Dutch Cheese

Dutch Cheese, whether the round Edam or the flat Gouda, like the French and Swiss Gruvere, is made of pure cows' milk, and possesses a similar food value to that of English varieties. The Dutch makes are popular with the working-classes on account of their cheapness, while Gruyere, like the French Roquefort and the Italian Gorgonzola, are regarded as high class, and thus, realising a much higher price, are consumed by the wealthier classes. Roquefort and Gorgonzola, however, like our English Stilton and Wensleydale, are less nourishing and economical on account of the presence of the blue mould which makes them notorious, and which is nothing less than the common Pencillium glaucum, or blue fungus, which grows on stale bread and which causes it to be rejected as food.

Blue-Moulded Cheese

Blue-Moulded Cheese, although constantly eaten, is not free from risk to persons of delicate health or weak digestion. The housewife with care for her family will act wisely to select cheese of other varieties.

Cream Cheese

Cream Cheese should be selected while perfectly fresh or first commencing to develop its flavour. When fully developed it rapidly changes and is often spoiled before it is eaten. Curd cheese, which is made from milk without any addition of cream, is a useful and nourishing food at normal prices.

The French Brie, Camembert And Coulommiers

The French Brie, Camembert And Coulommiers, are all made from cows' milk, and are appetising but costly as food, and the remark equally applies to the Port du Salut, which is a slightly pressed variety.

Eggs

It is not a little curious that the great majority of buyers, while insisting upon being supplied with new-laid eggs, know perfectly well that they are almost unobtainable during a great portion of the winter season. Although eggs are sold as new-laid, retailers have not hesitated to tell me that those they were selling, although imported, were sufficiently fresh to warrant the description. If an egg is sweet, whether it is imported or preserved in water glass, it is quite as appetising and nourishing as one which is only twenty-four hours old, however much people may persuade themselves to the contrary. An average egg should weigh 2 oz.; it should be clean, the shell as bright as though it were polished, and the air chamber at the large end undiscernible. A stale egg has lost a portion of its moisture, and the space thus diminished by its tangible contents is occupied by air. A preserved egg has lost its polished appearance, and its money value is reduced accordingly. The buyer should always remember that eggs are examined very carefully by salesmen before they are graded and priced, and that the poorest, whatever their appearance, are sold at lower prices. Eggs may frequently be purchased at low prices in Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and other parts of the country distant from large markets, but a sample lot should be obtained before giving a regular order, and this should be the basis of future supplies.

Farinaceous Foods

Rice, which is the most popular of all the cereals used in the preparation of dishes for the table, demands close attention at the hands of the buyer. The retailer offers his customers several qualities - the more expensive samples being bolder and whiter. If rice is clean, however, the cheaper samples are equally as good, as food, as the more costly; and careful comparison of both cooked and uncooked rice will confirm this opinion. Rice in the husk, which is known as paddy, is of greater nourishing value than polished rice, but it is next to impossible to induce the average buyer to believe it. Rice is not adulterated, although its flour is sometimes used to adulterate other foods. Old rice is of greater value than new, and ground rice should be white, clean and easily thickened in cooking.

Tapioca

This food is not only adulterated but imitated - the spurious product being obtained from potato-starch, which is neither so nourishing nor so agreeable a food. Imitation tapioca is improperly described, and it is surprising that the description is permitted. It can be recognised by its whiteness, its comparative brittleness, and its larger size, while it dissolves more quickly in water. The buyer should take care not to pay for it at the price of the genuine article, which is not commonly sold at those shops which are frequented by the working-classes.

Sago

Sago is similarly imitated by productions from potato-starch. Instead of tiny grains, or grains of the size of pearl-barley, all of which are hard, tough, almost transparent, and without any smell in the real sago, the imitation is ringed, and distinguished by a sensible odour when covered with boiling water.

Preparations Of Maize

Preparations Of Maize such as Cornflour and Post Toasties, Wheat as in Force, Oats as in Quaker and Rolled Oats, Pearl Barley, Macaroni, Spaghetti, Vermicelli, Dried Peas and Beans, are more or less sold in packet form, and need no particular examination. The question of price, however, is worthy of remark. We have noticed that the charge for a given article is usually lower in the poorer districts of a town and especially in London, and it will pay the buyer living contiguous to such a district to buy it. The remark applies also to rice, tapioca, and all farinaceous foods, some of which, however, demand examination and comparison. Where these foods are used in considerable quantities, large parcels should be purchased at one time, as a saving is effected. This is shown by comparing the cost of a number of small lots with the cost of the same weight purchased in bulk.

Jam And Marmalade

Jam And Marmalade are other examples of the importance of buying a large lot at once. The grocer's quotation reduces the cost by the pound, when a large jar is taken instead of a small pot. If I may take Messrs. Pink as an example, for I have seen their process of manufacture on a large scale, I believe that these foods are of exceptional purity.