roasted coffee should be kept in air-tight cans, boxes, or jars. Before it is used, however, it must be ground. The grinding of the coffee beans exposes more surface and hence the flavor is more quickly lost from ground than unground coffee. Because of this fact and because ground coffee can be adulterated very easily, it is not wise to buy coffee already ground. If only a small quantity is bought at a time and it can be used up at once, the grinding may be done by the grocer, but even in such a case the better plan is to grind it immediately before using it. 22. The method by which the coffee is to be prepared for drinking will determine to a large extent the way in which the coffee beans must be ground. When coffee is to be made by a method in which the grounds are not left in the water for any length of time, the beans must be ground very fine, in fact, pulverized, for the flavor must be extracted quickly. For other purposes, such as when it is to be made in a percolator, the beans need not be ground quite so fine, and when it is to be made in an ordinary coffee pot they may be ground very coarse. 23. For use in the home, simple coffee mills that will grind coffee as coarse or as fine as may be desired are to be had. Fig. 1 shows two of the common types of home coffee mills. [Illustration: FIG. 1] The one shown in (_a_) is fastened to a board so that it can be attached to the wall. The coffee to be ground is put in the chamber _a_, from which it is fed to the grinding rolls, and the ground coffee drops into the chamber _b_. The grinding rolls are adjusted to the desired fineness by the notched arrangement on the end of the shaft. The coffee mill shown in (_b_) may be placed on a table top or some