CHAPTER VIII.
COOKERY FOR THE SICK.
COOKERY is the art of preparing food for the nourishment of the human body. Cookery is the effect produced on food by the application of heat, air, and moisture.
"Uncivilized man takes his nourishment like animals,—as it is offered by nature; civilized man prepares his food before eating, and in ways which are in general the more perfect the higher his culture. The art of cooking, when not allied with a degenerate taste or with gluttony, is one of the criteria of a people's civilization." There are comparatively few foods that are at their best when taken in the raw state; they neither taste so good nor are they so easily digested as when subjected to some kind of cooking.
Disease is oftentimes due to improper feeding. The food rations have not contained the correct proportions of the food principles, or the food stuffs have been improperly cooked. "Food well cooked is partially digested."
Objects of cooking Food.
1. To make more palatable.
2. To develop flavor.
3. To render more digestible.
4. To destroy bacteria and parasites.
Methods employed for Cooking for the Sick.
1. Boiling By heated water, 212° F. Simmering, 185° F.
2. Steaming By vapor
3. Broiling By radiant heat and combustion
4. Roasting of gases.
5. Baking
