3. Nutritious.—Milk, cocoa, chocolate, oatmeal and barley water, tea and coffee with sugar and cream.
Note.—As tea, coffee, and cocoa are ordinary household beverages, they should be specially studied. Their sources and manufacture will have been learned in Form III Junior, but their use as beverages may now be discussed and practised. It is desirable that the pupils be led to reason out correct methods of cooking each.
TEA
1. Description.—The leaves contain, beside a stimulant and flavour, an undesirable substance known as tannin, which is injurious to the delicate lining of the stomach. If the tea be properly made, the tannin is not extracted.
2. Method of cooking.—Steep the tea from three to five minutes, then separate the leaves from the liquid (suggest ways of doing this). Boiling is not a correct method to use for making tea, as it extracts the tannin and causes loss of flavour in the steam.
Note.—Because of the stimulant, young people should not drink tea or coffee.
COFFEE
1. Description.—The beans, or seeds, of coffee also contain tannin as well as a stimulant and flavour. This beverage is more expensive than tea, since a much larger amount must be used for one cup of liquid. After the beans are broken by grinding, the air causes the flavour to deteriorate, so that the housekeeper should grind the beans as required, or buy in small quantities and keep in tightly covered cans.
2. Method of cooking.—Coffee may be cooked in different ways, according to the size of the pieces into which the roasted beans are broken. These pieces are much harder than the leaves of tea, hence coffee may be given a higher temperature and a longer time in cooking than tea. Small pieces of beans are apt to float in the liquid, making it cloudy; this may be overcome by the use of egg-white or by careful handling.
Coarsely ground coffee must be boiled gently. Finely ground coffee may be boiled gently or steeped. Very finely ground, or powdered coffee should be steeped or filtered with boiling water.