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Title: Grocers' Goods - A Family Guide to the Purchase of Flour, Sugar, Tea, Coffee, - Spices, Canned Goods, Cigars, Wines, and All Other Articles - Usually Found in American Grocery Stores
Author: Goddard, Frederick Bartlett
Language: English
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[Illustration:
Price, 20 Cents.
Grocers’ Goods: A Family Guide.
THE TRADESMAN’S PUBLISHING COMPANY,
Tribune Building,
NEW YORK CITY.
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GROCERS’ GOODS:
A FAMILY GUIDE
TO THE PURCHASE OF
FLOUR, SUGAR, TEA, COFFEE, SPICES,
CANNED GOODS, CIGARS, WINES,
AND ALL OTHER ARTICLES
Usually Found in American Grocery Stores.
BY F. B. GODDARD.
COPYRIGHTED 1888.
THE TRADESMEN’S PUBLISHING COMPANY,
TRIBUNE BUILDING,
NEW YORK CITY.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Index List of Grocers’ Goods.
Housekeepers will find this list suggestive and helpful in making up
orders for the Grocer, as well as useful for page reference.
PAGE.
Adulterations 6
Ale 62
Allspice 41
Almonds 50
Apples 44
Apples, Dried 48
Artificial Butter 30
Asparagus 47
Bacon 35
Baking Powders 16
Bananas 45
Barley 13
Bath Brick 58
Beans 47-48
Beef, Dried 35
Beef, Fresh 34
Beer 62
Berries 45-49
Beeswax 58
Bird Seed 57
Biscuit 16
Blacking 57
Blended Tea 24
Bluing 55
Brandies 63
Brazil Nuts 50
Bread 15
Brooms 56
Brushes 56
Buckwheat 14
Burgundy Wines 60-64
Butter 28
Butterine 30
Cabbage 46
California Wines 61-64
Candies 19
Candles 55
Canned Goods 36
“ Meats 37
“ Fish 37
“ Vegetables 38
“ Fruits 38
Cans, Tin 38
Capers 43
Carrots 47
Cassia and Buds 41
Catsups 44
Cauliflower 47
Celery 47
Celery Salt 42
Cereals 10
Champagne 61
Cheese 31
Cherries 44
Chicory 27
Chocolate 27
Cider 63
Cigars 51
Cigarettes 52
Cinnamon 41
Claret Wines 60-64
Clothes Pins 56
Cloves 41
Cocoa 27
Cocoanuts 45
Cod Fish 35
Coffee 24
Condensed Milk 28
Condiments 39
Cordials 64
Corn 12
Corn Starch 12
Crackers 16
Cranberries 45
Cream 28
Cream of Tartar 16
Cucumbers 47
Currants 45-49
Curry Powders 41
Dates 50
Disinfectants 58
Distilled Liquors 63
Dried Fruits 48
Eggs 33
Egg Plant 48
Essences 39
Extracts 39
Farinaceous Foods 14
Feed, for Stock 15
Figs 49
Filberts 50
Fish 35
Flavoring Extracts 32
Flour 11
Fruits 44
“ Domestic 44
“ Tropical 45
“ Dried 48
“ Brandy 39
“ Canned 39
Fruit Butter 39
Garlic 47
Gelatine 39
Gin 64
Ginger 40
Ginger Ale 63
Glucose 18
Gooseberries 45
Graham Flour 12
Grapes 44
Greens 48
Green Corn 47
Groats 14
Grocers’ Sundries 58
Halibut 53
Ham 35
Herbs 39
Herring 35
Hints to Housekeepers 8
Hominy 13
Honey 19
Horseradish 43
Insect Powder 58
Isinglass 39
Jams 39
Japan Tea 24
Jellies 38
Koumiss 28
Ketchup 44
Lager Beer 62
Lard 33
Lemons 45
Lentils 48
Madeira Wine 64
Maccaroni 17
Mackerel 35
Malt Liquors 62
Mace 41
Maple Sugar 18
“ Syrup 18
Marmalades 39
Matches 57
Meal 12
Meat Extracts 36
Meats, Canned 37
“ Fresh 34
“ Smoked 35
Melons 48
Milk 9-28
Mineral Waters 61
Molasses 19
Mops 56
Mustard 40
Mutton 34
Nuts 50
Nutmegs 41
Oatmeal 13
Oil, Salad 43
Olives 43
Oleomargarine 30
Onions 47
Oranges 45
Oyster Plant 48
Pails 58
Parsnips 47
Pea Nuts 50
Peaches 44
“ Dried 49
Pears 44
Pearl Barley 13
Peas 47-48
Pecan Nuts 50
Pepper 40
Pepper, Cayenne 40
Pepper Sauce 44
Pickles 43
Pipes 51
Pine Apples 45
Plums 44-49
Pork 34
Porter 62
Port Wine 59-61
Potatoes 46
Poultry 34
Preserves 38
Prunes 49
Radishes 47
Raisins 49
Rice 14
Rhine Wines 60-64
Rhubarb 47
Rum 64
Rye Flour 13
Sago 15
Salads 48
Salad Dressings 43
Saleratus 16
Salmon 35
Salt 42
Samp 13
Sauces 43
Seeds 57
Shells 27
Sherry Wine 59-61
Shoe Dressing 57
Snuff 53
Soaps 53
“ Toilet 54
“ Shaving 54
Soups Canned 37
Soda 16
Spaghetti 17
Spices 39
Squash 48
Starch, Laundry 55
Stove Polish 57
Stout 64
Strawberries 45
Sugar 17
Sundries 58
Sweet Potatoes 46
Syrups 19
Tamarinds 50
Tapioca 15
Tea 21
Tobacco, Chewing 51
“ Smoking 51
Tomatoes 47
Tongues 35
Turnips 47
Veal 34
Vegetables, Fresh 46
“ Canned 38
Vermicelli 17
Vinegar 42
Washboards 46
Wines and Liquors 59
Wheat 10
Whiskey 64
Yeast 16
GROCERS’ GOODS.
A FAMILY GUIDE.
In the ancient times of twenty-five or thirty years ago, the grocer’s
goods consisted chiefly of codfish, flour, sugar, tea, coffee, salt,
molasses and whale oil. There were also a little candy in glass jars,
some nuts in bins, a few drums of figs and a box of sour oranges. The
grocer himself found plenty of time to talk politics and play checkers
across the counter with his friends and neighbors. Those were the days
when a few conservative old merchants used to meet and discuss the tea
market and allot among themselves the quantity to be imported, not a
pound of which could arrive under twelve or fifteen months.
But things have changed. The importer now flashes his order under the
sea and on, over plains and through jungles to China. “Ocean tramp”
steamships are waiting to receive his merchandise, and within thirty or
forty days it may be sending up its grateful fragrance from tea tables
in the Mississippi Valley.
THE MODERN GROCER.
Nor has the enterprising retail grocer of to-day failed to catch the
spirit of this progress and keep even step with it. He has become the
Popular Food Provider, and his store represents about everything which
is palatable in either hemisphere or any zone. As the world has grown
enlightened and refined, his stock has become more and more varied and
better adapted to the wants of mankind, until it embraces every delicacy
of the land, sea or air.
His cunningly prepared sauces provoke the appetite and give zest to more
substantial articles, while they help also to digest them. He has food
fitted for the intellectual worker and for the laborer, for the invalid
and for the infant. He practically annihilates the seasons and furnishes
fruits and vegetables in mid-winter, as fresh and delicate as when first
plucked from their native stems or vines. And, moreover, all the goods
upon his sightly shelves are now put up in the most attractive, portable
and convenient form for family use.
Food Never Before so Low.
Nor would a day’s wages ever before purchase so much of food products.
In the English market, for the ten years from 1870 to 1880, the price of
wheat was forty-three per cent. higher than the average of 1886. Sugars
have fallen in price nearly one-half in ten years, and teas, coffee, and
many other articles are proportionately low.
This is due to improvements in machinery, increased transportation
facilities and the opening up of new and fertile sections of the earth,
under all of which the world’s supply of food has of late years been
greatly in excess of the world’s increase in population; and it is the
grocer who brings these advantages home to our families.
Food Adulteration.
There has long been an uneasy feeling lest many articles of food and
drink were not only mixed with substances which reduced their nutritive
value, but were also often colored with cumulative poisons, and
adulterated with substances injurious to health.
These fears have not been altogether groundless. There can be no doubt
that this monstrous crime has been practiced to some extent in respect
to certain articles. But, thanks to the diffusion of intelligence, the
teachings of science, the operation of law, the fear of detection and
punishment, and largely, also, by the refusal of conscientious grocers
to sell such unwholesome products; greedy and unscrupulous manufacturers
have been compelled to abandon their vicious practices, and noxious food
adulteration is now comparatively a rare crime.
Those who desire pure articles can almost always obtain them of a
reputable grocer by paying their value. But in order to supply the
demand for cheaper goods and meet competition, such articles as powdered
spices, etc., are extensively prepared, mixed with harmless substances,
and containing the largest quantity of pure material which can be
furnished at the price for which they are sold. Perhaps, also, such
articles are more economical in the using, and admixtures are sometimes
improvements.
Adulteration Laws.
Yet even this class of adulterated goods is objectionable, from the fact
that there are always dealers who will be tempted to sell them as
“Strictly pure,” thus defrauding the purchaser, out-reaching honest
rivals and losing their own self-respect. Probably, therefore, most of
the upright and leading grocers of the country would be glad to see wise
and effective general laws passed against food adulterations, under
which all could unite and be freed from unfair competition by the
unscrupulous. But laws which will protect both the health and the pocket
are difficult to frame and to execute without being sumptuary and
oppressive. The most effectual and probably the best laws of the kind in
this country at present are the enactments of Massachusetts, New York,
Ohio, New Jersey, and Michigan.
Less Adulteration than Commonly Supposed.
The general Government is also moving in the matter. Last year (1887)
three “Bulletins” were issued at Washington, which deal exhaustively
with current adulterations of dairy products, spices, etc., and
fermented beverages. These reports, made under direction of the
Commissioner of Agriculture, were prepared respectively by Messrs. H. W.
Wiley, C. Richardson, and C. A. Crampton, who state in substance that
they found certain articles extensively adulterated, but generally with
harmless materials.
The president of the N. Y. Microscopical Society states that many
members of that scientific body have looked into the alleged
adulterations of food products and find them not as general as many
suppose, and the adulterants found were in most cases harmless.
At the recent “Health Exhibition,” in England, Dr. Jas. Bell declared to
the Conference, that, “In most articles of food there has been a very
great improvement in recent years as regards adulterations,” and that
the “gross and deleterious adulterants formerly used have been
practically abandoned.” This accords also with the recently expressed
opinions of the eminent Dr. Hassall and of many scientific investigators
in this country.
Hints to Housekeepers.
As a rule, whole or unground articles are to be preferred to those which
are powdered; not only because they are less liable to adulteration, but
also because the latter more quickly lose flavor and strength.
This objection applies also to buying goods in large quantities of
wholesale dealers, for family use. This plan may appear to be
economical, but is generally disadvantageous both to buyer and seller.
Tea, aromatic and ground goods, and many other commodities often
deteriorate in quality before they are used. Servants who can dip their
hands into abundant supplies are apt to become more wasteful. If
articles so purchased do not prove suitable, it is more trouble to
exchange them than with the retail dealer who sells in smaller
quantities and is in daily contact with his customers. And, besides, an
honest man who studies the daily wants of the families of his community,
and adapts his business to supplying them with good articles in
convenient quantities and at fair prices, has a right to expect
consideration and encouragement from his friends and neighbors.
The Daily Food of a Model Man.
A healthy man, weighing, say, one hundred and fifty-four pounds,
consists of water one hundred and nine pounds, and of solid matter
forty-five pounds. His blood weighs about twelve pounds, or, when dry,
two pounds. The quantity of food substances he should consume every day,
and their relative proportions necessary to keep him vigorous and well,
are stated by Prof. Johnston to be about as follows:
lbs. oz.
Water 5 8-3/4
Albumen, fibrin, gluten, etc. 4-1/4
Starch, sugar, etc. 11-1/2
Fat 3-3/4
Common salt 3/4
Phosphates, potash salts, etc. 1/3
If for a time the proper balance of constituents is not preserved in the
food, even though the health may not appear affected, the laborer can do
less work, a frail constitution is engendered and the person becomes
more susceptible to disease.
Variety in Food.
If any constituent is deficient we must supply it; hence variety in food
is not only agreeable but necessary to health. Albumen, fibrin, casein
and gluten build up the muscles and tissues, while starch, sugar and fat
produce the warmth and energy of the body. The mineral substances are
necessary for the framework—the bones. Grains, fruits and vegetables
contain starch and sugar and more or less gluten; meats contain fibrin
and albumen; milk, casein, etc.
Beef and Bread
have the following composition:
Lean Wheaten
beef. Bread.
Water 77 40
Fibrin or gluten 19 7
Fat 3 1
Starch 0 50
Salt and other 1 2
minerals
―――― ――――
100 100
This shows that the main difference between beef and bread is that the
meat contains no starch, and nearly three times as much of the muscle
making fibrin as the proportion of gluten (which is similar in many
respects) in wheaten bread.
The water, climate, season, age, habits, etc., all have to do with the
choice of food we eat. Besides the quantity of nourishment contained in
the food, there is also the question of the ease and completeness with
which it can be digested and assimilated. It is not always fat eaters
who are the fattest.
Milk.
Woman’s milk is considered the type of human food when the conditions
approach that of the child, as the milk of the mother is the natural
food of all young animals. Milk partakes of the nature of both animal
and vegetable food. It contains:
Human Cow’s
milk. milk.
Water 89-1/2 87
Casein 1-2/8 4
Butter or milk fat 2-1/4 3-1/2
Sugar of milk 6-1/8 4-3/4
Salts or ash 1/4 3/4
――――――― ――――――
100 100
These are average analyses. The casein is equivalent to the gluten of
vegetables or the fibrin of meat, and the sugar to starch.
With these few general observations, let us pass on to consider in
detail the Grocer’s Goods.
THE CEREALS.
WHEAT.
The cereal grains consist of solidified vegetable milk, drawn from the
bosom of Mother Earth. But two of them all are used for making light and
spongy bread with yeast, and wheat has the universal preference because
it contains all the elements necessary to the growth and sustenance of
the body. It makes bread which is more inviting to the eye and more
agreeable to the taste. It is the highest type of vegetable food known
to mankind, and it is claimed that the most enlightened nations of
modern times owe their mental and bodily superiority to this great and
beneficent product.
There is little if any difference in the nutriment or value of spring
and winter wheat. Some prefer the one and some the other. Southern
raised wheat is apt to be drier than northern and will better stand the
effects of warm climates. Wheat varies in weight per bushel as the
season is wet or dry. The best is round, plump and smooth. It contains
about fifteen parts of water, sixty-five to seventy-five parts of
starch, and about ten parts of gluten. The average annual production of
wheat in the United States during the past eight years has been
448,815,699 bushels; an increase over the preceding ten years of
forty-four per cent., while the increase of population has been only
twenty-five per cent.
Wheaten Flour.
Wheat was formerly ground by mill stones, and the product bolted and
sifted into the different grades. But during the last twelve years, this
process has been largely superseded by the “Patent Roller” process of
crushing and separating the flour from the bran. This is a great
improvement over the old method; more flour is obtained from the wheat,
and it is whiter, contains more gluten, and is therefore stronger.
The first consideration is the color or whiteness; second, the quantity
of gluten the flour contains. The eye determines the first, and a hasty
test of the quantity and quality of the gluten may be made by squeezing
some of the flour into a lump in the hand. This lump will more closely
show the prints of the fingers, and will hold its form in handling with
considerable more tenacity if the flour is good, than if it is inferior
and deficient in gluten.
Grocers and bakers test flour by smoothing a little out on a board with
a knife or paper cutter, to see its color, and if it contains specks of
bran, etc., which may show that it has not been well bolted or
“dressed.” To determine the quantity and strength of the gluten, they
mix some of the flour with water, and judge by the tenacity of the
dough—the length to which it may be drawn out by the fingers, or spread
into a thin sheet.
Injury to flour is shown most quickly in the gluten, which may lose its
vitality. The gluten of good flour will swell to several times its bulk
under a gentle heat, and give off the pleasant odor of hot bread, while
the gluten from poor flour swells but little, becomes viscous or nearly
fluid, and smells disagreeably.
Points for Purchasers of Flour.
As starch is whiter than gluten, whiteness is therefore really no
indication of the sweetness and strength of flour; and, although flour
becomes whiter with age and will take up more water and make a whiter
loaf, many prefer freshly ground flour for family use, as being better
in flavor, while others claim that flour will “work better” if kept for
some time after grinding.
The brand or word “Patent” on packages of flour has come to signify, not
that the flour is really patented, but that it is or should be finest
quality. Fancy brands may mean little; they are put on at the whim of
the maker. Flour is rarely adulterated at present, but good and poor
grades are sometimes mixed. Inferior grades of flour are largely
exported, while the best are mainly used at home. Graham flour is ground
wheat from which the bran has not been removed.
Flour is put up in barrels of one hundred and ninety-six pounds net
weight, and in muslin sacks of various weights. Families everywhere
invariably want “the best,” and dealers often adopt the excellent plan
of buying quantities of some very choice and tried grade of flour and
selling it in convenient sized packages for family trade, under their
own brand and guarantee.
Corn or Maize.
This is one of the most beautiful of plants, and the Indians formerly
ascribed to it a Divine origin. Hiawatha watched by the grave of the
Spirit Mondamin,
“’Till at length a small green feather
From the earth shot slowly upward,
Then another and another,
And before the summer ended
Stood the maize in all its beauty,
With its shining robes about it,
And its long, soft, yellow tresses.”
Indian corn contains more oil or fat than any of the common cereals. It
will make as white and fine flour as wheat, but this does not make good
fermented bread, unless mixed with wheaten flour. CORN MEAL is
healthful, nutritious and cheap, but, owing to its fat, is prone to
attract oxygen and spoil, especially in warm weather. There are two
kinds, one WHITE, the other GOLDEN YELLOW. They are equally nutritious,
and about the same in price. Some prefer the one and some the other, but
probably the yellow is rather the most popular. The starch extracted
from corn is very extensively used throughout the country, and such
leading brands of CORN STARCH as those of Kingsford, Duryea, etc., are
well known. In fact, the consumption of all the products of corn is
enormous.
SAMP is corn deprived of its skin and eye and left whole or cracked in
halves. HOMINY is corn ground or cracked into coarse, medium or fine
grains, and pearled or polished. DRIED CORN, largely prepared by the
Shakers, is sweet corn boiled and dried. It is excellent and much used
as a vegetable.
Rye Flour.
Rye ranks next to wheat for bread making, and is equally nutritious. It
yields less flour and more bran than wheat, contains more sugar, and is
darker in color. Its gluten has less tenacity and it will not make as
light and spongy bread as wheat flour, hence is little used in this
country. Rye flour should contain a little of the bran, as this has a
pleasant, aromatic flavor. The “Black bread,” so extensively eaten in
portions of Europe, is made of rye flour. It is dark, heavy and sourish,
but like all rye bread, has the property of keeping moist a long time.
Two parts of wheat with one of rye flour makes wholesome and palatable
bread.
Barley.
This grain is less nutritious and less digestible than wheat, but
contains more sugar and more of the phosphates, and is also cooling. It
will not make good bread, but is sometimes used for the purpose, mixed
with wheaten flour.
PEARL BARLEY is the whole grain freed from its hulls like rice. It is
used in soups, etc., and is sold by all grocers. In the best qualities
the grains are large and well rounded. It is sold in bulk and in pound
packages.
Oatmeal.
Oats are substantial, nutritious and wholesome, being rich in gluten and
fat. Oatmeal for the table is made from kiln dried, large, white oats,
freed from the husks. Alone it does not make good bread. If long used as
a sole or chief food it is reputed to overtax the digestive organs, heat
the blood, and produce eruptions of the skin. Many claim, however, that
these effects are due solely to insufficient cooking of the meal or
porridge, and there are excellent preparations in market which have been
well cooked by steam and afterwards dried.
Besides these there are various brands of Scotch, Irish, Canadian and
American oatmeal, “Crushed,” “Rolled,” “Granulated,” etc., also oat
“AVENA,” “FARINA,” etc. GROATS are the whole kernels of oats deprived of
their husks. The consumption of oatmeal has vastly increased within five
or six years, and is rapidly becoming universal. Salt only _after_
cooking. If added before, salt tends to harden the meal and prevent its
swelling.
Buckwheat.
This grain may be classed with wheat as regards its nutritive qualities.
It contains thirteen or fourteen per cent. of water, about fifteen per
cent. of gluten, and sixty or sixty-five per cent. of starch. It will
not make good fermented bread, but its delicious cakes are an essential
and attractive feature upon American breakfast tables everywhere,
especially in cool weather. It is sold in bulk and is also put up in
three and six pound packages.
Rice.
Although this grain is the main food of one-third of the human race and
is very easily digested, it contains too little gluten and fat and too
much starch to be considered alone as a perfect food for man. Rice has a
slightly constipating effect but is an excellent and wholesome
occasional article of diet, and one which could not well be spared from
the family list. Rice is sold deprived of its husk. It is imported from
the East Indies, but the best is the fine, large head rice of the
Carolinas. As some of the most valuable qualities of rice dissolve out
in hot water, it should be steamed until tender, rather than boiled.
Farinaceous Foods.
These are very numerous and some of them are excellent. Among them may
be named the “CEREALINE FLAKES,” made from white corn; CRACKED and
CRUSHED WHEAT, WHEATEN GRITS, FARINA, which is the inner part of the
wheat granulated, SELF-RAISING, BUCKWHEAT and other FLOURS; “WHEATLET,”
“GRAINLET,” “GRANUM,” “FARINOSE,” “MAIZENA,” MANIOCA, INFANT FOOD, MILK
FOOD, ARROW ROOT, CORN STARCH of various makes, GRAHAM FLOUR, BOSTON
BROWN BREAD MIXTURES, etc. Many of these preparations are eaten with
milk, and prove valuable additions to the family diet.
SAGO is the pith of an Indian palm steeped in water until it becomes a
paste, then formed into little balls by rubbing it through a perforated
plate. The best is the whitest. TAPIOCA is the pith of the Manihot tree,
washed like sago, but granulated differently. Both are nutritious and
easily digested, and are made into puddings, often with fruit, and eaten
with milk or sauce.
Bread.
One hundred pounds of good, fine, wheaten flour will take up forty-five
pounds of water, and yield one hundred and forty-five pounds of bread.
The proper and legal weight of bread is while it is hot. A four pound
loaf loses in twenty-four hours one and one-quarter ounces; in
forty-eight hours five ounces; in seventy hours nine ounces. The
quantity of water which flour will absorb depends largely on the
proportion and quality of the gluten. The best flours absorb most, and
will take up more in dry than in wet seasons; hence a dry season is good
for the baker. Thorough kneading increases the absorption of water, and
should be continued until none of the dough will stick to the hand.
Feed for Stock.
Among the articles largely used as food for animals are the refuse
products of the various grains made in preparing them for human
consumption; as, for instance, the refuse left in the pearling of
barley, or in making hominy and samp; dried BARLEY SPROUTS from malt,
low grade flour; MIDDLINGS, which are a mixture of bran and flour; BRAN,
etc. Besides these, OATS, white, black and mixed, and vast quantities of
Southern and Western CORN are also used for stock, ground into coarse
meal.
Bread Raising Materials.
Fermentation, says Liebig, is not only the simplest and best, but
likewise the most economical way of making light and porous bread.
YEAST is a true fungous plant, which has the power of establishing
fermentation and changing starch into sugar, and the escaping gas makes
the loaf light and spongy. Hops prevent too great fermentation and
impart an agreeable flavor. BREWERS’ YEAST is largely used when
obtainable, and there are many domestic modes of preparing yeast from
potatoes, flour, etc.
DRIED YEAST.—But as all these fresh yeasts are liable to spoil and
affect the bread unpleasantly, there is an extensive demand for a yeast
which shall possess the same properties and which may be kept a long
time. Hence, the various brands of yeast cakes sold by the grocer. They
are made usually by adding corn meal to the yeast and carefully drying
the cakes in the sun. It is singular that a fall or sudden jar may
injure yeast cakes and deprive them largely of their qualities.
CREAM OF TARTAR, BI-CARBONATE OF SODA, BI-CARBONATE OF POTASH
(SALERATUS), are all used in bread making, and are to be had in all
sorts of packages of the grocer. Cream of tartar is tartrate of potash,
and is made from the argols found incrusted upon the inside of wine
barrels. It should be white, and not yellowish in tint. The effect of
these chemicals in raising bread is due chiefly to the liberation of the
carbonic acid gas they contain when mixed with water, incorporated with
the dough and put in the oven, and the great requisite is that they
should be pure and unadulterated.
BAKING POWDERS are much used for making light and palatable domestic
biscuits, etc. They are convenient, and generally lessen the quantity of
shortening required. They are made chiefly of tartaric acid and
bi-carbonate of soda, and should be neutral to the taste, and without
effervescence if either an acid or alkali is added. One popular variety,
called “Phosphatic Baking Powder,” consists of acid phosphate of lime
instead of cream of tartar, with soda.
Biscuits, Crackers, etc.
The word biscuit means twice baked, and is a survival from the ancient
mode of cooking the cakes which is now no longer in use. Plain biscuits
are said to be more nutritious than bread in the proportion of five to
three, and are most digestible when light and well browned in baking, so
as to turn much of the starch into dextrine. Sea biscuit or ship bread
is made simply of flour and water baked at a high heat. In the large
cracker bakeries the dough is mixed, rolled and cut by machinery and the
cakes travel on through patent ovens until baked, when they drop out
into baskets. Those made by hand are, however, considered best.
The variety of biscuits and crackers in market is utterly bewildering.
These are among the standards: BOSTON, SODA, BUTTER, OYSTER, SUGAR,
FRUIT, MILK, ENGLISH ALBERT, WATER, CREAM, GINGER, LEMON, OATMEAL,
CARAWAY, VANILLA, and dozens more kinds of biscuits, crackers and wafers
at various prices; besides GINGER and LEMON SNAPS and JUMBLES, and even
DOG BISCUIT. There is also CRACKER DUST, for frying oysters, fish, etc.
Some of the above come in handsome tin packages.
MACCARONI, VERMICELLI, SPAGHETTI.—These are all made from the dough of
the hardest and most glutenous Southern wheat, and the domestic are
inferior to the Italian or French. The best will merely swell and soften
after long boiling, and still retain its form. Maccaroni is in small
tubes, spaghetti in small stems, and vermicelli in threads or shreds.
Letters, stars, and other figures are also made from the same material
or paste; all are largely used in soups. EGG NOODLES are ribbon
maccaroni.
SUGAR AND THE SWEETS.
This necessity of modern life ranks as one of the most important
articles among the grocers’ goods. Two hundred years ago it was sold
chiefly by the apothecaries, but is now consumed in all parts of the
world to the extent of many millions of tons annually. Sugars have been
divided into four kinds, viz.: cane sugar, found in stems; grape sugar,
found in fruits; manna sugar, found in leaves; and milk or animal sugar.
There are many varieties of the sugar cane which contain from twelve to
twenty per cent. of sugar; these are cut, crushed, and the juice boiled
down and clarified with lime, etc.; the sugar crystallizes and leaves
the molasses. The sugar beet contains from seven to thirteen per cent.
of sugar, which, when raw, is unpleasant, but when refined is identical
with cane sugar. The fact that the molasses of the sugar beet, although
colorless, is very disagreeable, has retarded the beet sugar
manufacture, but it is a great and growing industry. The sap of the
sugar maple contains about two per cent. of MAPLE SUGAR, which is
identical with cane sugar, and may be made white, but is preferred
brown, as containing more of the rich maple flavor. About seven thousand
tons of maple sugar are annually made in the New England States. MAPLE
SYRUP is extensively sold by grocers in cans, bottles, etc.
GRAPE SUGAR OR GLUCOSE.—The sweetness of ripe fruits is due to the
starch which they contain, passing, under the ripening influence of
nature, into grape sugar. Substances may consist of the same elements,
but different proportions may greatly vary their properties. For
instance, starch and sugar consist merely of carbon and water. Grape
sugar contains more water than starch, and cane sugar more than grape
sugar.
Now, long boiling of starch in pure water produces little change upon
it; but it was found that if a little sulphuric acid is added, the
starch will take up more water and become entirely converted into grape
sugar. And this is substantially the way in which commercial glucose is
made. The acid is neutralized by lime, and the liquor boiled down into
solid grape sugar or syrup.
CANE SUGARS are sweeter than grape sugars in the proportion of five to
three; hence, three pounds of cane sugar are worth five pounds of grape
or starch sugar for sweetening purposes. This is the reason why grape
sugar is used to adulterate cane sugar, and it is the only adulterant
used at present to any extent.
One pound of water will dissolve three pounds of cane, but only one
pound of grape sugar. The latter has a gummy taste on the tongue and
dissolves slowly. A small grained sugar may carry some glucose and
perhaps escape detection, but the crystals of a large grained sugar will
always be brilliant in contrast with its contaminating ingredients, and
thus proclaim the fraud. In other words, inferior sugars have a dull
look, while good sugars are bright. Glucose sugars melt at one hundred
and five degrees, C., while cane sugars melt only when heated to one
hundred and thirty-seven degrees, C. Raw sugars are no longer used. They
should be refined to free them from the repulsive sugar mite and other
impurities. The best sugar is always the most economical.
THE BEST GRADES OF FAMILY SUGAR are the cut loaf, cubes and crushed.
Next in market value, in the order in which they stand, are powdered,
granulated, A sugars, C sugars, white, yellow, extra golden, etc., down
to common yellow.
SYRUPS.—These are the uncrystallized residue in refining brown sugars.
They are diluted, filtered through animal charcoal, and concentrated.
The lighter the color the higher the price. The better qualities are
called “Rock Candy Drips,” “Golden Drips,” etc.
MOLASSES.—The choicest are the New Orleans Fancy, Choice, Prime. Good,
etc., down through the same grades of Porto Rico, to the Cuba Muscovado.
The quality of molasses has deteriorated with improvements in the
manufacture of sugar on plantations, and it is sometimes sold mixed with
glucose.
HONEY.—Consists of eighty parts in a hundred of pure grape sugar with an
acid and aromatic principle. Spring honey is better than that made in
autumn, and that from clover or other fragrant flowers is better than
that of buckwheat.
Sugar Candies.
Whatever dangers may have lurked in confectionery in times past, parents
may now be assured that they can gratify the natural and healthy
appetite of their children for sweets, without fear of poisonous
colorings or harmful adulterants.
The “National Confectioners’ Association,” (an organization formed by a
large proportion of the leading manufacturing confectioners of the
United States,) “is pledged by its constitution and by-laws to prosecute
all parties using poisonous colorings, terra-alba, or other mineral
substances in the manufacture of confectionery.” They invite fathers and
others interested to report any supposed case of injury from eating
poisoned candy, and “offer a reward of one hundred dollars for evidence
that will enable them to convict the offender.” It is the opinion of the
editor of the _Weekly Confectioner_, and of many prominent manufacturing
confectioners in New York, as expressed to us, that in all the land
there is now no product of domestic manufacture and consumption which is
more free from poisonous colorings and injurious adulterants than
confectionery.
But more than this: in 1886 this association passed an amendment to its
constitution forbidding any member, under penalty of expulsion, to buy
or sell “any candy adulterated with flour, corn meal, starch, or
cerealine, except such amount of starch as is necessary to the
manufacture of gum goods and fig paste work.” Many confectioners,
however, think this action was ill advised.
Making Candy, etc.
Glucose or grape sugar now enters largely into the manufacture of many
kinds of confectionery, and harmless vegetable colors are used.
Manipulation breaks up the crystals of sugar and thereby renders it
whiter, and the difference in the price of candies is now largely due to
the amount of manipulation it receives. Few have an idea of the vast
quantities of confectionery manufactured. It amounts to many hundred
tons daily; much of it is made almost entirely by machinery, and the
business is divided. For instance, one firm makes only lozenges, another
gum drops, caramels or licorice, marshmellow, etc. Jobbers supply
retailers.
If synthetic or chemically prepared flavoring extracts are used, they
are such only as are guaranteed harmless.
French imported “Bon Bons” are still superior to the domestic, and so
are their candied violets; but rose leaves iced here are equal to the
imported. Licorice candies are having an increased demand yearly.
Cocoanut candy contains usually a large admixture of the harmless
cerealine. Space will not permit more than a reference to the great
variety of confections in market. Among them are stick and lump candies
in scallops and patties, with mottoes, etc., assorted and in various
colors; mixed candies in various forms and flavors, gum drops, lozenges,
white, red and assorted; rock candies, etc.
FAMILY BEVERAGES.
TEA.
This staple necessity of modern life is now consumed by more than five
hundred millions of people, and its use appears to grow with the growth
of civilization. There is but one species of the tea plant and its
varieties are due to differences of soil and climate. China alone
produces annually nearly a million and a half tons of tea; to say
nothing of the teas of Japan, Corea, Assam, and Java.
Effects of Tea.
Tea exhilarates without intoxicating; rouses the mind to increased
activity without reaction, while at the same time it soothes the body,
dispels headache, and counteracts the effects of fermented liquors and
narcotics. It lessens also the waste of the tissues under the labors of
life.
As an English authority says: “When the time has arrived to the old and
infirm, that the stomach can no longer digest enough of the ordinary
elements of food to keep up the waste of the system, and the size and
weight of the body begins to diminish, tea comes in as a medicine to
arrest this loss of tissue.” No wonder then that the aged, the infirm
and the poor should take kindly to tea. If supplies of food are scanty
it lessens the need for them, while it makes them feel more light and
cheerful, and contributes to their enjoyment.
Black and Green Teas.
Either may be prepared at will from the same leaves; the difference lies
in the mode of treatment. The earliest leaves are the tenderest and best
flavored; later gatherings grow more woody and bitter. Black teas are
spread in the air for some time after gathering, then roasted and rolled
by hand, again exposed to the air, whereby they undergo a slight degree
of fermentation, and finally are dried slowly over charcoal fires. The
leaves for green tea are, as soon as gathered, roasted a few minutes in
pans over a brisk fire, after which they are carefully rolled and
thoroughly dried.
Analysis of Tea by Dr. Hassall.
Black. Green.
Water 11.56 9.37
Tannin 15.24 18.69
Gum 5.70 5.89
Albuminous matter 15.55 24.39
Theine 2.53 2.79
Ash 5.82 5.38
Chlorophyle, etc. 5.24 1.83
Cellulose and other 38.36 31.66
matter insoluble in
water
―――――― ――――――
100.00 100.00
The aroma and commercial value of tea are due to a small quantity, (from
1/4 to 1 per cent.) of a volatile oil which it contains. This oil, as in
coffee, is developed by roasting, the fresh picked leaves having neither
an astringent, aromatic, nor bitter taste. But the effects of tea are
due to its theine and tannin. Theine is present in all kinds of tea, as
well as in coffee and cocoa, but it has no flavor. Tannin forms from a
fifth to a seventh of the weight of the dried tea leaf, and is the more
completely extracted the longer the tea is infused, or “draws.” Its
precise effect upon the system is not fully known. Black tea contains
less theine, essential oil, and tannin, than green tea.
The Chinese pour hot water upon their tea, and drink it clear, and in
Russia a squeeze of lemon takes the place of our cream. The Chinese
sometimes flavor their fine teas with the cowslip colored blossoms of
the sweet-scented olive and other odoriferous plants; and they also
adulterate them with foreign or exhausted tea leaves, or with tea dust,
called “Lie tea.” But good authorities declare that fair grades of tea
are not now much or necessarily adulterated, and that the old idea that
green teas are colored or faced with copper is erroneous; at least
experts have not been able to detect even traces of it.
Tea Made to Order.
There are tea coloring and facing establishments in this country which
use for the purpose substances very similar to those used by the
Chinese, and they have become so expert of late years that they can turn
a black tea into a green (or _vice versa_) at short notice.
Tea buyers judge quality by the aroma, flavor, and the color and
strength of the infusion. They detect vegetable adulterations by the
shape and size of the leaf when unrolled, and sometimes burn the leaves
and weigh the residue of ash.
Gunpowder, Hyson, and Imperial.
Some of the most experienced tea dealers in New York declare that there
is really no essential difference in the quality of the “Firsts” or
choicest grades of any “Chop” of either Gunpowder, Hyson, or Imperial,
the only difference being in the form or fineness of granulation. But
the popular preference in green tea is for Gunpowder, which is believed
to consist of the first leaves or leaf buds of the plant. It is graded
from “common” or “fair” up to “choicest.”
Varieties of Tea.
Hyson is a widely used green tea. The name is derived from He-chun, a
noted Chinese tea grower. Young Hyson is said to be made from the
earlier leaves; Imperials and Hysons from later gatherings. Hyson skin
is the light inferior leaves winnowed out. Twankay is the poorest of the
green, as Bohea is of the black teas. Pekoe is the best of black teas,
but is little used, except to give fragrance to mixtures. “Capers” is
used similarly to flavor green teas. Congou (made with care) and
Souchong are good black teas, and are the so-called “English Breakfast
Teas.” Moyune teas are considered as among the best and healthiest of
green teas, while Pingsuys are inferior. Cheap teas are most
adulterated. Fine teas are not only better in flavor, but are stronger
and go further.
Oolong teas have “the call” in popularity with the Americans just now
and they are recommended in sickness by the best physicians. There are
three kinds, the Formosa, Foo Chow, and Amoy. The first two are the
best. An article in the _London Daily News_, of February 18, 1888, avers
that the Chinese are growing neglectful in cultivating, firing, and
fermenting their teas, and that Japan is stealing away the green tea
trade of China, as India and Ceylon are taking that in black tea.
Japan Teas.
A. & A. Low, of New York, imported the first cargo of Japan tea about
twenty years ago, and since then its consumption has constantly
increased. The natural leaf is yellowish brown, and the first Japan teas
brought here were of that color. But the tint has changed. The
“uncolored” Japan tea is in fact now all colored with some substance
like the Chinese green teas, but not injuriously. The “Basket fired” is
the nearest to the uncolored leaf. The “Sun-dried” is very popular here,
and is but slightly colored. Expert tea tasters declare that Japan teas
are more exciting to the nerves than those from China.
Blended Teas.
New crop teas are the best. Japan teas come in June, and Chinese later,
say in July and August. Many prefer a mixture of green and black tea for
family use, and retail dealers often have the knack of so blending the
two that the excellence of each is enhanced. Such a combination has less
effect upon the nerves, and is less expensive than good green tea, while
it may be more delightful in flavor than either black or green tea
alone.
COFFEE.
Coffee has been aptly called the “Beverage of Intelligence.” It quickens
the functions of the brain, arouses all the intellectual faculties,
stimulates and gives clearness to thought and increases the powers of
judgment. It exhilarates the nervous system, counteracts the stupor
caused by fatigue, by disease, or by opium, allays hunger, retards the
waste of the tissues, fortifies the powers of endurance, and to a
certain extent gives to the weary and exhausted increased strength and
vigor, and a feeling of comfort and repose.
Both tea and coffee are more and more used in proportion to the
intellectual development of modern times. But coffee does not excite the
nervous system as greatly as tea and there is less reaction after it.
Coffee Better than Alcohol.
Coffee tends to lessen the desire for alcoholic drinks, and possesses
some of their properties without their bad effects. Alcohol is a false
and dangerous friend. Its free use enfeebles the vital organs, reduces
the power of resistance, degrades the mind and body and leads on to
poverty, disease, and death. Coffee produces the beneficial effects of
moderate doses of alcohol, without its injurious effects. It does not,
like alcohol, destroy the nerves, or invite immoderation, and even when
used to excess is incapable of doing serious injury.
The most temperate countries are those which consume most coffee, and in
the light of all these facts it would appear that efforts to extend and
increase the use of coffee tend to check or diminish alcoholism.
Coffee Growth and Production.
Coffee plants are raised from the seed, are set out in 12 months, 450
plants to the acre, begin to bear in 4 years, mature in 7 years, and
continue for 40 years. The flowers are white and fragrant; the fruit,
which grows in clusters, resembles a red cherry and contains two seeds,
which are the coffee of commerce.
The world’s total annual production of coffee is about 666,000 tons, of
which Brazil furnishes 360,000 tons. The entire population of the United
States averages to consume, per capita 7-42/100 lbs. of coffee yearly,
more than three-quarters of which comes from Brazil.
RAW COFFEE, unlike tea, improves in quality with age, while it shrinks
in weight, and inferior coffees may in time equal the choicest
varieties. The aroma is in the direct ratio of its drying by keeping.
Inferior coffees are uneven, often unclean. The large, uniform, dense,
heavy grains are preferred, as showing complete maturity and careful
selection. The color varies from all shades of yellow to tints of brown,
green, and bluish green. There are large establishments in one or more
eastern cities, which assort, color, and polish raw coffees. Much
Brazilian coffee is assorted and sold for Mocha, Java, etc. Real Mocha
is small, round, and dark yellow; Java and East Indian is larger and of
a paler yellow. Ceylon, Brazilian and West Indian have naturally a
bluish green or greenish grey tint.
ROASTING is necessary to develop the aroma and goodness of coffee. This
delicate operation changes its chemical composition and develops the
caffeine and volatile oil. If roasted too little the coffee retains a
raw taste; if too much, a part is changed to charcoal and much aroma
lost. The outside may be burned and the inside left raw, or some grains
may be half raw and others burned. Coffee loses in weight from 15 to 20
and even 25 per cent., and gains in bulk from 30 to 60 per cent.,
according as it is roasted to a reddish, chestnut, or dark brown. The
best roasting is that which reduces the weight about sixteen per cent.,
or to a light chestnut brown.
Coffee and Tea Compared.
Tea yields, weight for weight, twice as much caffeine (or theine) as
coffee; but as we use more in weight of the latter, a cup of coffee
contains about as much caffeine as a cup of tea. The composition of
roasted coffee and the tea leaf are given as follows, although the
proportions are variable:
Tea. Coffee.
Water 8 5
Theine or caffeine 2-1/2 3/4
Tannin 14 4
Essential oil 1/2 Trace.
Minor extractives 15 36
Insoluble organic 54-1/2 50
matter
Ash 5-1/2 4-1/4
―――――― ――――――
100 100
Modes of Making Coffee.
One pound of the properly roasted bean or berry should make 55 or 60
cups of good coffee. Coffee may be made too bitter, but it is impossible
to make it too fragrant. Coffee is much the best when freshly ground.
The French and many Americans merely steep or infuse their coffee at a
temperature just below the boiling point, claiming that boiling
dissipates the aroma; others bring it only to a boil; while others
still, hold that boiling it a little is more economical, as giving an
increased quantity of the soluble, exhilarating and bitter principles.
Soft water is best for coffee, and coffee is better cold than warmed
over, as it then loses its fragrance.
Coffee Substitutes and Adulterations.
Rye, beans, peas, acorns, carrots, turnips, dandelion root, burned
bread, and many similar substances have at times been used as
substitutes or adulterants for coffee. But as none of them contain
caffeine or the volatile aromatic oil, they cannot serve the same
physiological principle. Ground coffee is extensively adulterated, and
mainly with the much cheaper
Chicory or Wild Endive.
Roasting develops in this root an empyreumatic, volatile oil which
exercises upon the system some of the nerve-soothing, hunger-staying
effects of tea and coffee. A little chicory gives as dark a color and as
bitter a taste as a great deal of coffee. It is not unwholesome unless
taken in excess, when its effects are bad. It is a poor substitute for
coffee, but some people seem actually to prefer coffee which contains
chicory.
Tests for Adulterations.
If ground coffee cakes in the paper, or when pinched by the fingers, or
if, when a little is put into water, a part sinks while the rest swims,
and the water becomes immediately discolored, the coffee is probably
adulterated. The more caking and discoloration, the more chicory and the
less value.
There are numerous brands of ground coffee on the market, and some of
them are very popular and satisfactory. There are also various kinds of
“Extracts” and “Essences” of coffee, and even humble chicory may
sometimes be seen without disguise and nicely put up in yellow papers.
Cocoa and Chocolate.
The theobroma tree grows in Central and South America. The seeds of its
fruit, which are about the size of almonds, are gently roasted, deprived
of their husks and ground to a paste. This is COCOA. If this paste be
mixed with sugar and flavored with vanilla, bitter almonds, etc., it
forms the well known, delicious, and nourishing CHOCOLATE, which may
either be eaten as a confection or drank as a beverage. The husk, which
forms about 10 per cent. of the weight of the bean, is called “SHELLS,”
and used by invalids and others for making a light and delicate infusion
or tea.
The aroma of cocoa is due to an essential oil which is developed, as
with tea and coffee, by roasting. Its exhilarating principle,
theobromine, resembles theine. It contains a large percentage of fat, is
very rich and nutritious, and may be said to unite in itself the
inspiring properties of tea with the strength-giving qualities of milk.
Starch, as well as sugar, is sometimes added to cocoa and chocolate by
the manufacturers, and the practice is believed to be justified, owing
to their richness in oil and as better fitting them for digestion. Cocoa
is, however, also prepared free from starch and deprived of a portion of
its oil. There are many preparations of chocolate and cocoa in market,
and they embrace all grades of purity, sweetness and price.
DAIRY PRODUCTS.
Milk, Etc.
Milk is sophisticated by robbing it of its cream, or by adding to it
“The milk of the cow with the iron tail,” and by coloring it. CREAM
contains about 40 per cent. of fat and 55 per cent. of water; SKIMMED
MILK is water, with sugar and caseine. WHEY is merely a solution of milk
sugar with a little albumen. Milk is best and most plentiful in spring,
and richer but less abundant in dry seasons. The last milk drawn from
the cow contains most cream. KOUMISS, the use of which is rapidly
increasing, is well skimmed milk, treated with a lactic ferment for 30
or 40 hours. It is very easy of digestion. CONDENSED MILK is ordinary
milk evaporated so that three pints are reduced to one. It soon spoils
unless the air is excluded. PRESERVED MILK in cans contains about
one-third its weight of sugar.
Butter.
Good, fresh butter, contains 84 to 88 parts of milk fat, 10 or 12 parts
of moisture, and a little milk sugar, caseine and salt. inferior butter
may contain as much as 33 per cent. of water, or buttermilk, and salt.
The more buttermilk left in, the sooner the butter grows rancid, while
over-working tends to make it soft and oily. The melting of butter
changes its physical properties, and long exposure to the air injures
the best butter.
Good butter is solid and of a grained texture, has a fine orange yellow
color and a pleasant aroma. It may comfort the curious to know that its
odor is due to a very little butyric acid, combined with oxide of
lipyle. To test the quantity of moisture, put a little of the butter in
a bottle, heat gently, and leave near the fire for half an hour, when
the butter will rise, leaving the water and salt at the bottom.
Two-thirds of all the butter made is colored.
Classification of Butter.
The New York Mercantile Exchange classification, which is standard, is
as follows: EASTERN CREAMERY, SWEET CREAM CREAMERY, DAIRY BUTTER,
WESTERN CREAMERY, IMITATION CREAMERY, and DAIRY, also “LADLE” and
“GREASE BUTTER.”
CREAMERY BUTTER is the best. It is such as is made from the cream
obtained by setting the milk at the creamery, or by the system known as
“Cream gathering,” by which the farmer delivers his cream to the
creamery to be churned or made into butter. Butter made under the former
system, or from the milk, is better than that made from the gathered
cream. SWEET CREAM CREAMERY is made from unfermented cream.
DAIRY BUTTER is that which is made, salted, and packed by the dairyman
or farmer. Though often really excellent, it is less uniform in quality,
and therefore less reliable.
LADLE BUTTER.—This is butter of all seasons, ages, and qualities,
collected by the dealer, in rolls, lumps, or packages, from the farm
houses, salted, or unsalted, as the case may be, and by him reworked,
resalted, colored, and packed.
GRADES OF BUTTER.—The varieties are all graded again into “Extras,”
“Extra Firsts,” “Firsts,” “Seconds,” “Thirds,” etc. “EXTRAS” are the
choicest grades under each classification, and must come up to the
following standard. Flavor must be perfect if fresh made, and fine if
held; body perfect and uniform, color good for the season when made,
perfect and uniform; must be properly salted, and in good and uniform
packages. “EXTRA FIRSTS” must be a grade just below “Extras,” and fine
butter; good color, etc., etc. “FIRSTS” must be clean and sweet, sound
and good. “SECONDS” must be fair throughout, may be strong if held, on
tops and sides of package. “Thirds” may be off-flavored, etc. “Poor
Butter” may be strong, and of all grades below “Thirds” down to “Grease
Butter.”
Artificial Butter.
About 20 years ago a French chemist tried to imitate the process which
takes place when cows are underfed, and when, therefore, the butter they
yield is supplied from their own fat. His aim was to make a substitute
for butter for the poor, etc., which should be healthful, agreeable and
cheap, and which should keep a long time without becoming rancid. The
man’s name was Mege-Mouries, and he discovered OLEOMARGARINE. This
product has been, and is still extensively manufactured in the United
States, and is pronounced by some of the most eminent and scientific men
to be wholesome, nutritious and palatable.
OLEOMARGARINE is made from the fat of slaughtered cattle. This is melted
at a temperature of 150 deg. F., and the stearine extracted. The “Oleo
oil” which is left is now churned with cream or milk, colored and
salted.
BUTTERINE is made from oleo oil, neutral lard, and some butter. These
ingredients are churned with milk or cream, colored, salted and packed
in tubs. Refined cotton seed oil is also frequently used in the
manufacture of both products.
Oleomargarine Laws.
In 1886 Congress passed the “Oleomargarine Bill,” defining butter to be
an article made solely from milk and cream. It imposes a tax of two
cents per pound upon oleomargarine and similar butter substitutes,
compels their sale in certain sized packages, plainly marked or branded
with the name of their contents, and requires manufacturers and dealers
to take out special licenses, all under heavy penalties. Some of the
State laws, restricting the sale of oleomargarine, are still more
stringent, and its consumption has diminished, although it is still used
in some sections and extensively exported.
Cheese.
No article of food appears to be more affected than cheese by slight
variations of the materials from which it is made, or by such apparently
trifling differences in the methods of manufacture. Both full and
skimmed milk are used; the former yielding, of course, the best product.
The latter cheese is little used in this country. An English writer says
that if milk is skimmed for several days, “it yields a cheese so hard
that pigs grunt at it, dogs bark at it, but neither dare bite it.”
People’s tastes vary greatly in the flavor of cheese, and while some
prefer the natural tint, others buy that which is colored. Color adds
neither richness nor flavor, and is gradually falling into disuse.
Cheese as a Staple Food.
Some nations (as Great Britain, etc.,) consume cheese largely as a
staple food, while others use it more sparingly, and mainly as a
condiment or relish. Bread and cheese consort better with ale than with
whiskey and this country is not greatly given to cheese as a staple
food, although its consumption is increasing here, owing to recent
improvements in the modes of manufacture and in its quality. Two-thirds
of our total product now goes to Europe.
Analysis of Full and Skim Milk Cheese.
The composition of cheese is given as follows:
Rich Skim
cheese. milk
cheese.
Water 36 44
Casein 29 45
Milk fat 30-1/2 6
Salt and phosphates 4-1/2 5
Good and Poor Cheese.
Cheese dries fast and shrinks in weight; hence the grocer who sells it
in small quantities is compelled to charge a fair margin or advance upon
its cost to save himself from loss. The ordinary weight of American
cheeses is about 60 lbs., but smaller ones are growing in favor, and
many are now made weighing from 35 to 40 lbs. A grocer who has a good
class of custom soon realizes that our poor cheese takes the place of
several good ones, and it is his aim to secure a good and popular
quality and stick to it.
Facts About Cheese.
The best cheese is made from the rich June grasses, the poorest in the
heats of summer. June cheese is safest to keep, as the curds are then
scalded higher, to ensure that they will sustain the coming warm
weather. Cheese may be made for immediate use—and such will grow sharp
if long kept—or it may be so made as to keep a year or more with
constant improvement or ripening. It requires about ten pounds of milk
to make one pound of cheese.
“FILLED” CHEESE is made by substituting lard in place of the cream of
the milk. Ten pounds of such cheese contains about 1 pound of lard. This
product is largely made in some sections, and is chiefly sold in the
South or exported.
Classification of Cheese.
Cheese made in New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin has the first “Call”
in the New York Mercantile Exchange. “FANCY” must be full cream, perfect
in flavor, close made, well cured, of uniform color and perfect surface.
“FINE” is the next grade below—must be also full cream, clean flavor,
etc. “KNOWN MARKS” or FACTORY CHEESE may not be full cream. “WESTERN
CHEESE” “Shall include those of all States not mentioned above and shall
be classified as fancy, fine, and known marks, but they may not be full
cream.”
Imported Cheese.
SWISS CHEESE comes from Switzerland, and more of this is imported than
of all others combined. Next stands EDAM from Holland. The delicious
ROQUEFORT CHEESE, made in France, from ewes milk and kept in mountain
caves to ripen, stands third in the list of imported cheeses, and
PARMESAN stands fourth; it is made from skimmed milk, the curd hardened
by a gentle heat. This and SBRINZ cheese are used for soups—grated.
GORGONZOLA is a fine, rich, Italian cheese, each weighing about ten
pounds. Other good Italian cheeses are made from the milk of the buffalo
which feed on the Roman Campagna. STILTON is the finest of English
cheeses. It is made from full milk with added cream. It improves with
age, and is best when at least two years old. The CHEDDAR, CHESHIRE and
QUEEN’S ARMS are other varieties of good English cheese.
Eggs.
Eggs are cheap and substantial food. The white is mostly albumen, while
the yolk is two-thirds oil. Turkeys eggs are pronounced the best in
flavor. Guinea hens eggs are excellent, and keep well on account of
their thick shells. Goose eggs are larger, whiter, and less esteemed.
Duck eggs are bluish, and less desirable than hens eggs. Eight hens eggs
weigh a pound.
A fresh egg feels heavy in the hand and is semi-transparent before the
light. Its large end feels warm to the tongue. The older it is, the less
pleasant and nutritious it becomes. If it stands upright in water it is
bad; if obliquely it is not quite fresh. If it lies at the bottom it is
quite fresh. An egg begins to lose flavor a few hours after it has been
laid.
Lard.
Good, pure lard should be white, should melt without ebullition or
sputtering, be almost as clear and white as water, and not deposit any
sediment. It is composed of oleine 62 parts, stearine 65 parts. The fat
of the hog taken from around the kidneys and the layers over the ribs is
called “Leaf lard” and is better, firmer and will stand warm weather
better, than lard made from the entire fat of the animal.
LARD ADMIXTURES.—There is no complaint that lard is adulterated with
substances injurious to health; but in February, 1888, a leading lard
manufacturer testified before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, at
Washington, that seven-eighths of the lard now on the market is made
from the entire fat of the hog, refined and purified, and mixed with a
proportion of refined cotton seed oil and about 15 per cent. of
stearine, to give it hardness. This, he claimed, is preferred by the
public generally to strictly pure lard. The testimony of Prof.
Sharpless, of Boston, given at the same time and place, substantially
bore out this statement as to the ingredients used, although in the many
analyses of American lard made by him, he found some brands which were
absolutely pure hog products. Lard is sometimes adulterated with water,
but this may be easily detected by melting it, evaporating the water,
and reweighing.
Lard may be had in barrels, wooden and tin tubs and pails, and in one
pound tin cups. It is also retailed in bulk, like butter.
Fresh Meats and Poultry.
BEEF.—Good beef should be juicy, somewhat firm and elastic, velvety and
smooth grained to the touch, and “marbled” with little streaks, dots or
points of fat. The suet fat should be plentiful, white, firm, dry, and
crumbly; if the fat is yellow, oily, or fibrous, the beef is inferior.
MUTTON is wholesome, nutritious, and easily digested. The best is from a
plump, small boned animal, with abundant white, clear, solid fat. The
lean should be firm, dark red, and juicy, the leg bones clear, white,
and short. GOOD LAMB has hard, white fat and reddish bones.
PORK is best in fall and winter. The skin should be thin and pearly, the
lean a delicate red, juicy, firm, and finely grained, and the fat white.
If the fat is yellow and soft, the pork is inferior. Pork is dangerous
if not thoroughly cooked.
VEAL should be from a good sized, reasonably fat milk or stall fed calf,
five to ten weeks old. The fat should be firm and white, but not too
white; the meat finely grained, fairly firm, and juicy.
POULTRY.—Many farmers have found that it pays better to feed their grain
to poultry than to sell it by the bushel, and poultry is therefore much
more abundant, cheaper, and more widely consumed than ever before. The
dry-picked or unscalded has the preference in price. The best have short
legs and small bones, and are plump. If fresh, the eyes are bright and
full, the feet and legs moist and limber. If stale, poultry looks dark
and slimy. When chickens grow to be a year old they are called fowl; the
legs grow rougher, the skin fat and tougher, and the rear end of the
breast bone hard. A moderate sized TURKEY is more apt to be tender than
a very large one.
Smoked and Dried Meats and Fish.
HAMS, ETC.—The best are of medium size, weighing, say, from 8 to 14
pounds, plump, round, and the bone small. The shank should be short and
tapering, skin thin and not shriveled or wrinkled, and the fat white and
firm. To ascertain if ham has begun to spoil, thrust a skewer or knife
in at the side of the aitch bone and at the knuckle joint; if sound
there, it is good throughout. BACON.—This is the smoked flank. BREAKFAST
BACON, made from young pigs, is very delicate and palatable. BEEF
TONGUES are a delicacy, whether fresh, smoked, or pickled, hot or cold.
The best are thick, firm, and with plenty of fat on the under side of
the base.
DRIED COD.—This is an important grocers’ staple. The largest and best
are caught on the “Banks” or in the deep waters off the Eastern coast.
Some are sold whole and others are deprived of the back bone. Codfish is
also prepared for market by being boned, skinned, trimmed, and even
shredded. Other and inferior fish, such as Haddock, Hake, Pollock, etc.,
are often sold for cod, when salted, and especially when prepared as
above.
HERRING, smoked whole, or scaled and boneless, are widely consumed. The
freshest, fattest, and largest are best. Smoked SALMON, HALIBUT, and
STURGEON, are appetizing relishes for the summer tea table. There are
also EELS pickled in jelly. SARDELLES—small fish packed in highly salted
milk, smoked SPRATS, ANCHOVIES, etc.
Salt or Pickled Fish.
Mackerel have the front rank in this line, and there are few good tables
on which they do not occasionally appear. They are sold by the grocer in
barrels and fractions of barrels, in kits of 20, 15, and 10 pounds, in
tins, minus heads and tails, and by the single fish. The best are the
fattest, largest, and freshest of the current season. They should be
free from rust and soaked before cooking until all the brine is drawn
out. They can be afterwards salted, if necessary. They are graded as
“Extra” and “Fancy” “Shores” and “Bays,” and vary in size and fatness,
as numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4.
SALMON, ETC.—Both Halifax and Oregon salmon are pickled or salted, and
in demand in many sections of the country, and pickled SALMON BELLIES
are very fine. HERRING and COD are also to be had in brine.
Meat Essences and Extracts.
There are several varieties of these articles in liquids, pastes, and
solids. Some, at least, of them, without being true nutrients are
excellent as condiments, stimulants, and tonics for digestion. Meat
juices contain a substance called kreatine, which is similar in its
exhilarating properties to the peculiar principles of tea and coffee.
Fifty pounds of meat are said to be required to make one pound of
Liebig’s meat extract. These preparations are valuable additions to
other foods, but all that is needed for nourishment should be added to
them.
CANNED GOODS.
Until lately, man had done little more in preserving his food in a fresh
condition, than the squirrels which gather and store their nuts and
seeds in a warm, dry place. To be sure, he knew how to dry and smoke,
and the uses of salt and sugar. He had even tried to preserve his meats
and fruits in a fresh state; but his rude methods hardly foreshadowed
the splendid results which have recently been achieved in the line of
canned goods.
Excellence of American Canned Goods.
M. Appert, of France, first patented (in 1810) a process for preserving
animal and vegetable substances in close vessels of glass—after
subjecting them to the action of heat—and an English firm soon after
introduced provisions preserved in tin. But it was reserved for
Americans to lead the world, not only in the magnitude of their canning
industries, but also in the art of preserving meats, vegetables, and
fruits, by processes so delicate and effective, as to retain their
original shape and texture, as well as their freshness and flavor. And,
moreover, while they have practically prolonged the “Seasons” for
perishable food products throughout the entire year, and furnish them
for the consumer at very reasonable rates, the producer has often
thanked them for giving stability to prices in seasons of great “Gluts”
and abundance.
Varieties of Canned Goods.
Among canned goods, in glass or tin packages of various sizes, qualities
and prices, are the following:
Canned Meats.
CORNED BEEF, boiled; ROAST BEEF, BEEF A LA MODE, BOILED HAM, BOILED
TONGUE, ROAST MUTTON, ROAST VEAL, ROAST CHICKEN, ROAST TURKEY, BRAWN,
POTTED MEATS of all kinds; GAME PATES of WILD DUCK, GROUSE, PARTRIDGE,
PLOVER, WOODCOCK; BONED TURKEY AND CHICKEN, with jelly; CURRIED CHICKEN,
DEVILLED CHICKEN, TURKEY, HAM, PIG’S FEET, LAMB’S TONGUES, etc.
Canned Soups and Broths.
BEEF, CHICKEN, GREEN TURTLE, OXTAIL, JULIENNE, MOCK TURTLE, CONSOMME,
MACCARONI, VERMICELLI, PEA, MUTTON BROTH, etc.
Fish.
CLAMS, CLAM CHOWDER, ANCHOVIES, CRABS FRESH, CRABS DEVILLED, CODFISH
BALLS, MACKEREL FRESH, LOBSTER, OYSTERS, PRAWNS, SHRIMP, SALMON,
SARDINES, TROUT, TURTLE, KIPPERED HERRING, BLOATERS, etc.
Canned Vegetables.
ASPARAGUS, Baked, Lima, and String BEANS, GREEN CORN, MUSHROOMS, OKRA,
ONIONS, PEAS, PUMPKIN, SQUASH, SUCCOTASH, SPINACH, RHUBARB, etc.
Canned Fruits.
APPLES, APRICOTS, BLACKBERRIES, BLUEBERRIES, CHERRIES, GRAPES,
GOOSEBERRIES, PEACHES, PEARS, PLUMS, PINEAPPLES, QUINCES, RASPBERRIES,
STRAWBERRIES, etc.
Canned Sundries.
Besides the above, there are “Heaps” of canned delicacies, such, for
instance, as TRUFFLES, TRUFFLE PATES, TRUFFLE DU PERIGORD, in tins and
glass, PLUM PUDDINGS, PLUM PUDDING SAUCES, etc.
Some of the French vegetables in glass and tin are beautifully green in
appearance, but it is evident that they are artificially colored. A more
wholesome device is to put the articles up in the intensely green
bottles sometimes seen.
THE TIN CANS.—Tin is mainly used for canned goods, and is the least
objectionable of all the metals, and better than anything probably,
except glass. It does not oxidize easily, and if it does, its soluble
salts are less injurious than those of any other available metal.
Jellies, Preserves, etc.
Jellies are made from nearly all the fruits by mixing their juices with
sugar, and often with gelatine or isinglass, (four parts of which will
convert 100 parts of water into a tremulous jelly) and boiling them
down. Jellies are wholesome, cooling, and grateful, provided they are
free from adulterations and noxious colorings, and are much used upon
the tea table and in the sick room. Among the varieties of jelly in the
market are APPLE, CRAB APPLE, BLACKBERRY, CURRANT, GRAPE, LEMON, GUAVA,
ORANGE, QUINCE, RASPBERRY, STRAWBERRY, etc. They come in tumblers and
jars, and in bulk. There are also CALVES’ FOOT, WINE and SPIRIT jellies.
PRESERVES.—All the above fruits are preserved in sugar, and put up in
quart and pint jars. CHERRIES, PEACHES, PEARS, etc., are also preserved
in BRANDY, and sold in glass jars. There is also a great variety of JAMS
and MARMALADES, both foreign and domestic; GINGER ROOT, boiled in syrup,
etc. FRUIT BUTTER is made from various fruits, as, Apple, Cranberry,
Peach, Pear, or Raspberry, etc., by stewing them in sugar or molasses.
It is usually sold from pails by the pound, and is much used in some
sections.
Flavoring Extracts and Essences.
The delicate flavors of fruit and the fragrant principles of spice and
other substances, as vanilla, etc., are extracted by pressure or
distillation, and dissolved in spirits of wine for culinary purposes. It
is found also, that certain ethers and oils may be so combined (as, for
instance, potato oil) as to yield the taste and smell of many fruits,
such as pears, apples, grapes, pineapples, etc. Flavoring extracts and
essences are variously put up in vials and bottles; among them are
LEMON, VANILLA, ROSE, ALMOND, PEACH, CELERY, GINGER, CLOVES, NUTMEG,
STRAWBERRY, RASPBERRY, PINEAPPLE, NECTARINE, etc.
ISINGLASS AND GELATINE are used to make jellies, and thicken soups and
gravies. Isinglass is made from the intestines of fish. Its advantages
over gelatine are lighter color, less flavor, and greater thickening
power. In cold water it softens, swells, becomes white and opaque. In
hot water it smells a little fishy. Gelatine is made from the bones of
animals; it also swells in cold water, but becomes glassy and
transparent, while in hot water it has somewhat the smell of glue. It is
often sold for isinglass. The test of both is in the fineness and
clearness of their jelly. CALVES’ FOOT JELLY is delicate, but less firm.
Gelatine is sold in sheets and shreds.
HERBS for seasoning, as, SAGE, SUMMER SAVORY, SWEET MARJORAM, THYME,
etc., are sold in the leaf, and also powdered, in tins and paper
packets.
Spices and Condiments.
Spices are generally understood to be more aromatic and fragrant and
less pungent than what are called condiments. Spices are usually added
to sweetened food, while condiments, as pepper and mustard, are better
suited to meats and food containing salt.
It is impossible to supply genuine articles if the public are not
willing to pay for them, and it may be accepted as a general rule, that
the lower the price of ground spices and condiments, the more they are
adulterated. The materials chiefly used for this purpose are starch,
cracker dust and similar harmless substances, and the mixture usually
contains as much of the pure material as can reasonably be afforded at
the price it sells for. The purchaser may elect whether he will have
such articles, or those which are genuine at a higher cost. The grocer
does not create wants and demands; he merely supplies them.
PEPPER.—There are two kinds, black and white. Both are from the seeds of
the _piper nigrum_, a plant which grows in the East and West Indies.
BLACK PEPPER is the seed picked before it is fully ripe, dried and
ground. WHITE PEPPER is made from the ripened seed deprived of its black
outer shell or pericarp. Pepper is an agreeable addition to many kinds
of food, and is said to promote the secretion of the gastric juice; it
is more used than any other spice.
CAYENNE PEPPER is the powdered pod of one or more species of capsicum.
The sharp taste is due to a camphor like substance found more in the
pods than in the seeds.
MUSTARD.—This is the flour of the black or white mustard seed. The black
seed contains most volatile oil, is more pungent, and differs from the
white in chemical composition. The two are blended in various
proportions. Wheat flour is often added, with a little turmeric to bring
up the color. Mustard seed contains over 30 per cent. of a fixed oil,
and a portion of this is often extracted. This practice is considered
beneficial rather than fraudulent.
GINGER.—This is the root-stalk of a plant which grows in Jamaica and
other warm countries. The best comes with the skin scraped off. This is
ground. The odor of ginger is due to an essential oil; its pungency to a
peculiar resin. It is sometimes adulterated with starch, sago, rice, and
wheat flour, mustard hulls, cayenne pepper, etc. But, as with all the
other spices, there are pure brands.
CLOVES are the dried flower buds of the clove tree. They come from the
East Indies, Africa, and South America, ranking in value in the order
named. The best contain as much as 16 per cent. of a volatile oil to
which their flavor is due. Ground cloves have sometimes a portion of
this oil pressed out, with pimento or allspice added, which latter is
much less costly. Cloves are best when large, plump, bright in tint, and
full of oil, which exudes on pressure with the finger nail.
ALLSPICE OR PIMENTO is the little, round berry of an evergreen tree,
common in the West Indies. It contains about 4 per cent. of an aromatic
oil. Owing to its cheapness, it is less adulterated than other spices.
CINNAMON is the true bark of a small evergreen tree of Ceylon. The best
is very thin, the outer and inner coats of the bark having been removed.
CASSIA is the bark of another species of cinnamon tree; it is thicker,
corky, and not so red. It is cheap and not much adulterated. It is often
sold for cinnamon, but is less aromatic and valuable. CASSIA BUDS are
the unripe buds of the same tree.
NUTMEGS AND MACE.—Nutmegs are the seeds of the _Myristica Fragrans_, a
tree which grows in the East Indies. Good nutmegs feel heavy in the
hand, and are not worm eaten. They contain about 8 per cent. of volatile
oil, and 25 per cent. of fixed oil, which exudes under indentation or
pressure with the finger nail. Most people buy whole nutmegs and the
ground article has only a limited sale. MACE is the arillus or coating
of the nutmeg, and is also sold whole or unground.
CURRY POWDER.—This compound of spices, etc., is much used in India and
other hot countries, as an appetizer and stimulant to digestion. There
are several excellent brands of curry powder in market, both English and
American, made approximately after some one of the following five
receipts:
Proportions.
Turmeric 6 4 6 3 2
Black pepper 5 4 2 2 1/2
Cayenne 1 1 0 3/4 6
Ginger 0 2 3 0 1/2
Fenugreek 3 2 0 1 1/2
Cummin seed 3 2 2 4 0
Coriander seed 0 6 8 12 6
Cardamom seed 0 0 1/2 1/2 0
Pimento 0 0 1/2 1/4 1/4
Cinnamon 0 0 0 1/4 1/4
Cloves 0 0 0 1/4 1
Nutmeg 0 0 0 0 1/2
Salt.
COMMON SALT varies in purity and sometimes contains salts of lime,
magnesia, and potash. But as those are more soluble in water than common
salt, it is easy to remove them in the process of manufacture. Our
culinary salt comes from several sources; rock salt deposits or mines,
sea water, and salt springs.
There are numerous brands of salt which are freed from all impurity,
ground to various degrees of fineness, and put up in barrels, sacks,
bags and packets of all sizes; also in stone jars.
CELERY SALT is good common salt mingled with the finely ground seeds of
celery.
Besides the finer qualities for table use, there are varieties specially
adapted for salting and pickling meats, fish, etc.; lump rock salt for
cattle, hay salt, etc. The bitter salts of lime, magnesia, etc., attract
moisture more than common salt, hence dryness is a sign of purity.
Vinegar.
The sour principle is acetic acid, of which good vinegar contains about
four per cent. Vinegar may be obtained by fermentation from the juice of
any starchy or sweet fruit or vegetable, from beer, or even from
sweetened water, to which “mother” or other vinegar is added. Cider
vinegar is most used, as it retains the fruity flavor of the apple, but
good vinegar is also made from wine, malt, oranges, raspberries, etc.
There are many varieties in market, both domestic and foreign. Stringent
laws regulate the purity and strength of vinegar for domestic uses, in
New York and some other states.
Pickles.
These are fruits and vegetables preserved in vinegar, after first
steeping them in brine. Certain articles require to be pickled in
scalding hot vinegar, others with cold; salt, pepper and spices are
added to suit the taste. Pickles were formerly extensively colored green
with copper, but the ghastly practice has gone out of date. Intelligent
people will prefer those which have the more natural and wholesome
yellowish, olive green tint. There are all sorts of pickles in market,
put up in glass or wood packages of various sizes, as follows:
CUCUMBERS and GHERKINS, CHOW CHOW, CAULIFLOWER, ONIONS, MANGOES,
PICALILLI, WALNUTS, PEPPERS, HORSERADISH, MIXED PICKLES, and SWEET
PICKLES. Among the best of imported pickles are the reliable Cross and
Blackwell goods; some domestic brands are perhaps equally good. OLIVES
are in brine, usually in wide-mouthed glass jars. They come from Italy,
Spain, and France. The “Queen,” “Crescent,” etc., are favorite brands.
There are also French CAPERS, so important as an accompaniment for
boiled mutton, etc.
SALAD OIL.—The best is the oil of the OLIVE, which, when pure, is of
pale, greenish yellow tint, with an agreeable odor and taste. Refined
COTTONSEED OIL has naturally a more reddish tint. It is extensively sold
as olive oil or mixed with it, although many grocers keep the genuine
olive oil. SALAD DRESSINGS are also in market, some of which are very
fine and delicate.
Sauces.
These articles give zest to food and stimulate digestion. Their
composition is very varied and embraces many fruits and vegetables, as
the tomato, walnut, garlic, shallot; many herbs, as tarragon, chervill,
mint, thyme, marjoram; many condiments, as cayenne, black pepper,
mustard, and all the spices; many fish, as lobsters, oysters, clams,
shrimp, anchovies; the juices of meat, besides salt, sugar, molasses,
etc.
PEPPER SAUCE is made from the little Jamaica peppers, the Mexican, Chili
pepper, or some other variety of red or green pepper. There are numerous
brands, and nearly all are good. The TABASCO PEPPER SAUCE is excellent.
TOMATO CATSUP OR KETCHUP is a very wholesome and agreeable addition to
the diet. Among the best and most popular varieties is the “SHREWSBURY”
TOMATO KETCHUP. Mushroom and Walnut Catsups are less used, but still
have many friends.
Among the dainty and well known SAUCES, are the WORCESTERSHIRE,
LEICESTERSHIRE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, SULTANA, PICCADILLY, CHUTNEE, SOHO,
HARVEY, NORTH OF ENGLAND, etc. There are also various American sauces,
some of which are imitations of the above or very similar in composition
and flavor. Some of the English sauces are put up in elegant and
artistic vases.
DOMESTIC FRUITS AND BERRIES.
The increasing excellence, abundance and cheapness of fruits and berries
is full of promise for the health and vigor of the American people. They
are wholesome, cooling and nutritious.
APPLES.—This noble fruit is in market the year round; new Southern
apples are first marketed in April. APRICOTS are a fine small fruit
which ripens in July. CHERRIES reach us from the South in May.
NECTARINES come in August. PEACHES are at the height of their season in
August and September. Early in the latter month they should be secured
for preserving. PEARS.—The choicest are the Dutchess, Bartlett and
Virgalieu. CALIFORNIA PEARS are excellent and widely sold through the
country. PLUMS ripen in August, and are in season until October. QUINCE
is a highly flavored fruit, used only for preserves. GRAPES.—Besides our
own abundant and delicious Muscat, Concord, Isabella, Catawba, and other
varieties, three-quarters of a million barrels of the hardy and cooling
white Almeria grapes are annually imported at New York. They were
formerly a costly luxury, but are now abundant and cheap, and will keep
through the winter.
STRAWBERRIES.—The season opens with shipments from Florida early in
March, and closes six months later with the product of the far North.
RASPBERRIES come in June and continue until August. BLACKBERRIES ripen
early in July, and are very healthful. CURRANTS ripen in July and
continue until September; they are white, red and black, and are
wholesome and cooling. GOOSEBERRIES may be had red, yellow, green and
white. They are much used unripe, for cooking purposes. CRANBERRIES
begin to reach market from Cape Cod, New Jersey, etc., about September
first. The largest and darkest are the best. They are healthful and an
almost indispensable adjunct to roast turkey, etc.; are also used for
sauces, tarts, and pies.
Tropical Fruits.
The increased knowledge in regard to the excellence and healthfulness of
these fruits has, within a few years, greatly enlarged the demand for
them, and they are now sold at moderate prices in almost every city and
town in the land.
ORANGES.—Those from Florida and California are richer and of finer
flavor, while the Mediterranean variety are thin skinned, juicy, hardy,
and will keep longer. That region sends us annually a million boxes of
oranges, and the annual product of Florida and California is two million
boxes. Havana oranges are not as good as they used to be, but twenty
thousand barrels come to New York yearly from Cuba.
LEMONS.—A million and a half boxes of lemons are consumed yearly in this
country, most of which come from Sicily, but lemon culture is increasing
in Florida. Lemons vary much more in price than oranges, as a heated
term or unusual sickness increases the consumption.
BANANAS AND OTHER FRUITS.—There are two varieties, the red from Cuba,
and the yellow from Jamaica and the Spanish Main. The latter are the
better. Bananas are in market all the year, but the season is from March
to August. PINEAPPLES are exquisitely flavored fruit, much used sliced
for the tea table. The season is from May to August. COCOANUTS are used
grated, for making pies and puddings; they are delicious, but rather
indigestible. DESSICATED COCOANUT is the meat of cocoanuts ground and
dried, and mixed with powdered sugar; sometimes, also, rice, flour, or
corn starch is added. It comes in packets, cans, etc.
FRESH VEGETABLES.
In the Spring and Summer months the appetite craves fresh vegetables;
and their free use, especially in those seasons, will be found excellent
for the general health of the family. Spinach, for instance, is said to
be beneficial in kidney complaints; Dandelion greens are good for
biliousness; Tomatoes act upon the liver; Celery upon the nerves; Onion
soup restores a debilitated stomach, etc., etc. In fact, it would be
easy thus to go through the whole vegetable list and find each one
possessing some special mission of healthfulness.
Where Early Vegetables Come From.
The Bermudas send annually about $400,000 worth of potatoes, onions,
beets and tomatoes to New York, during the months of March, April and
May. Florida garden produce finds its way North very early in the
Spring, and later, in regular order, Georgia, South and North Carolina,
and Virginia, wheel into line with their numerous productions, until,
finally, our home gardeners have their season. During all this time our
vegetables on sale are improving in freshness as they are drawn from
sources nearer home, and prices are falling.
The Varieties.
POTATOES.—The heavier ones are more mealy and nutritious than those
which are waxy and soft. There are many favorite varieties. Some are
early but less mealy, others prolific but lacking in flavor, etc.—hence
prices vary. SWEET POTATOES.—There are two varieties—the red and
yellow—with but little difference in price. CABBAGE.—A standard
vegetable the year round; the heaviest are the best. CAULIFLOWER, best
from April to December; the large, creamy white, solid heads are
preferred; dark or soft spots indicate staleness. ONIONS are very
nutritious; their powerful odor is due to a strong smelling, volatile,
sulphurized oil. There are the white or silver skinned, yellow and red.
Spanish Onions are milder, and much eaten raw. GARLIC, a pungent species
of the onion tribe, and very healthful; used for flavoring. LEEKS and
CHIVES are allies of the onion. Leeks have large leaves, a thick stalk
and small root; Chives, used as salads, have small, spine-like leaves.
CARROTS, TURNIPS, BEETS and PARSNIPS are standard vegetables to be had
throughout the year; frost improves the latter.
ASPARAGUS.—A choice and health giving vegetable. Season begins in March,
and it grows fibrous in July. CELERY is improved by frost, and is in its
prime and cheapest during the winter months, after which it becomes
tougher and stringy. CUCUMBERS.—A pleasant, cooling vegetable, but
difficult of digestion, and containing little nourishment. TOMATOES are
excellent food for people with weak stomachs or liver difficulties; is a
vegetable that could ill be spared. Millions of bushels are canned every
year, and if properly put up are nearly as good as the fresh article.
PEAS.—The smaller varieties are best, should be purchased in the pods,
which should be cool, crisp and green. A black spot on the pea indicates
that it is too old to be at its best. BEANS, shelled and string.—The
former embrace the Lima sorts. The Neapolitan or snap is considered best
of the String beans. GREEN CORN comes from the South in May, and the
home supply lasts till October. Ears should be well filled and milky,
and not too old. Green sweet corn is the best.
RHUBARB.—Much used for sauce and pies. The leaves are said to contain
oxalic acid, and must not be eaten. RADISH, said to be difficult of
digestion itself, but helps to digest other food. There are two
varieties, the small bulbous, or round, and the long. ARTICHOKE, a tuber
like the potato; is pickled, used as a salad and as a vegetable.
SQUASH.—The summer squash is in market from April to September. Winter
squash is more substantial but less delicate. OYSTER PLANT has a grassy
top, and a long, tapering, white root like a carrot; its flavor suggests
that of oysters. EGG PLANT, called GUINEA SQUASH at the South, should be
firm, hard, and rather under ripe, it also tastes somewhat like an
oyster; the large, purple, oval shaped, is the better variety. OKRA or
GUMBO.—The green seed pods are much esteemed for soups and stews,
especially in the South, and are growing in favor at the North. The long
green variety is considered best. LETTUCE, SPINACH, BRUSSELS SPROUTS,
KALE, BEET-TOPS, DANDELION LEAVES, ETC., are used as salads and for
greens.
MELONS.—MUSK-MELON, the stronger the musk odor, the finer it is; but if
it appears quite ripe all over, it is over ripe and decomposing. If it
has no odor, it is only fit for cattle. WATER-MELON, if pressed near its
center, should yield a little, and the indentation disappear when the
finger is removed. If no indent can be made, the melon is too green, if
the depression remains, the melon is over ripe.
BEANS, PEAS, and LENTILS.—These leguminous seeds are very nutritious and
palatable, and rank high among strength-giving foods. They contain
vegetable casein in place of gluten, and hence are not suitable for
making bread; all these articles are more digestible if eaten with fat,
and the American staple dish of Pork and Beans is really the marriage of
two articles which agree very well with each other. Dried PEAS, split,
or ground into meal, are much used for soups. LENTILS, which are round
seeds like flattened peas, are excellent used as a vegetable, but are
comparatively little known. The most popular varieties of the white
beans are the Marrow, Kidney and Pea beans. There are also _Frijoles_ or
black beans, Lima beans, etc.
DRIED FRUITS.
The chief consideration with articles in this line is, that they should
be as fresh as possible, and free from vermin and traces of vermin.
Worms in dried fruits are never in sight, even though they may swarm
below the surface. DRIED APPLES should be light colored, plump and acid.
Evaporated fruit (by the Alden process, etc.) is preferred to sun-dried.
It is often bleached in the fumes of sulphurous acid, which has a
tendency to keep the fruit free from worms, and does not injure the
flavor. DRIED PEACHES should be pealed, clear and dark. DRIED PLUMS
should be pitted, clear and bright. DRIED BERRIES—the chief danger is
from worms.
Raisins.
Raisins are dried grapes. The finest are the Dehesa “Layers;” next are
the CLUSTER, or BUNCH raisins, and the “LOOSE,” which are without stems.
They are better in proportion to the number of crowns in the brand, as
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Crowns. The small seedless raisins are called “SULTANA,”
and come from Smyrna. VALENCIAS are the common cooking raisins.
CALIFORNIA RAISINS (Muscatel) are excellent, very fast growing in
popular favor, and are the coming summer raisin. The best raisins are of
the “Last crop.” Age tends to crystallize the grape sugar in raisins,
and they are also liable to the attacks of vermin.
DRIED CURRANTS are the small dried grapes of the Ionian Islands. The
“_Vostizza_” come in cases, and are considered better in proportion as
they are larger in size. There are a number of varieties of currants.
They should be bright and clean.
FIGS are said to be easier of digestion than any other dried sweet
fruit, and are slightly laxative. “_Eleme_,” signifies superior, or hand
picked. Generally the last crop “Layers” (as distinguished from those in
kegs) are the best; they should be fresh, moist, thin skinned,
semi-transparent, and free from vermin. There are many varieties, and
they are put up in all sorts of packages.
PRUNES are dried plums, or “French plums,” as they are sometimes called.
They are extensively raised in the valley of the Loire, in France; also
in Germany, and about Bosnia, in Turkey. California prunes are also
excellent, and very popular wherever they are known. The largest and
freshest prunes are the best. They come in bottles, tins, bags, boxes
and casks.
DATES.—This “Bread of the Desert” is the sun-dried fruit of the date
palm, and is both nourishing and palatable. Dates were formerly packed
in frails, but now come usually in boxes. Among the best varieties of
Persian and Egyptian dates are the “Hallowee” and the “_Sair_;” some are
large, yellow, moist, and little wrinkled, others are smaller, dark in
color, with small pits; some are very sweet and insipid, and others
almost aromatic in flavor.
TAMARINDS are the pods of a tree, growing in the East and West Indies,
gathered when ripe, and preserved in sugar or molasses. They are acid,
pleasant, healthful, and cooling. They come in bottles, stone jars and
kegs.
NUTS.
ALMONDS are of two kinds, the sweet and bitter; the latter are only used
for making extracts. Among the edible varieties are the Tarragona,
Valencia, “Jordan,” a corruption of _Jardin_ (garden), etc. There are
hard, soft, and “paper shell” almonds, and almond meats freed from their
shells. FILBERTS are cultivated hazel nuts and come mainly from Sicily.
PECANS come from Texas. WALNUTS from Italy, France, and Chili. BRAZIL
NUTS grow along the Amazon in clusters on high trees. They are oily and
rich. PEANUTS come from Virginia, and CHESTNUTS from Italy and our own
Northern States.
TOBACCO.
The active principle of tobacco is the alkaloid nicotine, but it cannot
be said that the effects of tobacco are solely due to this substance,
for some varieties, as the Syrian, etc., contains little or no nicotine,
yet are considered strong. The quantity of nicotine varies much in
tobacco, or from one-half of one per cent. to eight per cent. As a rule,
the finer the quality and flavor, the less nicotine the tobacco
contains.
There are many varieties of tobacco, as those of Virginia, Kentucky,
Maryland, etc., which are used mainly for chewing, while the Cuban,
Turkish, Connecticut, Sumatra, etc., are considered better for cigars.
All these tobaccos may vary again in species, as, for instance, there
are the Orinoco, Cienfuegos, White Stem, One Sucker, Isabella, White
Barley, Fiji Orinoco, Cubani, and many others. Havana or Cuban tobacco
has long held the palm over all the world for making the most
exquisitely flavored cigars. The aromatic principles on which its value
depends can only be developed under a warm, moist climate.
Chewing Tobacco
Is used both in the “PLUG” form and as “FINE CUT,” and in some
localities preference is given to the one, while little of the other is
sold. The New England and some of the Western States take their chewing
tobacco largely in plugs, while the Middle States take more kindly to
the fine cut. Detroit has a national reputation for the manufacture of
fine cut tobaccos, which are extensively sold in tin foil and paper
packages, and in bulk, in pails, etc. There are many hundreds of brands
of chewing tobacco, both plug and fine cut. Some are the natural leaf,
while others are sweetened; so that the most diversified tastes may be
satisfied.
Smoking Tobacco.
North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky are foremost among the States in
the manufacture of the smoking tobaccos, which are almost infinite in
variety and sold in all sorts of packages. Among them are the “Long” and
“Short cut,” “Navy Clippings,” “Granulated,” “Nigger Head,” “Sweet Spun
Roll,” “Golden Cavendish,” “Durham,” “Fruits and Flowers,” “Seal of
North Carolina,” “Seal of Virginia,” and many others, besides imported
varieties, as Persian, Latakia, Havana, etc. In addition to smoking
tobaccos, many grocers keep a full assortment of PIPES, from the common
clay up, through all kinds of briar and applewood pipes to the genuine
meerschaum goods of every style and quality.
Cigars.
The value of a cigar depends not only on the quality of the leaf, but
largely also on the mode of manufacture. If rolled too hard or too
loosely, it will burn badly.
Why a Cigar Should Burn Well.
The best burning leaves must be used for wraps; if not, the air has no
access to the inside burning parts, and the empyreumatical substances
are volatilized without being decomposed. Such cigars make much smoke
and smell disagreeably. If the cigar burns well, more of the nicotine is
consumed and decomposed. Cigars, therefore, which contain little
nicotine and burn poorly, are more narcotic in their effects than well
burning cigars which contain a greater quantity of nicotine. Hence, the
leaves of the Connecticut or “Seed leaf” tobacco, which burn freely and
well, are much used for wrappers for cigars filled with Havana tobacco.
Within recent years, however, the handsome leaved Sumatra tobacco is
quite largely used for wrappers upon medium priced cigars, as it burns
better than Cuban tobacco.
Quality of Cigars.
The real excellence of a very high-priced cigar is not in proportion to
its cost, which depends largely on its size and the fancy of the buyer.
For instance, a 50-cent cigar will burn no better nor be much, if any
more fragrant than a 25-cent cigar. It may be larger, and the large
Havana leaves, free from veins and suitable for use as wrappers for
fine, large cigars are so scarce and high, as to enhance their cost out
of all proportion to that of an equally well flavored, though smaller
cigar. In fact, 10 or 15 cents should procure as good a medium sized
cigar as average people care to smoke. The dude’s dollar cigar is not
much, if any better, except as fancy makes it so.
Many of the 5-cent cigars sold so extensively, contain a large
proportion of Havana tobacco, and make a fairly fragrant and pleasant
smoke. It is said that there are upwards of 100,000 open and proprietary
brands of cigars on the market.
CIGARETTES.—The sale of these little paper tubes filled with tobacco,
has grown enormously within a few years and is still increasing. It is
whispered that the ladies even, sometimes seek to find in them a whiff
of the solace and comfort their brothers and husbands find in the pipe
or cigar. There are many favorite brands on the market.
SNUFF.—This article which is made from the stems and refuse of the
tobacco, or largely so, is comparatively little used in this country;
but in some sections, and especially in the South it is sold to a
considerable extent. It comes in bulk and in jars, bottles, bladders,
and packets. Among the varieties are “Carolina Sweet” and plain Scotch
Snuff, Maccaboy and coarse French Rappee, scented or plain.
SOAP.
Soap is made by boiling down oils or fats in a water solution of caustic
soda or potash. Through the acid properties of the fats, the oleine,
stearine, margarine, etc., which they contain, combine with the alkali
to produce the saponified compound.
Hard soap is made with soda; soft soap with potash. The more oleine in
the fat, the softer the soap; the more stearine the harder. Rosin is
also largely used, sometimes to the extent of one-third the weight of
the soap. It increases its hardness, makes it dissolve easier in water
and forms a more copious lather.
The Most Economical Soap.
Soap may be two-thirds water and still remain solid. Even dry, hard soap
contains 20 or 25 per cent. of moisture. An excess of water causes soap
to waste or dissolve too freely in use; hence, as soap is perpetually
losing water by evaporation, the most economical to buy is that with
some age and moderately dry, yet not so much dried that it will not
dissolve readily and make a good lather or suds.
Effects of Strong Soap on Fabrics.
Soap must not be strong enough to injure fabrics or discharge colors,
yet sufficiently powerful to render grease and dirt soluble, so that it
may be washed away in water. Rosin soap hardens the fibers of wool, and
alkalies, if used to excess, shrink woolen fabrics. Hard water, or that
containing lime or magnesia, more or less decomposes soap, and it floats
on the surface as a greasy scum. But if an oily film rises to the top of
soft water, it shows that the fat in the soap is not all saponified.
Soft water is better than hard for fabrics.
What Soaps Are Made Of.
COMMON YELLOW BAR SOAP contains soda with fat and rosin. WHITE SOAP
consists of tallow and soda. CASTILE SOAP is made of olive oil and soda.
COMMON FANCY SOAPS are mainly ordinary soap colored and scented. Real
BROWN WINDSOR SOAP is made of goat tallow, olive oil and soda.
TRANSPARENT SOAPS are those which have been dissolved in alcohol. FINE
TOILET SOAPS are made with as little alkali as possible, of almond, palm
or olive oil, suet, lard, etc., colored and perfumed.
SHAVING SOAPS and CREAMS are made either with soda or potash, of fine
tallow or cocoanut oil, which has the property of making a strong
lather. MOTTLED SOAPS owe their variegations of color to the use of iron
oxides. It is said that these cannot be effectively applied if the soap
contains an excess of water, and that more skill is required to make
good blue mottled soap than any other. The more any soap is worked over,
or remelted, cooled, etc., the better it becomes.
A Wide Range of Choice.
There is a great variety of soaps upon the market, and language has been
ransacked to find appropriate names for them. Among them are “FAMILY,”
“LAUNDRY,” “IVORY,” “BEST SOAP,” “ELECTRIC,” “OZONE,” “BORAX,” “SAND
SOAP,” “SILVER SOAP,” “SAPOLIO,” etc., and many scouring and detergent
articles, as “PEARLINE,” “SOAPINE,” “SCOURENE,” “WASHING COMPOUND,”
“WASHING CRYSTAL,” etc.
In Toilet Soaps there is an equally wide range of choice, embracing
every color and variegation of color, and every perfume that is
agreeable to the smell. Soaps are also charged with disinfecting
substances, as carbolic acid, etc., and variously medicated with
sulphur, camphor, glycerine, and other materials for softening and
healing the skin.
STARCH.
Laundry starch is mostly made from corn. The grain is crushed and
fermented to a degree, when the starch is washed out and allowed to
settle in large vats. The best qualities are washed and settled again
and again; the number of washings grading the strength, purity and cost.
Potato starch is more costly than corn starch, and, as it gives a softer
finish to fabrics, is chiefly used by manufacturers. Corn starch for
culinary purposes is thoroughly washed, purified and deodorized. Laundry
starch should never be eaten.
The best laundry starch is in large, hard, flinty crystals; such
indicate a stronger starch, containing less moisture than that with
small or soft crystals. Laundry starch comes in bulk or boxes, and in
paper packages. There are many fancy proprietary brands of starch, as
“IVORY,” “IVORINE,” “GLOSS,” “SATIN GLOSS,” “SILVER GLOSS,” “GLOSS
POLISH,” “ELASTIC,” etc. Some of them are powdered, and contain borax,
wax, or gum, etc., and are scented with winter-green, etc. Such come
higher than the better grades of laundry starch in crystals, but it is a
question if they are proportionately superior for family use. STARCH
POLISHES are preparations of spermaceti, wax, or paraffine.
Blueing (Laundry).
This article may be had in balls, powders, or in a liquid form. There
are a goodly number of proprietary brands, some of which give a tint
which appears somewhat greenish when placed by the side of a pure and
delicate blue. The coloring principle is usually indigo, Prussian blue,
or the favorite ultramarine. The most satisfactory laundry blueing is
that which is really and intensely blue in tint, and which is most
completely soluble in water, so that it will be well distributed and not
make the clothes look streaked.
Candles.
In some sections, candles form an important article of trade. They are
now made in a great variety of exquisite tints by the use of analine
colors of various sizes and weights, and with patent self-fitting ends.
The more costly kinds are made of spermaceti, wax, stearine, paraffine,
etc., down to the pressed, adamantine, and common tallow candles. Some
carry embossed and handsome decalcomania decorations and are either
white, blue, green, pink, yellow, red, etc., or assorted. There are
“BOUDOIR,” “PIANO,” “CLEOPATRA,” “CABLE,” and “FLAG” candles, wax “NIGHT
LIGHTS,” “CHRISTMAS TREE CANDLES,” and wax “GAS LIGHTERS,” warranted not
to drip.
BRUSHES.—No domestic article is in more common use than the brush in its
various forms. The best bristles come from the wild hog of Russia and
Poland. The whitest and finest are used for paint, tooth, hat, hair, and
clothes brushes. Some brushes are made with one tuft only, like the
paint brush, others with many. The best are “Wire drawn;” that is, the
tufts are bent double to form loops through which wires are passed, to
draw and hold them firmly into the holes of the base. Others have the
tufts wedged or glued in. Brushes are made with long and short handles,
and of every conceivable form and quality, from “Sink scrubs” upward.
BROOMS.—The finer the corn the better the broom. A natural green color
indicates toughness and flexibility, and such corn is better than that
which is of a sickly yellow or lemon color. But the latter is often
given the desired green tint by artificial colorings. Plain or unpainted
handles are best, good brooms weigh 25 to 30 pounds to the dozen, but
extra large and heavy ones are made weighing 40 to 50 pounds.
WASHBOARDS.—There are fifty or more varieties of these “Monday Morning
Pianos.” Metal scrubbers are preferred to wood, which is liable to
splinter, wound the fingers, and tear the clothes. And a plain crimp is
better for fabrics than a rougher crimp, although the latter may extract
the dirt quicker. A favorite variety have adjustable chest protectors.
CLOTHES PINS are of two kinds, the old fashioned and the spring clasp.
The latter are little used.
MOPS.—There are two kinds in the stores; one of twisted twine, which is
generally thought to be most durable, the other of cotton and less
expensive.
STOVE POLISH.—This is chiefly plumbago or black lead. Among the favorite
brands are “DIXON,” “RISING SUN,” “A. B. C.,” etc. There is also a
liquid preparation or “Enamel,” said to give a good polish without dust
or smell, and with little labor.
BLACKING.—The best is that which will, without injury to the leather,
most easily and quickly give a handsome and durable polish. Besides the
excellent domestic varieties, there are the French Marcerou, and
Jacquot’s, in tin boxes, which are reliable and but little more
expensive, and the old time Day & Martin’s blacking in stone jugs. For
ladies’ use there are many domestic and imported SHOE DRESSINGS in
liquid form, which require no rubbing.
MATCHES.—Common sulphur matches are made both square and round, and come
packed in various kinds of boxes and papers. PARLOR MATCHES, of
American, Swedish, and other foreign manufacture, are made without
sulphur; and chloride of potash, antimony, etc., are often used instead
of phosphorus. The splints are sometimes soaked in oil or paraffine to
make them burn freely. SAFETY MATCHES have the phosphorus on sand paper
and the other materials on the ends of the splints, and neither can be
ignited except by friction with the other. There are many kinds of WAX
TAPERS, “FLAMING LIGHTS,” etc.
SEEDS.—The raising of seeds has become a large industry. Leading
producers make careful tests of all their seeds, and even offer valuable
prizes for the best vegetables and flowers grown from them. Some grocers
lay in every season a fresh and full supply of all the seeds used in the
garden or field, and they are almost always reliable.
BIRDSEED, FOOD, ETC.—Canary seed comes both in bulk and pound packages,
either alone or mixed with millet, German rape seed, etc.; many packages
contain a piece of cuttle fish bone. There are BIRD GRAVEL, BIRD PEPPER,
MOCKING BIRD FOOD in bottles, etc.
INSECT POWDER.—There are a number of these vegetable preparations which
are effective, if genuine and unadulterated, as the PERSIAN, BUHACH (or
Californian), DALMATIAN, etc.
DISINFECTANTS.—Chloride of Lime in various sized packages of tin and
paper, and various liquid preparations in bottles and kegs, are put up
for domestic use.
PAILS.—Ordinary water pails have either 2 or 3 hoops. Those not painted
on the inside are preferred. Wood pulp pails give good satisfaction, and
a new pail with sunken hoops is just coming into market.
Grocers’ Sundries.
Among other articles sometimes kept by the grocer, may be mentioned:
Irish Moss, Anatto and other butter colorings, Licorice, Chewing Gum,
Fruit Juices, Hops, Rennet, Ink, Paper and Pens, Pencils, Slates,
Mucilage, Playing Cards, Beeswax, Cement, Concentrated Potash, Lye,
Lime, Chalk, Oils, Kerosene, Dyes, Paints dry and mixed; Rosin, Tar,
Turpentine, White Lead, Varnishes, Indigo, Glue, Putty, Powder, Shot,
Caps, Wads, Axle Grease, Curry Combs, Condition Powders, Can Openers,
Cordage, Coffee Mills, Bath Brick, Polishing Powder, Wick, Baskets,
Boxes in Nests, Tubs, Dippers, Measures, Lemon Squeezers, Mouse Traps,
Sieves, Feather Dusters, Rolling Pins, Ax Handles, Tacks, Crockery,
Glass and Stone Ware, Borax, Bay Rum, Ammonia, Sponges, Camphor, Sal
Soda, Perfumes, Plasters, Fly Killer Paper, Witch Hazel, and a great
variety of standard drugs and proprietary medicines.
WINES AND LIQUORS.
While there are some grocers who, for various reasons do not handle
these products, there are also many who keep for the family use of their
customers a full line of choice wines, malt beverages, and distilled
liquors. This work would therefore be incomplete without reference to
these articles, and it is believed that the few facts given below
concerning them will be found interesting and instructive.
WINES.
Pure wine is merely grape juice fermented. When the sugar of the grape
is wholly or nearly converted by fermentation into natural vinous
spirits or alcohol, the result is a STILL or DRY WINE. If the sugar is
very abundant, as in overripe grapes, and a considerable portion of it
remains unfermented, a SWEET WINE like Tokay or Malmsey is produced.
When fermentation has proceeded to a certain stage and the liquid is
bottled, so that it continues to ferment and produce carbonic acid gas,
the result is an effervescent wine, as SPARKLING CHAMPAGNE. If, during
fermentation, the process be arrested by the addition of alcohol,
certain vegetable substances are retained in the liquid, and such wines
as PORT and SHERRY are the product.
Composition of Wines.
Wines, as well as all varieties of malt and spirituous liquors, owe
their intoxicating qualities to alcohol. But the medical and dietetic
qualities of wine are not solely due to it; a mixture of water and
alcohol, or whiskey of equal strength, has a very different effect on
the animal economy. Pure wines contain also natural acids, sugar,
ethers, albumen, phosphates, etc. Their value is, however, mainly
determined by their “Bouquet” or flavor, produced by substances natural
to the grapes, heightened and rendered more delicate by fermentation.
Alcohol and Acids in Wine.
The quantity of alcohol in natural wine from grapes, varies between 5
and 12 per cent.; the quantity of free acid from 3 to 7 per cent. If
more of the latter be present, the wine tastes excessively sour, and is
less easily digested; but some acid in wine is essential, and
contributes much to its flavor and virtues. Besides the natural acids
which exist in the juice of the grape, cheap and inferior wines often
contain, also, the hurtful acids of spoiling, showing the approach to
vinegar.
WINES OF THE WORLD.
France.
Even a bird’s-eye glance at the wines of the world, might easily fill a
volume. There are the superb French wines of Burgundy and Champagne,
which ancient Provinces are now almost one splendid, continuous
vineyard; and the Clarets, Sauternes, etc. of Bordeaux and Languedoc.
Medoc and Haut Medoc are known to wine lovers everywhere, for here are
the famous vineyards of the Chateau Lafitte, owned by Baron Rothschild;
the Chateaux Margaux, Latour, and many others.
The Wines of Germany.
The principal wine districts of Germany are the valleys of the Rhine and
Moselle and their tributaries, whence come the well known Hock and the
red and white wines, which, though sometimes rather thin and deficient
in flavor, are never colored, plastered, boiled, or have spirits added
to them, and are therefore natural and wholesome. Here also is the
renowned Johannisberg Castle vineyard, owned by the family of Prince
Meternich. Every bottle of this wine bears his family arms, and it is
the beverage of Emperors and Kings. By reason of its exquisite “Bouquet”
it is pronounced “The finest and costliest drink on earth.”
Wines of Hungary, Italy, Spain, etc.
Hungary sends forth her “Imperial” opal-tinted Tokay wines, made of
overripe grapes, from which the juices are never squeezed but allowed to
drop; other Hungarian wines are as dry as those of France, as mellow as
those of Germany, and more fragrant than the choicest of Spain. Italy,
Spain and Portugal produce wines of much repute, but neither of the
latter two countries make sparkling wines; they supply Sherry and Port
which generally have spirits added to them.
American Wines.
The wines of California and other sections of the United States are
rapidly rising in popular estimation, and the time is probably not far
distant when they will rival those of any part of the world. The
consumption of domestic vintages increases with the constant improvement
in their quality, which follows the slowly acquired knowledge, as to the
best methods of turning the luscious juices of our own abundant grapes
into wine.
Champagne.
The French make four varieties of champagne, viz.: NON-MOUSSEUX,
CREMANT, MOUSSEUX, and GRAND-MOUSSEUX. The first is fully fermented
wine, fined, drawn into bottles, and allowed to rest a long time.
CREMANT is moderately sparkling. MOUSSEUX throws out its cork with an
audible report and begins gently to overflow. GRAND-MOUSSEUX pops out
the cork with a loud noise and overflows with much foam, as it has the
pressure of five atmospheres. A sound, rather dry champagne is said to
be one of the best of remedies for impaired digestion.
Good and Poor Champagne.
Good champagne throws up for a long time after being opened a continuous
stream of small, sparkling bubbles of gas:
“Each sunset ray, that mixed by chance
With the wine’s diamond, showed
How sunbeams may be taught to dance.”
Even after hours of exposure, when it has lost all its excess of
carbonic acid, good champagne still retains the characteristic flavor of
true wine, while an inferior sparkling wine becomes, after exposure,
almost as insipid as a mixture of sugar and water. The best are made
from the first pressings of the grape. Those made from a third, fourth
or fifth pressing require the addition of sugar and are cloying and far
inferior in flavor. Imitation champagnes are made by sweetening any
ordinary still wines or cider and charging them with carbonic acid gas.
MALT LIQUORS.
Malt liquors, properly so called, should be made only of malted barley,
hops, yeast and water, but other materials are also used. PORTER is a
beer of a high percentage of alcohol and made from malt dried at a high
temperature, which gives it its dark color. ALE is pale beer with
considerable alcohol and made of pale malt, with more hop extract than
porter.
As every per cent. of sugar in the malt yields by fermentation about
half a per cent. of alcohol, it is evident that ale, porter, and lager
beer are stronger or weaker, as more or less malt is used in making
them.
ALCOHOL IN BEERS.
BEERS are stimulating from their alcohol and refreshing from their
carbonic acid, besides being tonic and somewhat nutritive. The oil of
the hops gives them aroma and the lupulin they contain soothes the
nerves. Their taste is vinous, sweetish, and bitter at the same time.
The quantity of alcohol in malt liquors was given by Prof. Englehardt,
as the result of analyses made for the N. Y. State Board of Health, in
1885, as follows.
Per cent
of
alcohol
by
weight.
Lager, average 192 samples 3.754
Ale “ 199 samples 4.622
Porter ” 70 samples 4.462
Weiss Beer “ 28 samples 2.356
Beer Adulterations.
It has been popularly supposed that beer is much adulterated. But the
result of many analyses made by Mr. C. A. Crampton, for the Department
of Agriculture at Washington, last year, show him “That beer is as free
from adulteration as most other articles of consumption, and more so
than some.” The analyst found that, practically, no foreign bitters
other than hops were used; but he also found that nearly one quarter of
the samples analyzed contained, as a preservative, the unwholesome
salicylic acid. This powerful drug is also largely used in the
manufacture of cheap wines, etc., and the practice should be rigidly
prohibited.
GINGER ALE is made by fermenting sweetened water, to which extract of
ginger has been added, to such a degree as to generate carbonic acid gas
and become effervescent. It is a healthful and agreeable beverage,
containing some alcohol and being slightly stimulant.
GOOD CIDER contains 3 to 5 per cent. of alcohol. It is made from the
fermented juice of apples. Many grown people acquired their fondness for
cider on the “Old Farm” in childhood. It is sold by grocers in bulk, and
is also bottled extensively and sold as “Champagne cider,” and quite
often as champagne.
DISTILLED LIQUORS.
The disagreeable taste of freshly distilled ardent spirits is due to the
presence of fusil oil and other empyreumatic substances, which time
alone can transform into harmless ethers which smell and taste
agreeably, and produce an exhilaration over and above that of the
alcohol which holds them in solution. Spirits can be distilled from any
vegetable matter which will yield alcohol, yet many substances yield
only a rasping, nauseous or flavorless liquor, which age does not
improve. To some of these products, artificial flavors and color are
given and the imitation articles are thus placed on the market. But true
whiskey, brandy, etc., have a specific and original flavor of their own,
and contain vegetable oils and acids.
Alcohol in Liquors.
The following table shows the proportion of alcohol (by volume) in the
various liquors.
Volume of
Alcohol,
per
cent.
Cognac Brandy 55 to 70
Arrack, made from 60 to 61
Rice
Whiskey, American 60
“ Scotch 50 to 51
” Irish 50
Rum 49-7
Gin 47-8
BRANDY.—This is made from wine; that from white grapes is preferred and
it requires about seven bottles of wine to make one of brandy. Even the
best Cognac is burning and rough until kept for two or three years, and
it improves with increased age, until, when thirty or forty years old,
it develops a flavor somewhat similar to that of vanilla.
WHISKEY is a spirit distilled either from fermented malt, rye, barley,
oats, wheat or corn. The very best and sweetest grain is only used for
making good whiskey. American whiskey is more easily obtained pure than
perhaps any spirituous liquor and is therefore more reliable in this
country. The name whiskey is a corruption of the Erse and Irish word
_Usquebaugh_, “Water of Life,” the French _Eau de Vie_.
RUM is made from distilled molasses and skimmings from the boiling
sugar.
GIN is distilled from unmalted grain, the product being rectified and
flavored with juniper berries.
Favorite Brands.
CHAMPAGNES come in quarts and pints, _Sec_ or “Dry,” “Extra Dry,” etc.
Among favorite Brands are those of Heidsieck, Mumm, Roederer, Cliquot,
Bouché, Morizet, Pommery, Delbeck, etc.; the AMERICAN Champagnes of
California, Urbanna, Pleasant Valley, etc., besides various imitation
sparkling wines. Among favorite CLARETS are St. Julien, Medoc, St.
Emillion, St. Estephe, Floirac, Pontet Canet, Chateaux Margaux, Lafitte,
La Rose, etc.; also the SAUTERNES and WHITE WINES of Graves; Barsac,
Chateaux, Yquem, Latour, etc. There are the Johannisberger, Hockheimer,
Rüdesheimer, Marcobrunner of the RHINE; the ITALIEN Capri, Falerno and
Chianti; Port, Sherry and Madeira of various brands; and Claret, Port,
Sherry, Muscatel, Angelica, Tokay, and other vintages of AMERICAN MAKE.
CORDIALS include Anisette, Benedictine, Curaçao, Chartreuse, Maraschino,
Kirschwasser, Kummel, Chocolate, Ginger, Raspberry, Rock and Rye, and
Absynthe. There are Ales, Porter, Stout, Lager Beer, Peach and Apple
cider, Orgeat, Soda and Sarsaparilla. Favorite Brandies are those of
Otard, Hennessy, Martelle, Robin, Seignette, Dupin, and good California
Brandy; also Blackberry, Cherry, Ginger, Peach and Cider Brandies.
Besides scores of fine AMERICAN WHISKEYS, there are the SCOTCH Thistle
and IRISH Cruiskeen Lawn; Old Tom, London, Holland and Geneva GINS; St.
Croix, Jamaica and N. E. RUMS. Many Grocers keep also a supply of
NATURAL and ARTIFICIAL MINERAL WATERS, as the Congress, Hathorn, etc.,
of Saratoga; Carlsbad, Seltzer, Clysmic, Vichy, Apollonaris, Williams
Quelle, Lithia, Hunyadi; and a variety of Bitter Waters.
Transcriber’s Notes
Printed Corrected Page
Tarter Tartar 3 Cream of Tartar
Marmelades Marmalades 3 Marmalades
molases molasses 5 molasses and whale oil.
SELF-RAISING SELF-RAISING, 14 wheat granulated, SELF-RAISING,
VERMICILLI VERMICELLI 17 VERMICELLI, SPAGHETTI.
disagreeble disagreeable 18 is very disagreeable,
peeple people 27 but some people seem
FIRSTS’ FIRSTS” 30 FIRSTS” must be a grade
semi transparent semi-transparent 33 and is semi-transparent before
exhilerating exhilarating 36 its exhilarating properties
piminto pimento 41 oil pressed out, with pimento
unground unground. 41 sold whole or unground.
potatoe potato 47 tuber like the potato;
crystalize crystallize 49 crystallize the grape sugar
Seives Sieves 58 Sieves, Feather Dusters,
Lauguedoc Languedoc 60 of Bordeaux and Languedoc.
Margeaux Margaux 60 Margaux, Latour, and many
unwholsome unwholesome 62 unwholesome salicylic acid.
heathful healthful 63 It is a healthful and
Cogñac Cognac 63 Cognac Brandy
Cogñac Cognac 64 Cognac is burning and rough
Heidseick Heidsieck 64 are those of Heidsieck, Mumm
Rudescheimer Rüdesheimer 64 Rüdesheimer, Marcobrunner of the
Curaçoa Curaçao 64 Benedictine, Curaçao, Chartreuse
Kirchwasser Kirshwasser 64 Maraschino, Kirschwasser, Kummel
Chocolat Chocolate 64 Chocolate, Ginger, Raspberry,
ariety variety 64 variety of Bitter Waters.
On page 59, under Grocers’ Sundries, two newlines and a blank line were
removed before “Borax”.
Some irregular spellings have been retained.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Grocers' Goods - A Family Guide to the Purchase of Flour, Sugar, Tea, Coffee, - Spices, Canned Goods, Cigars, Wines, and All Other Articles - Usually Found in American Grocery Stores" ***
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