[13] U. S. Dept. Agr., An. Rpt. Sec. 1910, p. 149; Rpt. Office Expt. Stas. 1910, p. 35; Yearbook 1910, p. 359.
THE USE OF CHEESE IN THE DIET.
It has been the purpose, in preparing this discussion of cheese, to consider ways in which mild-flavored sorts may serve as staple articles of diet, rather than the use of highly flavored varieties as appetizers and as accompaniments of other foods. The use of highly flavored cheese as a condiment is customary and may profitably be extended, since it offers a simple way of adding to the attractiveness of the diet. The variety of the cheese selected is a matter of choice, some persons preferring such kinds as well-ripened American full-cream cheese or the potted cheeses, and others such sorts as Roquefort, Camembert, and other varieties. From the physiologist’s standpoint, cheese used in this way for its flavor should really form a part of a well-balanced meal rather than be added to a meal which already supplies an abundance of nutritive material. In other words, condimental cheeses may better accompany a moderate than a very generous menu.
In considering the use of cheese in quantity as an integral part of the diet there are many possibilities from simple combinations like bread and cheese to elaborate dishes in which cheese is used as a flavor and as a principal constituent.
As has been pointed out, cheese, being rich in both protein and fat, would logically replace such foods as meat, fish, and eggs when taken in quantity, rather than cereal foods characterized by a large amount of starch, or succulent foods, such as vegetables and fruits. In planning menus of which cheese forms a large part the housekeeper should bear these facts in mind.
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.