Chapter C

CABBAGE, CAULIFLOWER AND BRUSSELS SPROUTS.

These forms of green vegetable come in very usefully during the winter months. They are abundantly supplied with purifying, acid and waste-eliminating, organic mineral salts. Most of these salts are lost when these vegetables are cooked and served in the orthodox way.

Cabbage heart, the flower part of cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, first washed, cleaned and cut into quarters, can be used in salads or as an addition to mixed salads. As a general rule, it is best to eat these vegetables in an uncooked form. Cooking, by decomposing their sulphur mineral salts, with which they are richly endowed, makes them smell unpleasantly. It is quite a mistake to imagine that the vegetables, cited in the above heading, are indigestible in their raw state since, if finely prepared by grating or by slow mastication, they are not only digestible but markedly blood-purifying as well. A dish of cooked cabbage or Brussels sprouts often increases indigestion and induces, as well, sleepiness and tiredness.

Vegetable Broth.

These vegetables, with any other winter green foods, as leeks, onions, etc., can be made into a thick broth or purée by slow stewing in an earthenware jar in the oven. In this form they are not so cleansing as when taken in the salad form, but still serve a useful purpose, especially if taken the last thing at night. A little oatmeal, pot barley or unpolished rice may be added, if relished, to the other ingredients.

CARROTS.

Carrots contain a fair percentage of starch and sugar, combined with a little proteid and organic mineral salts. Carrots in a grated form (raw) make an excellent salad eaten with oil and lemon juice, or the grated roots can be used as a dressing for a mixed green salad.

Carrot Juice.

The juice extracted by the Fruit Press, or by grating and squeezing, is strongly antiseptic, and moderately palatable, and is thus a valuable remedy to correct acidity. Carrot juice is especially good in the case of children who are anæmic and ailing and they usually like the taste of it.

Carrot Tea.

Grate a large cleaned carrot; add a few of the green tops, well bruised, mix them together with a pint of boiling water, strain and then serve.

CELERY

is one of the most appreciated of all the salad vegetables and it comes to us freely in the winter time when other green vegetables are scarce. Its aromatic flavour and delicious crispness appeal to the palates of most people. Celery, growing as it does in the ground, is very rich in organic mineral salts and for this reason it is found to be an excellent remedy for catarrh and rheumatism. The seeds are useful, owing to their strong celery flavour, for seasoning soups and drinks of various kinds.

Celery Juice.

The juice can readily be extracted from cleaned celery heads by the Fruit Press or by the slower process of grating and chopping, and then squeezing the juice out under pressure by means of a potato masher.

Celery Tea.

1 large celery root (or from 4 to 6 ounces); 1 pint water. Boil the celery until soft, strain the water off, and serve hot. 1 ounce of butter, some vegetable stock, or other seasoning, can be added if the soup type of “tea” is wanted.

CEREAL BEVERAGES.

It is asserted by some authorities that beverages made from roasted cereal grains are free from the stimulating effects of tea or coffee. This statement is, however, erroneous. The germ portion of all grains contains fat and proteid elements which are analogous to the caffein and aromatic oils of tea and coffee. When the grains are roasted they develop, although to a less degree, the same stimulating principles found in the latter. It is well known that dextrinized cereals are markedly stimulating when given to the lower animals. To discard tea, coffee and cocoa altogether and to replace them with cereal beverages, is like, so to speak, tumbling from the frying pan into the fire. In the case of the latter, so to phrase it, the fire is not so uncomfortably warm as the frying pan.

Cereal Coffee.

These forms of beverage, some of which are sold in packets under proprietary names, are made from roasted grains, and are often advised by food specialists who think that tea, coffee and cocoa are injurious, owing to the caffein or “drugs” that they contain. To most people they are not so palatable as tea or coffee, although, with use, many people get to prefer them after a time.

Wheat Tea

is made from brown and roasted wheat berries to which some oats and barley can be added if desired. Grind finely, pour 1 pint of water upon 1 ounce of the meal, bring to the boil for one minute and drink alone, or with cream.

An alternative method is to take 1½ ounces of roasted mixed cereal grains finely ground. Add 2 pints of boiling water, set on stove and boil, then set it back and let it soak 15 minutes. Add the white of one egg before serving.

Cereal Coffee.

Well mix together various cereals, good clean bran, and either dried malt extract, honey or molasses. Slowly dry and roast until browned, but not charred. Use as required for preparing a cereal coffee. The addition of almond cream improves the flavour.

“Cerealis.”

Take of wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize and bran, each two heaped tablespoonfuls, grind in an ordinary coffee mill--or the whole grains may be used. Add 8 pints of water. Boil for three hours and, when cold, pass through linen. Sweeten and flavour to taste. This beverage contains from 4 to 6 drachms of soluble organic saline matter to the quart. The use of “Cerealis” yields excellent results in cases of disorders characterized by marked loss of phosphates, since it contains a large percentage of organic phosphates.

CHAMOMILE FLOWERS.

Chamomile flowers possess a strong and distinctive aromatic odour and taste. They are tonic, stimulating, and soothing, and are excellent for strengthening digestion. When made into a beverage and taken between meals, they check fermentation and flatulence, and are especially good for children suffering from summer diarrhœa. The German flowers are said to be less bitter and more laxative than the English or Italian varieties.

Chamomile Infusion.

Add ½ ounce of the flowers to a pint of boiling water, allow to stand in a covered vessel for two hours, strain and, when cool, take a wineglassful before meals. The addition of a little liquorice root or juice removes the bitter taste.

Chamomile Tea.

Take six heads of chamomile flowers, a little bruised ginger, add six ounces of boiling water, allow to stand a few minutes, strain, and drink, hot or cold, as desired. This is a good remedy for children.

CHERRIES.

This fruit in season is very suitable for preparing beverages. The morella cherry is the best, on account of its strong aromatic flavour.

Cherry Juice.

The fresh juice of cherries is obtained by washing and stoning a quantity of sound fruit, then passing the pulp through a Fruit Juice press. If much juice is required, a cherry stoner will be found a time-saver.

Cherry Water.

Mash ½ lb. of cherries (morellas by preference), crush a few of the stones with their kernels, add a little honey and cinnamon, pour upon them a pint of boiling water, set back on stove, or place in a fireless cooker, for several hours, then strain for use.

Cherry Soup (1).

Take 1 pint of cherries, the juice of one lemon, honey and two teaspoonfuls of some form of starchy cereal. Mix cereal with cold water, and then with boiling water to dextrinize. Add other ingredients and simmer all together for 30 minutes with 1 pint of water. Serve cold or iced.

Cherry Soup (2), German Method.

Take 1 lb. of cooking cherries, ½ ounce of banana flour, 1 teaspoonful of lemon juice, ½ ounce of malt extract or honey, 2½ pints water. Boil until cooked, rub through sieve, and serve with fried bread croûtons and little dumplings.

CHESTNUTS.

The chestnut is similar in composition to the potato. It may be likened to a potato growing upon a tree. It has very little in common with other nuts.

Chestnut Tea.

Scald some fresh chestnuts to loosen the skins, carefully remove all the outer skin and then grate them, using an ordinary nut grating machine. Mix from 4 to 8 ounces of the grated chestnuts with a pint of boiling water, simmer for a few minutes, strain and serve hot. Chestnut flour, sold commercially, can be used instead of the freshly ground chestnuts.

CINNAMON.

Cinnamon is the bark of a tree and comes chiefly from Ceylon. It contains astringent matter and an essential oil which is said to exert a deadly effect upon disease-producing germs. Thus it makes an excellent fever drink for influenza, catarrh of the bowels, and consumption. It has also been known to cure cancer. It is inadvisable to use the ground cinnamon as supplied by grocers, as this is frequently adulterated. The cinnamon sticks, or “whole” cinnamon, should be purchased always.

Cinnamon Water.

Take 1 ounce of cinnamon sticks, bruise, or coarsely powder, pour upon them a pint of boiling water, allow to stand until drawn, strain, then drink a small teacupful hot, several times a day.

Cinnamon Decoction.

This is made like the water, with the exception that the water and cinnamon should be boiled together for 15 minutes before straining.

Strong Cinnamon Decoction.

The very strong decoction, used in cases of cancer, is made by boiling 1 lb. of the best cinnamon sticks with 2 pints of water (preferably _in vacuo_), and allowing it to simmer down to 25 ozs. The resulting decoction should be poured off without straining and 10 per cent. of glycerine added to preserve and sweeten. Of this decoction about ½ pint should be taken as the daily dose.

COCOA.

Cocoa is a very popular form of beverage. It is more of a food than either tea or coffee, because it contains a considerable amount of fat and albuminous matter. The beans contain 1 to 1½ per cent. theobromin, an alkaloid identical with the thein or caffein found in tea and coffee. They also contain from 45 to 50 per cent. of cocoa butter, a pure type of vegetable fat, as well as from 13 to 18 per cent. proteids. Phosphate of soda is one of the chief organic mineral salts contained in cocoa.

The beans before use are roasted, which changes the starch into dextrin and develops aromatic substances as in the case of tea and coffee.

Cocoa is seldom sold here in its pure state, as the beans are hard and require powerful machinery to crush them. We can, however, obtain forms of cocoa which contain the full constituents of the beans. Among these may be included “cocoa nibs” and “rock cocoa,” the last named being mixed with sugar and being usually prepared on the Estate where the beans are grown.

Most of the cocoa sold in this country is in the form of a fine powder called “Cocoa Essence.” By means of machinery the beans are finely ground and the oil is extracted; the fibre is also extracted, or well broken down.

Cocoa made from the “Cocoa Nibs” or “Rock Cocoa.”

Crush 1 ounce of the nibs in a mortar or grate them in a small nut mill. Put into a pot, simmer 4 hours. Pour into a clean dish, skim the fat. When cold reheat and serve. Or grate as much “rock cocoa” as is required, boil for an hour or more until fully dissolved. “Swizzle up” and serve. The great drawback to these articles is the difficulty of dissolving the cocoa, and the time wasted in preparation.

Cocoa made from the Essence.

The great advantage of the various Cocoa Essences is their ease of preparation. One teaspoonful has merely to be dissolved in ½ pint of boiling water or milk and water and the drink is ready to serve. In making, it is always best to first mix the cocoa essence with a little cold water before adding the hot water to ensure a smooth beverage free from lumps.

Chocolate.

Another form of cocoa beverage is that made from ordinary chocolate, or chocolate in a powdered form. Chocolate is prepared by crushing and finely grinding or pulping the beans, adding sugar, dried milk, etc., and, when it is in a soft state, running it into moulds to set. To make a chocolate beverage, dissolve a sufficient amount of the prepared chocolate in boiling water, add milk to taste and serve. To many people it is sickly, owing to its sweetness; to others it is fermentative.

Cocoashell as a Drink.

The cocoashells, or the husks of the cocoa beans, like the bran of cereal grains, are well laden with organic mineral salts, especially those of iron and phosphorus. A very valuable nutritive beverage can thus be made from them. They also possess the advantage of cheapness. To make the beverage, place a handful of the shells into a covered saucepan with 1½ pint of water, bring to the boil, strain, serve very hot, either alone or with milk or cream. (It is best to buy one of the sifted and cleaned or malted preparations of cocoashell now on the market, as the ordinary loose cocoashell obtainable at grocers’ shops is frequently inferior and often very dirty.) Another method is to grind the cocoashells in a Dana machine or a nutmill, and make exactly in the same manner as tea, in a teapot, adding milk or cream to taste.

COFFEE.

The dried and roasted berries of the coffee plant make an agreeable and exhilarating beverage, which does not produce the same dire results as wine or alcohol, although it affects its votaries in other ways. It stimulates the nervous system and, if taken to excess, produces tremors and irregular action of the heart. It increases the frequency of the pulse, removes the sensation of fatigue during exercise, and also increases the action of the waste-eliminating organs.

Coffee contains an aromatic oil (which gives to it its distinctive flavour), a peculiar drug principle, called caffein, and also dextrin and mineral salts. The aroma of the oil is brought out by the roasting process.

In England, coffee is usually made from a poor quality of bean, served up tepid and muddy, and drowned in a deluge of water. Probably it was prepared in this way, when first introduced into this country, since in a petition against its use in 1674 it was described as “a base, thick, nasty, stinking, puddle water.”

It is always wise to pay a good price and obtain the best quality and then prepare it with due care and attention.

Coffee should preferably be taken either as a pure infusion called “Black Coffee,” or with an equal part of hot milk. Two teaspoonfuls or more of whipped egg cream greatly improve its flavour.

Above all, cane or beet sugar should not be added to it, as these spoil the characteristic flavour of the beverage and eventually ruin the digestion of the person taking it.

How to Infuse Coffee.

Coffee is always at its best when the berries are freshly roasted as wanted, and then immediately ground and used. This roasting process, however, takes up much time, which few people are prepared to give.

The roasted beans keep fairly well, even for months, if packed in small air-tight hermetically sealed tins or bottles. A slight warming or parching of the beans, or of the ground coffee, is a fair expedient, although nothing can compare with the fresh roasting immediately before the coffee is made.

From 2 to 4 dessertspoonfuls, or 1 to 2 ounces, of coffee should go to the pint.

Fast boiling water, or milk at a temperature of 180° to 200° F., should be poured over the infusion, and it should then be allowed to stand for a few minutes with occasional stirring or shaking until ready.

It has been found that coffee gives up 19 to 25 per cent. as an infusion, but yields up from 30 to 35 per cent. if prepared as a decoction. To get this extra value out of the grounds the latter are often boiled with more water after the infusion has been made. This decoction is then added to the next lot of fresh infusion to give it colour and body. The objection to this is that the boiling process extracts much of the undesirable caffein and astringent matter, which it is unwise to drink.

In some restaurants, coffee is made in an enamelled saucepan, a pinch of salt is added to increase the flavour, and boiling water is poured on. It is set back on the fire, stirred well at intervals and allowed to come to the boil without actually boiling. The lid is put on and it is set on a slow fire till a scum arises. It is now lifted from the fire. Lastly it is allowed to settle and the process repeated.

This is a common (and undesirable) method usually adopted when a maximum amount of coffee has to be made from a minimum amount of berries.

Pale Roasted Coffee.

This is a favourite beverage among Food-Reformers. When coffee has been lightly roasted the caffein is said to be undeveloped and thus passes away in the grounds. According to the late Joseph Wallace, pale roasted coffee corrects fermentation, and, unlike ordinarily roasted coffee, removes dyspepsia and sleeplessness; it is also antidotal to food poisoning and cholera. Pale roasted coffee, taken in strict moderation, may be safely looked upon as a distinctly useful beverage in spite of what may be said against it on the score that it contains caffein (which is a xanthin or uric acid type of substance).

In preparing pale roasted coffee, the correct way is to use 1 ounce or 4 dessertspoonfuls of freshly ground berries to each pint of water. It must not be boiled. Infuse in warmed earthenware pot. Pour on fast boiling water, stir with a wooden spoon, pour backwards and forwards, then allow to settle. Distilled water is the best to use. When the coffee settles and goes to the bottom of the pot it is ready.

How Coffee is Spoilt.

A poor cup of coffee is produced as a result of:

(1) Inferior quality, or bad roasting.

(2) The purchase of too large a quantity of ground coffee which thus
loses its aromatic oil as a result of prolonged keeping.

(3) The use of an insufficient or excessive amount of coffee to
the quantity of water used.

(4) Not allowing it to stand long enough or, on the other hand,
boiling it or permitting it to stand too long.

(5) By not serving either coffee or milk thoroughly hot.

Turkish Coffee.

To make this, put into a little metal pot, two large tablespoonfuls of very finely ground coffee and ½ pint of boiling water; sweeten if necessary with a tablespoonful of honey. Bring to the boil three times, then pour into small hot cups without straining.

French Coffee.

The so-called “French Coffee,” as usually sold over here, is a mixture containing a preponderating amount of chicory, and the coffee used is often over roasted. It is questionable whether coffee made from this blend can be truthfully styled “French.” It is well known that the French people make far better coffee, as a rule, than we do in this country.

Fig Coffee

is a special kind of prepared compound containing coffee mixed with roasted figs, etc. It is sold in square blocks and is an Austrian product. It enters largely into the composition of the celebrated Austrian or Vienna coffee. In making coffee usually a small quantity of the fig compound is added to give body and colour to the finished beverage.

CHICORY

is a cheap product of the dried endive root. It yields a darker and more bitter infusion than does coffee. It sinks in water while coffee floats for a long time, owing to the gases formed in the roasting process. It is best avoided.

COKERNUTS.

The cokernut (sometimes spelt “cocoanut,” though it has, of course, no connection with cocoa) is a sort of “ugly duckling” when compared with other nuts, and few people partake of it regularly. Probably the only time when it is freely eaten in England is during Bank holidays, when the cokernut shies of the fairs force the nuts upon those members of the speculative public who venture their pennies and secure the prize. The milky fluid in the cokernut, as well as the nut substance itself, is very nourishing, and being fairly cheap, it might to advantage be more freely eaten as a form of proteid food. It makes an excellent curry. The nut does not seem to make, or appear in, any popular beverages. “Desiccated cokernut” is not to be compared with the fresh cokernut, but if it is used at all, the cokernut _meal_ should be procured.

Cokernut Milk.

The fluid obtained from the inside of the ripe nuts is an excellent and nourishing drink, and is strongly antiseptic.

Cokernut Soup.

Take half a cokernut and finely grate the white pulp, or use an equivalent amount of fine cokernut meal; 2 or 3 small onions, fried; ¼ to ½ ounce of curry powder; 1 or 2 apples; any root vegetables. Stew 1 hour, then mix in 3 teaspoonfuls of cream, 1 teaspoonful of flour, 2 tablespoonfuls of butter and 1 teaspoonful of lemon juice.

CRANBERRIES.

Fresh cranberries are astringent and acid and are said to be one of the finest fruits for purifying and vitalizing the blood. Dr. Robert Bell strongly recommends them in cases of cancer.

The Fresh Juice.

The juice extracted by means of the Fruit Juice Press is invaluable in disorders affecting the blood. It can be used as an application outwardly applied for certain skin troubles. It is also a useful and pleasant salad dressing.

Cranberry Tea.

Take one tumblerful of cranberry jelly, dissolve it in 1 pint of hot water; when dissolved, serve hot, and slowly sip it.

CUCUMBER.

The cucumber belongs to the melon tribe of plants and is a favourite vegetable for use with or as a salad. For this purpose it is best eaten in pieces and not cut into thin slices. It consists chiefly of pure nature-distilled water mixed with fibre and a little mineral organic salts.

The rind is often very bitter, but it contains valuable organic salts, like the husks of cereals or the peel of apples. It is a good thing to eat this rind as a remedy for constipation, or to include it in the extracted juice when an aperient effect is desired.

Cucumber Juice.

The juice extracted by the Fruit Juice Press and taken in small cupfuls is a cooling refrigerant drink. It is a valuable remedy for outward application for which purpose it is sometimes mixed with glycerine.

CURRANTS (DRIED).

The ordinary currants used for culinary purposes are the dried fruit of a small grape. They come from the Grecian Archipelago. They must not be confused with the red and black currants which grow in orchards and kitchen gardens here. Currants make a useful sweetening agent for drinks, and for this purpose they should first be well cleaned and afterwards mashed by passing through a Dana Food Flaker. It is always wise to buy the better quality, as the cheaper kinds contain much unripe, inferior, and imperfectly dried fruit.