—For the purpose of keeping truffles in good condition during transit they may be placed in moss, fine sand, or powdered chalk. They can be kept in this way for a few days during transit, but should not be long preserved in this manner. Truffles may also be preserved indefinitely by sterilization. It is necessary to do this whenever they are to be sent over long distances or kept for a long time. The methods of sterilizing are not different from those described for ordinary vegetables. Truffles are also preserved by desiccation, but in this case they lose something of their odor and taste and are not so highly esteemed. Finally the truffles are sometimes preserved by cooking them and preserving them in wine or olive oil. (Raymond Brunet, “Manuel Pratique de la Culture des Champignons et de la Truffe.”)
Food Value of Fungi.
—While the mushroom and the truffle are the principal fungi used as food they are by no means the only kinds. Their value, as has already been indicated, is rather condimental than nutritive. Those, however, who have eaten fresh or well preserved mushrooms or truffles, cooked in the best style of the culinary art, are fully acquainted with their value. The fear of poisoning does much to restrict the use of the wild mushrooms. The fields and forests are full of many varieties of these fungi, especially in the autumn. Very few of the varieties are poisonous, but the conservative gourmand hesitates to consume the fruits of his own activity as a collector. In the hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Harper’s Ferry I have seen large areas of the forest almost covered with these growths in August and September, but the courage leading to their consumption was wanting.
PART IX.
SUGAR, SIRUP, CONFECTIONERY, AND HONEY.
SUGAR.
The term “sugar” is applied by common consent to the pure sugar commercially prepared from the sugar cane and the sugar beet. These two kinds of sugar are sometimes designated by their own name, as, for instance, the purchaser will ask for cane sugar or beet sugar. When no other name appears the term sugar is applied as above.
In Europe the principal sugar used is that derived from the sugar beet. In the United States the principal sugar is that derived from the sugar cane. Notable quantities of sugar are also found in commerce derived from the maple tree, a small quantity from sorghum, and in Asia a considerable quantity is made from the palm.
Chemically, sugar belongs to the class of bodies known as sucrose or saccharose and is a compound in a pure state consisting solely of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, typical of that class of foods of which starch is the most important member, known as carbohydrates. The elements mentioned are combined in sugar in the proportion of 12 parts of carbon, 22 of hydrogen, and 11 of oxygen.
The quantity of sugar consumed by the people of the United States is very large. Excluding molasses, honey, and sirups the quantity consumed in the United States in the year ending December 31, 1905, was 2,632,216 tons. There should be added to this the total quantity of sugar found in the articles of diet which are so common in this country in the form of honey, sirups, and molasses.