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Page 35
A class of extreme Grahamites in this country decry the use of salt, as
well as of any form of animal food; and I may add that the expression of
their thought in both written and spoken speech is as savorless as their
diet.
Salt exists, as we have already found, in the blood: the craving for it is
a universal instinct, even buffaloes making long journeys across the
plains to the salt-licks; and its use not only gives character to insipid
food, but increases the flow of the gastric juice.
Black pepper, if used profusely as is often done in American cooking,
becomes an irritant, and produces indigestion. Red pepper, or cayenne, on
the contrary, is a useful stimulant at times; but, as with mustard, any
over-use irritates the lining of the stomach.
So with spices and sweet herbs. There should be only such use of them as
will flavor well, delicately, and almost imperceptibly. No one flavor
should predominate, and only a sense of general savoriness rule. Extracts,
as of vanilla, lemon, bitter almond, &c., should be used with the greatest
care, and if possible always be added to an article after it cools, as the
heat wastes the strength.
BEVERAGES.
Tea and coffee are the most universal drinks, after water. The flavor of
both is due to a principle, _theine_ in tea, _caffeine_ in coffee, in
which both the good and the ill effects of these drinks are bound up. It
is hardly necessary the principles should have different names, as they
have been found by chemists to be identical; the essential spirit of cocoa
and chocolate,--_theobromine_,--though not identical, having many of the
same properties.
_Tea_ is valuable chiefly for its warming and comforting qualities. Taken
in moderation, it acts partly as a sedative, partly as a stimulant,
arresting the destruction of tissue, and seeming to invigorate the whole
nervous system. The water in it, even if impure, is made wholesome by
boiling, and the milk and sugar give a certain amount of real nourishment.
Nervous headaches are often cured by it, and it has, like coffee, been
used as an antidote in opium-poisoning.
Pass beyond the point of moderation, and it becomes an irritant, precisely
in the same way that an overdose of morphine will, instead of putting to
sleep, for just so much longer time prevent any sleep at all. The woman
who can not eat, and who braces her nerves with a cup of green tea,--the
most powerful form of the herb,--is doing a deeper wrong than she may be
able to believe. The immediate effect is delightful. Lightness,
exhilaration, and sense of energy are all there; but the re-action comes
surely, and only a stronger dose next time accomplishes the end desired.
Nervous headaches, hysteria in its thousand forms, palpitations, and the
long train of nervous symptoms, own inordinate tea and coffee drinking as
their parent. Taken in reasonable amounts, tea can not be said to be
hurtful; and the medium qualities, carefully prepared, often make a more
wholesome tea than that of the highest price, the harmful properties being
strongest in the best. If the water is soft, it should be used as soon as
boiled, boiling causing all the gases which give flavor to water to
escape. In hard water, boiling softens it. In all cases the water must be
fresh, and poured boiling upon the proper portion of tea,--the teapot
having first been well scalded with boiling water. Never boil any tea but
English-breakfast tea; for all others, simple steeping gives the drink in
perfection.
A disregard of these rules gives one the rank, black, unpleasant infusion
too often offered as tea; while, if boiled in tin, it becomes a species of
slow poison,--the tannic acid in the tea acting upon the metal, and
producing a chemical compound whose character it is hard to determine.
Various other plants possess the essential principle of tea, and are used
as such; as in Paraguay, where the Brazilian holly is dried, and makes a
tea very exhilarating in quality, but much more astringent.
The use of _Coffee_ dates back even farther than that of tea. Of the many
varieties, Mocha and Java are finest in flavor, and a mixture of one-third
Mocha with two-thirds Java gives the drink at its best. As in tea, there
are three chief constituents: (1) A volatile oil, giving the aroma it
possesses, but less in amount than that in tea. (2) Astringent matter,--a
modification of tannin, but also less than in tea. (3) Caffeine, now found
identical with theine, but varying in amount in different varieties of
coffee,--being in some three or four per cent, in others less.
The most valuable property of coffee is its power of relieving the
sensation of hunger and fatigue. To the soldier on active service, nothing
can take its place; and in our own army it became the custom often, not
only to drink the infusion, but, if on a hard march, to eat the grounds
also. In all cases it diminishes the waste of tissue. In hot weather it is
too heating and stimulating, acting powerfully upon the liver, and, by
producing over-activity of that organ, bringing about a general
disturbance.
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