Rice, macaroni, and spaghetti are exceptions to the above rules. They should be cooked in an abundance of water and thoroughly drained. In this way the excess of starch which they contain is disposed of, and their nutritive elements are better balanced. They are also rendered much more palatable and digestible.
FRUITS
If fruits can be obtained thoroughly ripe, they should never be cooked.
Dried or evaporated fruits can be prepared for the table by soaking them thoroughly in plain water for a few hours, or over night. In this way the green and inferior pieces are exposed and can be discarded. The excess of water can be boiled down to a sirup and poured over the fruit. In this way the fruit-sugar is developed, and sweetening with cane-sugar becomes unnecessary.
Soaking as above described is merely a process of putting back into the fruit the water that was taken out of it by evaporation or dehydration.
It is evident that that part of the fruit which will not soften sufficiently by soaking, to become palatable, was not ripe enough for food.
CANNED FOODS
The average table, especially hotels and restaurants, are supplied largely from canned foods. A process of perfect preservation of foods has never been invented and probably never will be. No matter how well foods may taste, they undergo constant chemical changes from the time they leave the ground or parent stalk until they are thoroughly decomposed. All vegetables, therefore, should be used fresh, if possible.
BUTTERMILK