Fruit recipes

Fruit juices furnish the most delightful form of pure water, which is too apt to be considered, in the words of : the Southern colonel, ‘‘good fuh pupposes of navigation, but a mighty po’ drink.” The fruit form of acids is refreshing; it speedily furnishes energy to the muscular system—the sugar being readily assimilated—and in general or directly (as with the tropical papaw and pineapple) assists digestion. Each fruit has a special and some of the general values; some of them meant only as accessories to other foods, as a rule stimulants and purifiers, containing chiefly the carbohydrates, and must be balanced by fats, nitrogen, or protein, and foods containing more cellulose. Some fruits require very little ‘‘balancing,” being substantial and nearly perfect in themselves, as figs, prunes, and the cocoanut, which last, when fresh, should be ranked rather with fruits than nuts. The banana is a substantial food, very rich in carbohydrates and ‘‘body”; so also the persimmon. Grapes are nearly perfect from a general point of view and the apple is unique in rank. Acid fruits are not always to be recommended in combination with starchy foods, and too much acid may be used, but all people are not constituted alike: uncooked fruits may or may not agree with one (though in general fruits are best and more direct in effect uncooked and, whether fresh or cooked, should be eaten with less sugar than is the usual habit) and special. fruits or combinations may be found undesirable. Some human beings need food oftener than others or in greater quantity. Some need to be reduced in flesh or the reverse. No ‘hard and fast rules can be laid down; each one should realise the value of fruits as a whole and of fruits individually and should as thoroughly know his own needs. PREFACE ix Facts concerning the values of fruits have been widely scattered, hidden behind masses of figures or buried in scientific works. Figures and scientific terms are necessary in their places, but those included here are only as matters of reference. To be vitally interested is the first requisite for learning “more and more.’’ Everyone has not the gift for remembering figures and names, and to be so burdened is often to stop one at the outset or detract seriously from interest. Many foundation recipes are included and explanations, because this collection is meant quite as much for men who are ‘‘batching it’? (perhaps having their first experiences in cooking where strange fruits have to be dealt with) as for women who rightly believe variety to be the spice of life; and I have given as far as possible just what I myself would many times have valued could someone have saved my having to hunt through a great many volumes for all I wished to know concerning the preparation of some particular fruit, or for some general formula. which each book usually takes for granted one already knows in exact proportion. I have included also a few old-time recipes because of their great interest, from their age, to this generation, or the superior results to be obtained from their use. The housekeeping of earlier centuries seems elaborate and heavy by contrast with the lighter, modern methods, but life as a whole was simpler then than now and in attempting to improve upon the old-fashioned ways we have dropped a little too much, for there were certain quaint touches of housewifely care: which exercised untold charm in many directions. Were the old-time still-rooms in vogue to-day, with their fragrant atmosphere of aromatic herbs, fruit cordials, brandies, and wines, patent medicines would find few victims; the murderously adulterated liquors of