Cheese and its economical uses in the diet

by C. F. Langworthy; Caroline Louisa Hunt

BILL-OF-FARE MAKING WITH CHEESE AS THE CENTRAL FOOD.

Since meat has so generally been the chief protein food of a meal, and the kind selected usually has determined the choice of vegetables and condiments, it is not strange that very many housekeepers should be inexperienced and consequently unskillful in planning meals in which cheese is substituted for meat when for any reason they may desire to make such a change. In seeking skill they might take a suggestion from the experiments to which reference has been made, and also from a case investigated and reported by the Office of Experiment Stations, of a man who lived for months upon a diet of bread, fruit, and cheese, and who remained in good health and active, and did not weary of the monotony of the diet.

The first two articles of the diet mentioned, namely, the bread and the cheese, could have been taken in such amounts as to constitute what is usually considered a balanced ration, i.e., in such amounts as to supply the right quantity of muscle-forming foods in comparison with the energy value. The bread and cheese taken with the fruit, however, make a ration which is well balanced not only in the older and more widely accepted sense, but also in the more modern sense that it makes an attractive and palatable combination of foods, as well as a balanced ration, and thus favors digestion. The watery and refreshing fruits or succulent vegetables with their large supply of cellulose are a pleasant contrast to the concentrated and fatty cheese.

Housekeepers would probably find that if in planning menus of which a cheese dish is the chief feature they were to take pains to supply also crisp, watery vegetables, water cress, celery, lettuce served with a dressing or with salt alone, or simple fruit salads, and would give preference to refreshing fruits, either fresh or cooked, rather than to what are known as heavy desserts, they would in general be more successful in pleasing those who are served.

There is another point also to be considered in combining cheese with other foods. Whether it is raw or cooked it is likely to be somewhat soft, and so seems to call for the harder kinds of bread—crusty rolls or biscuit, zweiback, toast, pulled bread, rye bread, the harder brown breads, or crackers, and some of the numerous crisp ready-to-eat cereal breakfast foods. Brittle cookies, too, seem more suitable than rich soft cakes or puddings for the dessert in such meals.

A few bills of fare are given below which experience has shown to represent combinations of dishes which are palatable and which, if eaten in usual amounts, will supply protein and energy in proportions which accord with usual dietary standards. Menus such as these are more commonly served at lunch or at supper, but they might equally well be served for dinner, the selection of dishes for any meal being of course chiefly a matter of custom and convenience for those who have any range of choice.

Suggested bills of fare in which cheese dishes are the chief source of protein and fat.

Menu No. 1.	Menu No. 2.—Continued.
Macaroni and cheese (p. [26] or p. [27]).	Coffee.
Raisin bread or date bread.	Fruit salad with crisp cookies or meringues.
Orange and water-cress salad.
Baked apples.	Menu No. 3.
Sugar cookies.	Clear soup.
Cocoa.	Baked eggs with cheese (p. [29]) or Boston roast (p. [28]).
Menu No. 2.	Baked potatoes.
Cheese fondue (p. [24] or p. [25]).	Lettuce salad.
Toast, zwieback, or thin and crisp baking-powder biscuit.	A sweet jelly, crab apple or quince for example, or a preserve.
Celery.	Rye bread.
Potatoes, baked, boiled, or fried in deep fat.	Orange or banana shortcake.
Peas, or some other fresh vegetables.	Tea.

These bills of fare should be taken as suggestive merely and not as a solution of the problem. In fact, the whole art of making bills of fare needs developing. There is abundant evidence that overeating, where it exists, is frequently due to the fact that meals are not skillfully planned. People often continue eating after they have taken enough in total bulk because they have not had all they want of some particular kind of food. The meal has contained too large a percentage of proteid or too much starch; has been too moist or too dry; too highly flavored or not sufficiently flavored. Bill-of-fare making calls not only for knowledge of food values but also for skill in combining flavors and textures.

In this discussion of menu making, and of the use of cheese as an integral part of the diet, the aim has been to suggest ways of using cheese to add to the palatability of meals made up of usual dishes, and to suggest dishes containing cheese which could serve as substitutes for meat dishes when so desired, and also for dishes of many sorts to be used as taste suggests and in which the nutritive value as well as the flavor is increased by the addition of cheese. If cheese is used and in quantity, it is obvious that some other proteid and fat foods should be diminished, in order that the meal or day’s menu may not be unduly hearty.

For the convenience of the housekeeper, a number of recipes for cheese dishes are given in later pages, these being preceded by directions for making cottage cheese and other similar cheeses which are usually made in the home.