The Farinaceous Foods

Wheat is not generally eaten in its whole condition, although there is no more delicious cereal than "frumenty," a Lincolnshire dish, which is perhaps the most economical of all foods when made with skimmed or separated milk. Wheat contains all the materials required for the sustenance of the body, and even when prices are high it supplies them at smaller cost than either barley or oats. When the market price is 48s. a quarter of 504 lb., a pound of wheat costs 1 1/8d. per pound, or less than one half the cost of either of these cereals, which cannot be eaten in the husk. The fact, too, that wheat can be so eaten is another point in its favour, quite apart from its more popular character. In the cooking of frumenty the newest wheat obtainable should be cooked in the oven in either water or skimmed milk, just sufficient in quantity to render it perfectly soft and pulpy, when the grains have all burst. It is eaten with milk and sugar, with currants, or flavouring at will, and is a favourite dish with the children.

In 100 lb. of wheat there are 79 lb. of digestible nutritious matter, the balance being chiefly water and indigestible fibre. At the time of writing white flour costs, in round figures, 2 1/4d. a pound,or twice the price of wheat at 48s. a quarter, while bread costs 21/2d.. a pound. White flour, however, forms only 65 to 70 per cent. of the wheat, so that while it has lost its most valuable properties it costs double the money. Like whole wheat bread, frumenty is a light food, for its composition prevents heaviness.

Rice

There are various cereal preparations which consist chiefly of starch, and which are in consequence by no means desirable, for, while they are poor in protein (muscle formers) and fat the mineral substance has been taken away. Wheat-meal, oatmeal, semolina and the best preparations of maize, are all sufficiently rich in protein to supply the needs of the body, but the cheaper tapioca and maize flours are almost devoid of this essential constituent. Rice deprived of its husk is not only a little below the standard in protein, but it is poor in mineral salts. It is, however, one of the most economical of all foods, and the buyer should recognise that, although there are various qualities, the cheapest, if clean, is quite equal as food to the best. Where it can be obtained it should be bought in the husk, for in this state it possesses a superior value. Rice pudding is a justly popular dish for a family - 6 oz. cooked with three pints of skimmed milk, with the addition of 2 oz. of margarine or suet, and sugar, providing a large plate of nourishing food for five people at a cost of less than a penny apiece. Rice should not be boiled, as something is lost in the cooking, but baked in the oven. If it can be steamed and afterwards fried with butter, margarine, or oil it provides a good savoury dish, which may be flavoured with chopped onions, chervil, or curry, at very nominal cost. Rice should always be well cooked, and full allowance made for its swelling propensity. Although the ration might not be very convenient, for it would be necessary to add water for cooking, 1 lb. of rice with 3 pints of skimmed milk and 2 oz. of margarine with sugar would maintain a man in good health at the cost of 7d. a day. One pound of steamed rice with sugar and \ lb. of bread and 4 oz. of margarine would provide still more nutriment at a cost of 5 1/2d.

Oats And Oatmeal

The oat is the best-balanced food of all the cereals. It is rich in fat, protein, starch and the minerals, and is well adapted to sustain healthy condition. It is the best concentrated food for the horse, whether for heavy draught purposes or for speed. It is also the best dry food for calves and the feeding of poultry. Although this testimony to its value does not of necessity prove that oats or oatmeal are equally useful to man, who may not absorb their nutritious portions so well, it cannot be dismissed. The rolled oat, like the best coarse oatmeal, is of great value in promoting the activity of the intestines, owing to the influence of the fibre, and this adds to its health-giving properties. The best form of food produced from the oat is the coarse Scotch milled, while the Scottish method of cooking should always be followed. Porridge in England is not only too thin, and therefore too little substantial, but it is much overcooked. The assumption that long cooking makes oatmeal more digestible is not altogether correct, inasmuch as in this condition it is swallowed without sufficient mastication, and often gives trouble in consequence. Coarse Scotch meal, cooked in the Scottish way, must be masticated, with the result that it is well mixed with saliva, which promotes perfect digestion. There is, however, a loss of energy in the process of cooking; and, in spite of the supposition that cooking is so essential, I find no difficulty in digesting rolled oats simply soaked in cold water for twelve hours, and mixing them with crushed or grated fruit - thus making fruit porridge, perhaps the most perfect of all additions to a regular diet, if I may judge by the high standard of health which it assists to maintain. Oat flour, fine oatmeal, as used for gruel, and groats, are all inferior to rolled oats and the coarse oatmeal, containing, as they do, less fat, protein and minerals - the three most important constituents of the grain.

Oat, or girdle, cake is one of the most useful, nourishing and concentrated of all cereal foods, but its price at the bakers is out of all proportion to its cost to produce. A thin, dry, oatcake weighing 3 oz. is quite equal as food to 5 or 6 oz. of bread, and can be carried with much less inconvenience. There is no food better adapted for a man engaged in hard physical labour as a snack between meals. The value of good oatmeal porridge may be estimated from the following figures. Two ounces of coarse meal may be cooked in just sufficient water to make it almost as stiff as a jelly. The addition of half a pint of skimmed milk, a large pat of butter or margarine, and sugar to sweeten it, will provide a substantial plateful of porridge at a cost of 1 1/2d. The energy value of this food would be equivalent to 400 calories. The employment of new milk instead of the skimmed milk and butter would increase the cost to 2d., but it would not materially increase its nourishing properties.