Further, it appears that whilst milk has butter as well as sugar
in it, eggs and flesh have little or no sugar, but abound in fat or
oil, which is equivalent to butter ; whilst, on the other hand, flour,
which has very little fat or oil, is richer than any of the other kinds
of food in starch, which is equivalent to sugar. It is manifest from
this that butter may be omitted, if sugar is supplied in its place ;
only it is to be noticed that it requires about two and a half times
XXX PHILOSOPHY OF COOKERY.
as much sugar (or starch) to afford the same nutriment as one part
of fat or butter would. Milk, the most perfect of pattern-diets,
contains nearly equal weights of butter and sugar.
It may be noticed in addition, that when an animal, such as an
ox, is supplied with a large amount of vegetable food, and is not
required to take active exercise, it becomes very fat, even though
there be little or no fat in its food, and the greater the amount of
starch or sugar in its food, the fatter it becomes. The bee also
produces all the wax (which is a kind of fat) for its honeycomb
solely from sugar. We thus learn both that sugar (including
starch, gum, and soft vegetable fibre) can replace fat in food, and
also that sugar when eaten is changed into fat, and as such is
deposited in the body of the animal eating it.
If, however, the same ox, which when stall-fed, and allowed
little or no exercise, becomes loaded with fat, be taken from its
stall, harnessed to the plough or the waggon, and kept at hard
work, it rapidly grows lean, and, though fed as well as before,
ceases to lay on fat. None of the swift-footed wild animals which
are grass-eaters — such as the various tribes of deer, the quagga,
the zebra, the goat, or the hare— exhibit much fat in their bodies ;
and all the active savage races of mankind, such as the Red
Indians, are equally lean. The bee, when forming its wax, re-
mains at rest in the hive ; and the pig, which is to be made a prize-
monster of fatness, must be penned in his stye.
It thus appears that the same starch or sugar which, when an
animal is debarred from exercise, becomes converted into fat, does
not, if it be allowed exercise, appear either as fat or as any other
solid in its body ; and further, that if it has been fattened, active
motion rapidly causes the fat to disappear. Now, as active motion
during a large part of each day is a condition of health in man,
whilst a scanty endowment of fat is a mark of this health, it comes
to be an important question, What service is rendered to him by
the fat or sugar of his food, seeing that neither of them adds to his
bulk or weight, unless in a trifling degree ?
It is now universally acknowledged by chemists and physiologists
that fat and sugar are the fuel of the living body, and, by being
burned within it, maintain its warmth, as the coals burned in a
furnace heat the walls of the furnace. That our bodies are warmer
than the ordinary objects in their neighbourhood, every one is
aware. Cloaks, blankets, flannels, and other articles of dress, have
in themselves no power of communicating warmth to us; they
simply prevent the chill and mobile air from robbing us of heat,
which in some way is constantly developed within our bodies.
The mode of its development appears now fully understood. It
PHILOSOPHY OP COOKERY. XXXI
Page 7
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Further, it appears that whilst milk has butter as well as sugar in it, eggs and flesh have little or no sugar, but abound in fat or oil, which is equivalent to butter ; whilst, on the other hand, flour, which has very little fat or oil, is richer than any of the other kinds of food in starch, which is equivalent to sugar. It is manifest from this that butter may be omitted, if sugar is supplied in its place ; only it is to be noticed that it requires about two and a half times
XXX PHILOSOPHY OF COOKERY.
as much sugar (or starch) to afford the same nutriment as one part of fat or butter would. Milk, the most perfect of pattern-diets, contains nearly equal weights of butter and sugar.
It may be noticed in addition, that when an animal, such as an ox, is supplied with a large amount of vegetable food, and is not required to take active exercise, it becomes very fat, even though there be little or no fat in its food, and the greater the amount of starch or sugar in its food, the fatter it becomes. The bee also produces all the wax (which is a kind of fat) for its honeycomb solely from sugar. We thus learn both that sugar (including starch, gum, and soft vegetable fibre) can replace fat in food, and also that sugar when eaten is changed into fat, and as such is deposited in the body of the animal eating it.
If, however, the same ox, which when stall-fed, and allowed little or no exercise, becomes loaded with fat, be taken from its stall, harnessed to the plough or the waggon, and kept at hard work, it rapidly grows lean, and, though fed as well as before, ceases to lay on fat. None of the swift-footed wild animals which are grass-eaters — such as the various tribes of deer, the quagga, the zebra, the goat, or the hare— exhibit much fat in their bodies ; and all the active savage races of mankind, such as the Red Indians, are equally lean. The bee, when forming its wax, remains at rest in the hive ; and the pig, which is to be made a prizemonster of fatness, must be penned in his stye.
It thus appears that the same starch or sugar which, when an animal is debarred from exercise, becomes converted into fat, does not, if it be allowed exercise, appear either as fat or as any other solid in its body ; and further, that if it has been fattened, active motion rapidly causes the fat to disappear. Now, as active motion during a large part of each day is a condition of health in man, whilst a scanty endowment of fat is a mark of this health, it comes to be an important question, What service is rendered to him by the fat or sugar of his food, seeing that neither of them adds to his bulk or weight, unless in a trifling degree ?
It is now universally acknowledged by chemists and physiologists that fat and sugar are the fuel of the living body, and, by being burned within it, maintain its warmth, as the coals burned in a furnace heat the walls of the furnace. That our bodies are warmer than the ordinary objects in their neighbourhood, every one is aware. Cloaks, blankets, flannels, and other articles of dress, have in themselves no power of communicating warmth to us; they simply prevent the chill and mobile air from robbing us of heat, which in some way is constantly developed within our bodies. The mode of its development appears now fully understood. It
PHILOSOPHY OP COOKERY. XXXI