Cheese may be used in place of butter in a similar way in other apple puddings. Apple pie made with a layer of finely shaved cheese over the seasoned apple and baked in the usual way is liked by many who are fond of cheese served with apple pie.
CONCLUSION.
In the foregoing pages information has been summarized regarding the food value of cheese, an important agricultural product, and ways of preparing it for the table. It has been pointed out that, judged by the kind of nutrients it supplies—chiefly nitrogenous material and fat—and the proportion in which they are present, it resembles such foodstuffs as meat, fish, and eggs, which means that like them its rational use in the diet is in combination with other staple foods, to form well-balanced meals.
Experiments have shown that when eaten either raw or carefully cooked, cheese is as thoroughly digested as other staple foods and is not likely to produce physiological disturbance.
An ounce of cheese roughly is equivalent to 1 egg, to a glass of milk, or to 2 ounces of meat.
Although uncooked cheese resembles meat in composition, cheese dishes prepared after ordinary recipes, with milk and shortening, are likely to contain more fat than meat dishes prepared in the usual ways. When, therefore, such cheese dishes are served with other staple foods the combination is likely to contain more fat than the usual meal. If little fat is ordinarily used, this may be an advantage. If a great deal of fat is ordinarily used, it may be desirable to lessen the amount in the cheese dishes. This can readily be done by omitting the shortening and using skim milk or water in the preparation of such dishes, a change which also lessens their cost.
The fact that cheese, like meat, contains neither starch nor cellulose suggests that, like meat, it should be combined with bread, potatoes, and other starchy foods, with vegetables and with sweets. The concentrated character of cheese and many cheese dishes suggests the use of succulent fruits and vegetables with them. The high percentage of fat in cheese suggests the use of correspondingly small amounts of fat in the accompanying dishes, while the soft texture of cheese dishes as compared with meat makes it reasonable to serve the harder and crustier breads with them.
When cheese is not used as the chief nitrogenous food of a meal it may be introduced into bills of fare in many incidental ways, and thus add materially to that portion of the diet needed for building and repairing body tissue.
Though cheese is so generally used in some way in most families, yet the making of menus with cheese as a central dish is less well understood than more usual food combinations, since there is less experience to serve as a guide. More thought is therefore usually required to arrange such cheese meals in order that they may be palatable and at the same time reasonable in nutritive value.
In order that the diet may remain well balanced, cheese, if used in quantity, should replace foods of similar composition rather than supplement them. The builder who has a choice of materials must have a knowledge of their relative properties if he wishes to use stone instead of brick, or wood in place of iron. It is the same with the housekeeper who wishes to use her available food supply intelligently and whose choice of foods is influenced by their relative cost at a given time or season. The woman who has a knowledge of the relative food value of different articles of diet, and their real food qualities as distinguished from their market value, who understands good methods of cooking and serving foods, and who plans her meals and other housework so that unnecessary labor and expense may be avoided, is taking account of the things which make for economical living as well as for good living.