School and Home Cooking

by Carlotta C. Greer

Water-soluble B is called the anti-neuritic vitamine because it is necessary to prevent a disease called polyneuritis or beri-beri (see Polished and Unpolished Rice).

Water-soluble C is called the anti-scorbutic vitamine because it is necessary to prevent a disease called scurvy.

FOODS CONTAINING FAT-SOLUBLE A are milk, eggs, and leafy vegetables. Leafy vegetables include: spinach, lettuce, celery tops, beet tops, Swiss chard, collards, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and onions. Milk products, such as butter and cheese, and cod-liver oil also contain fat-soluble A. It is also thought to be present in certain vegetables such as carrots, which are not leafy vegetables. Not all fat foods contain fat- soluble A. It does not exist in the vegetable oils.

It has been demonstrated that foods rich in fat-soluble A, especially milk, eggs, and leafy vegetables, are most essential in diet. According to McCollum, dry leaves contain 3 to 5 times as much total ash as do seeds; the former are also especially rich in the important elements calcium, sodium, and chlorine, in which the seed is poorest. Hence leafy vegetables not only abound in the growth-promoting vitamine but in certain essential minerals. Cereals, root vegetables, and meat need to be supplemented with milk and leafy vegetables. Because milk, eggs, and leafy vegetables are so valuable and essential in diet, these foods have been termed protective foods. Fresh milk contains fat-soluble A and a small quantity of water-soluble B and water-soluble C. Its value as a food has been previously discussed. Doubtless the leafy vegetables are not as generally and as constantly used as they should be. Root vegetables and cereals seem to be a much more popular form of vegetable food. The pupil should realize the importance of these foods and when possible explain their use in her home. Learning to prepare leafy vegetables so as to retain their nutriment and to make them appetizing would doubtless do much in promoting their use.

FOODS CONTAINING WATER-SOLUBLE B.—Water-soluble B is more widely distributed in foods than is fat-soluble A. It occurs for the most part, however, in vegetable foods. Plants containing this vitamine include seeds, root, stem, and leafy vegetables. Whole grains, legumes, spinach, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onions, turnips, beets, and tomatoes and all other commonly used vegetables contain water-soluble B. It is thought that the germ of whole grains, rather than the bran, furnishes water-soluble B. Compressed yeast contains some of this vitamine, but none of the other two.

FOODS CONTAINING WATER-SOLUBLE C include both animal and vegetable foods, but fresh fruits and green vegetables contain the largest quantity. Orange juice, lettuce, cabbage, and spinach are valuable sources of this vitamine. Milk and meat contain only a very small quantity of water- soluble C.

SAVING THE NUTRIMENT AND FLAVOR.—It was mentioned in Suggestions for Cooking Fresh Vegetables that a saving of ash in vegetables meant a saving of both nutriment and flavor. If vegetables of delicate flavor are to be made tasty, it is especially necessary to lose none of the ash constituents. Note that in the methods of cooking the vegetables of delicate flavor in this lesson that either the vegetables are cooked in such a way that no moisture needs to be drained from them, or the vegetable stock drained from them is used in making sauce for the vegetable. By these methods both nutriment and flavor are retained.

SPINACH

1 pound or 1/2 peck spinach 1/2 tablespoonful salt 1/8 teaspoonful pepper 2 tablespoonfuls butter

If the spinach is at all wilted, place it in cold water until it becomes fresh and crisp. Cut off the roots, break the leaves apart, and drop them in a pan of water. Wash well, and then lift them into a second pan of water; wash again, and continue until no sand appears in the bottom of the pan. Lift from the water, drain, and place in a granite utensil, and add the seasoning. Steam until tender (usually about 30 minutes). Add the butter, cut the leaves with a knife and fork. Turn into a hot dish and serve at once.