Cassell's dictionary of cookery

Flesh and Force Producers . . 17-0 Force Producers .... 66-4 Mineral Matters . . . .3-0 "One pound of oatmeal, when digested and oxidised in the body, is capable of producing a force equal to 2,439 tons raised one foot high. The maximum of work which it will enable a man to perform is 488 tons raised one foot high. One pound of oatmeal can produce at the maximum 2| ozs. of dry muscle or flesh." "Oatmeal," Pereira remarks, " is an important and valuable article of food. With the exception of maize or Indian com, it is richer in. oily or fatty matter than any other of the cultivated cereal grains ; and its proportion of protein compounds exceeds that of the finest English wheaten flour; so that, both in respect to its heat and fat making and its flesh and blood making principles, it holds a high rank." There are several kinds of oatmeal. One is known as round-oatmeal: it consists of the oats divested of the husk and ground into a verj' coarse powder. Another is Robinson's Patent Groats, which consist of the finest part of the oat-flour, aU husk, and the outer and harder part of the grain being removed. "Round oatmeal" varies a good deal in quality : the better sorts have the outer surface of the oats of which they are composed rubbed off by attrition between two stones. Oatmeal is frequently adulterated with barley-meal, the difference in price between the two being a great inducement to dishonest traders. Barley-meal costs only about one half the price of oatmeal. Other substances used for adulterating oatmeal are whiting, plaster of paris, and burnt bones. In consequence of a peculiar quality of the gluten which the oat contains, oatmeal does not admit of being baked into a light fermented bread. It has been alleged against oatmeal, that when it is employed as the sole food, without milk or animal diet, it causes heat and irritability of the skin, aggravates skin diseases, and sometimes gives rise to boils. Dr. Pereira, however, states that this charge has been made without sufficient grounds. At aU events, it is very rarely that circumstances render necessary for any length of time such an exclusive consumption of oatmeal. Oatmeal Bannocks.— Rub half an ounce of fresh butter into two and a half pounds of Scotch oatmeal, and stir briskly in as much lukewarm water as wiU make it into a stiff paste. Sprinkle some oatmeal on the pastryboard, and spread the mixture out into a round cake, about half an inch thick and four inches in diameter. Bake in a moderate oven for one hour. Sufficient for ten or twelve persons. Probable cost. Is. Oatmeal Gruel.— Mix a table-spoonful of oatmeal very smoothly with a little cold water. Pour upon it a pint of boihng water, stir it well, then let it stand for a few minutes to settle. Pour it back very gently into the saucepan, so as to leave undisturbed the sediment at the bottom of the gruel. Let it simmer, stirring occasionally and skimming it carefully. It maybe sweetened and flavoured vsdth wine and spice, or be mixed with a little beer and grated ginger, or, if preferred, a little salt only may be put in. Dry toast or biscuits may be served with it. Time, a quarter of an hour to simmer. Probable cost, Id. Sufficient for one person. Oatmeal Gruel (another way) .—See Gruel, Oatmeal.