Chapter 14
Wheat is universally used for bread, because it contains a large amount of the kind of protein that lends a rubbery consistency to dough and thus makes possible the incorporation of the gas or air required to make bread light. The use of wheat, however, is by no means restricted to bread, for, as is well known, many cereal foods are prepared from this grain.
44. In its simplest food form, wheat is prepared by merely removing the coa.r.s.e bran from the outside of the wheat grain and leaving the grain whole. This is called _hulled_, or _whole_, _wheat_, and requires soaking or long, slow cooking in order that all its starch granules may be reached and softened sufficiently to make it palatable. The other preparations are made by crus.h.i.+ng or grinding the grains from which some of the bran and germ has been removed. Besides flour, which, as has been implied, is not considered as a cereal in the sense used in this Section, these preparations include _wheat grits_, such foods as _cream of wheat_ and _farina_, and many _ready-to-eat cereals_. In the preparation of wheat grits, much of the bran is allowed to remain, but neither cream of wheat nor farina contains cellulose in any appreciable quant.i.ty. As the addition of bran, however, serves to give these foods bulk, a much more ideal breakfast cereal will result if, before cooking, equal portions of the cereal and the bran are mixed. In preparing ready-to-eat wheat cereals for the market, the manufacturers subject the grains to such elaborate methods of cooking, rolling, and toasting that these foods require but very little additional attention before serving.
The only wheat products that demand further attention at this time, therefore, are those which must be cooked before they can be served and eaten.
RECIPES FOR WHEAT AND WHEAT PRODUCTS
45. HULLED WHEAT.--Inasmuch as hulled, or whole, wheat requires very little preparation for the market, it is a comparatively cheap food. It is used almost exclusively as a breakfast cereal, but serves as a good subst.i.tute for hominy or rice. Although, as has been mentioned, it requires long cooking, its preparation for the table is so simple that the cooking need not necessarily increase its cost materially. One of the advantages of this food is that it never becomes so soft that it does not require thorough mastication.
HULLED WHEAT (Sufficient to Serve Four)
1 c. hulled wheat 3 c. water 1 tsp. salt
Look the wheat over carefully and remove any foreign matter. Then add the water and soak 8 to 10 hours, or overnight. Add the salt, cook directly over the flame for 1/2 hour, and then finish cooking in a double boiler for 3 to 4 hours. Serve with cream or milk and sugar.
46. WHEAT GRITS.--The cereal known as wheat grits is made commercially by crus.h.i.+ng the wheat grains and allowing a considerable proportion of the wheat bran to remain. Grits may be used as a breakfast cereal, when they should be served hot with cream or milk and sugar; they also make an excellent luncheon dish if they are served with either b.u.t.ter or gravy. The fact that this cereal contains bran makes it an excellent one to use in cases where a food with bulk is desired. The accompanying recipe is for a plain cereal; however, an excellent variation may be had by adding 1/2 cupful of well-cleaned raisins 1/2 hour before serving.
WHEAT GRITS (Sufficient to Serve Four)
1/2 tsp. salt 3 c. boiling water 3/4 c. wheat grits
Add the salt to the boiling water, sift the wheat grits through the fingers into the rapidly boiling water, and stir rapidly to prevent the formation of lumps. Cook for a few minutes until the grits thicken, and then place in a double boiler and cook 2 to 4 hours.
47. CREAM OF WHEAT.--In the manufacture of cream of wheat, not only is all the bran removed, as has been stated, but the wheat is made fine and granular. This wheat preparation, therefore, does not require so much cooking to make it palatable as do some of the other cereals; still, cooking it a comparatively long time tends to improve its flavor. When made according to the following recipe it is a very good breakfast dish:
CREAM OF WHEAT (Sufficient to Serve Six)
1 tsp. salt 4-1/2 c. boiling water 3/4 c. cream of wheat
Add the salt to the boiling water, and when it bubbles sift in the cream of wheat through the fingers, stirring rapidly to prevent the formation of lumps. Cook over the flame for a few minutes until it thickens; then place it in a double boiler and cook for 1 to 2 hours. Serve hot with cream or milk and sugar.
48. CREAM OF WHEAT WITH DATES.--Dates added to cream of wheat supply to a great extent the cellulose and mineral salts that are taken out when the bran is removed in the manufacture of this cereal. They likewise give to it a flavor that is very satisfactory, especially when added in the manner here explained.
CREAM OF WHEAT WITH DATES (Sufficient to Serve Six)
3/4 c. cream of wheat 1
Cook the cream of wheat in the manner directed in Art. 47. Wash the dates in hot water, cut them lengthwise with a sharp knife, and remove the seeds. Cut each date into four pieces and add them to the cream of wheat 10 minutes before serving, stirring them into the cereal just enough to distribute them evenly. Serve hot with cream or milk and sugar.
49. FARINA.--The wheat preparation called farina is very much the same as cream of wheat, being manufactured in practically the same manner. It is a good breakfast cereal when properly cooked, but it does not contain sufficient cellulose to put it in the cla.s.s of bulky foods. However, as has been pointed out, this bulk may be supplied by mixing with it, before cooking, an equal amount of bran. In such a case, of course, more water will be needed and the cooking process will have to be prolonged.
Plain farina should be prepared according to the recipe here given, but, as in preparing cream of wheat, dates may be added to impart flavor if desired.
FARINA (Sufficient to Serve Six)
1 tsp. salt 4 c. boiling water 3/4 c. farina
Add the salt to the boiling water, and as the water bubbles rapidly sift the farina into it slowly through the fingers, stirring rapidly to prevent the formation of lumps. Then place it in a double boiler and allow it cook for 2 to 4 hours. Serve hot with cream or milk and sugar.
50. GRAHAM MUSH WITH DATES.--Graham flour is a wheat product that is high in food value, because in its manufacture no part of the wheat grain is removed. While the use of this flour as a breakfast cereal is not generally known, it can be made into a very appetizing and nutritious dish, especially if such fruit as dates is mixed with it.
GRAHAM MUSH WITH DATES (Sufficient to Serve Six)
1-1/4 c. graham flour 3 c. water 1 tsp. salt 1 c. dates
Moisten the graham flour carefully with 1 cupful of the cold water. When perfectly smooth, add it to the remainder of the water, to which the salt has been added, and boil rapidly, allowing the mixture to cook until it thickens. Then place it in a double boiler and cook 1 to 2 hours. Wash the dates, remove the stones, and cut each into four pieces.
Add these to the mush 10 minutes before serving. Serve hot with cream or milk and sugar.
51. LEFT-OVER WHEAT CEREALS.--Numerous ways have been devised for utilizing wheat cereals that are left over, so that no waste need result from what is not eaten at the meal for which a cereal is cooked. For instance, left-over hulled wheat can be used in soup in the same way as barley and rice, and plain cream of wheat and farina can be molded, sliced, and sauted like corn-meal mush and served with sirup. The molded cereal can also be cut into 2-inch cubes and served with any fruit juice that is thickened slightly with corn starch. Besides utilizing left-over wheat cereals in the ways mentioned, it is possible to make them into custards and souffles, as is shown in the two accompanying recipes, in which cream of wheat may be used in the same manner as farina.
FARINA CUSTARD (Sufficient to Serve Six)
1 c. cold farina 2 c. milk 2 eggs 1/2 c. sugar 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
Stir the farina and milk together until they are perfectly smooth; then add the eggs, beaten slightly, the sugar, and the nutmeg. Bake in a moderately hot oven until firm and serve hot or cold with any sauce desired.
FARINA SOUFFLe (Sufficient to Serve Six)
1 c. cold farina 1-1/2 c. milk 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. paprika 1 c. grated cheese 2 eggs
Stir the farina smooth with the milk, add the salt, paprika, grated cheese, and egg yolks, which should first be beaten. Then beat the egg whites stiff and fold them into the mixture. Pour all into a b.u.t.tered baking dish, place this in a large pan filled with enough hot water to reach almost to the top of the baking dish, and bake in a moderately hot oven until the mixture in the dish is firm in the center. Serve at once upon taking from the oven.
RICE
VARIETIES AND STRUCTURE
52. RICE, next to wheat, is used more extensively as a food than any other cereal. It is a plant much like wheat in appearance, but it grows only in warm climates and requires very moist soil. In fact, the best land for rice is that which may be flooded with about 6 inches of water.
This cereal is of two kinds, namely, Carolina rice and j.a.panese rice.
_Carolina rice_, which is raised chiefly in the southeastern part of the United States, has a long, narrow grain, whereas _j.a.panese rice_, which originated in j.a.pan and is raised extensively in that country and China and India, has a short, flat, oval grain. Efforts made to raise the j.a.panese variety in the United States show a peculiarity of this cereal, for when it is planted in the same locality as Carolina rice, it soon loses its ident.i.ty and takes on the shape of the other. Although vast crops of rice are raised in the United States, a large quant.i.ty of it must be imported, because these crops are not sufficient to supply the demands of this country.
53. Before rice grains are prepared for use as food, they have two coverings. One is a coa.r.s.e husk that is thrashed off and leaves the grain in the form of unpolished rice and the other, a thin, brown coating resembling bran. This thin coating, which is very difficult to remove, is called, after its removal, _rice polis.h.i.+ngs_. At one time, so much was said about the harmful effect of polished rice that a demand for unpolished rice was begun. This feeling of harm, however, was unnecessary, for while polished rice lacks mineral matter to a great extent, it is hot harmful to a person and need cause no uneasiness, unless the other articles of the diet do not supply a sufficient amount of this food substance. After the inner coating has been removed, some of the rice is treated with paraffin or glucose and talc to give it a glazed appearance. This is called _polish_, and is sometimes confounded with the term rice polis.h.i.+ngs. However, no confusion regarding these terms will result if it is remembered that rice polis.h.i.+ngs are the thin inner coating that is removed and polish is what is added to the rice.
In composition, rice differs from the other cereals in that it is practically all starch and contains almost no fat nor protein.
54. To be perfect, rice should be unbroken and uniform in size, and in order that it may be put on the market in this form the broken grains are sifted out. These broken grains are sold at a lower price than the whole grains, but the only difference between them is their appearance, the broken grains being quite as nutritious as the whole grains. In either form, rice is a comparatively cheap food, because it is plentiful, easily transported, and keeps perfectly for an indefinite period of time with very little care in storage. Before rice is used, it should be carefully examined and freed from the husks that are apt to remain in it; then it should be washed in hot water. The water in which rice is washed will have a milky appearance, which is due to the coating that is put on in polis.h.i.+ng rice.
RECIPES FOR RICE
55. Rice may be cooked by three methods, each of which requires a different proportion of water. These methods are _boiling_, which requires twelve times as much water as rice; the _j.a.panese method_, which requires five times as much; and _steaming_, which requires two and one-half times as much. Whichever of these methods is employed, however, it should be remembered that the rice grains, when properly cooked, must be whole and distinct. To give them this form and prevent the rice from having a pasty appearance, this cereal should not be stirred too much in cooking nor should it be cooked too long.
56. BOILED RICE.--Boiling is about the simplest way in which to prepare rice for the table. Properly boiled rice not only forms a valuable dish itself, but is an excellent foundation for other dishes that may be served at any meal. The water in which rice is boiled should not be wasted, as it contains much nutritive material. This water may be utilized in the preparation of soups or sauces, or it may even be used to supply the liquid required in the making of yeast bread. The following recipe sets forth clearly how rice should be boiled:
BOILED RICE (Sufficient to Serve Eight)
1 c. rice 3 tsp. salt 3 qt. boiling water
Wash the rice carefully and add it to the boiling salted water. Boil rapidly until the water begins to appear milky because of the starch coming out of the rice into the water or until a grain can be easily crushed between the fingers. Drain the cooked rice through a colander, and then pour cold water over the rice in the colander, so as to wash out the loose starch and leave each grain distinct. Reheat the rice by shaking it over the fire, and serve hot with b.u.t.ter, gravy, or cream or milk and sugar.