CONCLUSION.
In the foregoing pages information has been summarized regarding the food value of cheese, an important agricultural product, and ways of preparing it for the table. It has been pointed out that, judged by the kind of nutrients it supplies—chiefly nitrogenous material and fat—and the proportion in which they are present, it resembles such foodstuffs as meat, fish, and eggs, which means that like them its rational use in the diet is in combination with other staple foods, to form well-balanced meals.
Experiments have shown that when eaten either raw or carefully cooked, cheese is as thoroughly digested as other staple foods and is not likely to produce physiological disturbance.
An ounce of cheese roughly is equivalent to 1 egg, to a glass of milk, or to 2 ounces of meat.
Although uncooked cheese resembles meat in composition, cheese dishes prepared after ordinary recipes, with milk and shortening, are likely to contain more fat than meat dishes prepared in the usual ways. When, therefore, such cheese dishes are served with other staple foods the combination is likely to contain more fat than the usual meal. If little fat is ordinarily used, this may be an advantage. If a great deal of fat is ordinarily used, it may be desirable to lessen the amount in the cheese dishes. This can readily be done by omitting the shortening and using skim milk or water in the preparation of such dishes, a change which also lessens their cost.
The fact that cheese, like meat, contains neither starch nor cellulose suggests that, like meat, it should be combined with bread, potatoes, and other starchy foods, with vegetables and with sweets. The concentrated character of cheese and many cheese dishes suggeststhe use of succulent fruits and vegetables with them. The high percentage of fat in cheese suggests the use of correspondingly small amounts of fat in the accompanying dishes, while the soft texture of cheese dishes as compared with meat makes it reasonable to serve the harder and crustier breads with them.
When cheese is not used as the chief nitrogenous food of a meal it may be introduced into bills of fare in many incidental ways, and thus add materially to that portion of the diet needed for building and repairing body tissue.
Though cheese is so generally used in some way in most families, yet the making of menus with cheese as a central dish is less well understood than more usual food combinations, since there is less experience to serve as a guide. More thought is therefore usually required to arrange such cheese meals in order that they may be palatable and at the same time reasonable in nutritive value.
In order that the diet may remain well balanced, cheese, if used in quantity, should replace foods of similar composition rather than supplement them. The builder who has a choice of materials must have a knowledge of their relative properties if he wishes to use stone instead of brick, or wood in place of iron. It is the same with the housekeeper who wishes to use her available food supply intelligently and whose choice of foods is influenced by their relative cost at a given time or season. The woman who has a knowledge of the relative food value of different articles of diet, and their real food qualities as distinguished from their market value, who understands good methods of cooking and serving foods, and who plans her meals and other housework so that unnecessary labor and expense may be avoided, is taking account of the things which make for economical living as well as for good living.
Some persons seem to believe that cheese or fish or other food is the ideal food for some particular circumstance and that there is a special food or diet suited to each kind of work and to every circumstance of our daily life, and that it would be a great advantage if we could regulate our daily fare with the accuracy a chemist uses in making an experiment. Work, recreation, the amount of clothing we wear, and other details of our daily life are not so regulated, and it is the belief of those who have studied the subject that the best interests of persons living under normal conditions are served if the ideal be rather the regulation of the diet along general lines in accordance with good sense, the teachings of experience, economy, and the available knowledge gained from a scientific study of the subject, due care being taken that the different staple foodstuffs are so combined that all the needs of the body are provided, excessive waste is prevented, and that both undernourishment and excess or overeating are avoided.
Dishes which are liked and the methods followed in preparing them will vary in different countries and at different times, yet this does not of necessity mean that the nutritive value of the diet varies correspondingly. In the same way it is possible for us to vary the selection of our foods and the character of our diet at will, according to the demands of our taste and our purse, without correspondingly changing its value for supplying the needs of the body. This means that the housekeeper, in suitable ways, can use cheese, meat, fish, eggs, and other foods of similar composition as substitutes for one another, being governed by their relative market value at different times and seasons, by the tastes of her family, and similar considerations. If she uses the different foodstuffs with reference to their nutritive value and is skillful in preparing foods in appetizing ways and in serving them in attractive combinations, the daily fare may be both adequate and pleasing, whether she selects cheese or meat or fish or eggs or other foods to supply nitrogenous material and fat. Here, as in all that pertains to housekeeping, true economy is dependent upon a knowledge of materials and skill in using them.
Transcriber’s Notespg 8 Removed repeated word the from: If cream is removed the the cheesepg 12 Changed brought about chiefly by the action of enzyms to: enzymespg 15 Changed 90 per cent of the nitrogeous to: nitrogenouspg 20 Changed the curd assumes a custardlike to: custard-likepg 24 Added period after No in: Cheese Fondue No 1.pg 24 Added period after: 1 tablespoonful of butterpg 25 Changed Corn and Cheese Souffle. to: Soufflé.pg 31 Added period after: Salt, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg