Part 20 (1/2)
Blanched almonds, if baked for a short time, become quite brittle, and may be easily pulverized, and are then more easily digested. Bread made from almonds thus baked and pulverized, is considered an excellent food for persons suffering with diabetes.
_Brazil Nuts_ are the seeds of a gigantic tree which grows wild in the valleys of the Amazon, and throughout tropical America. The case containing these seeds is a hard, woody sh.e.l.l, globular in form, and about the size of a man's head. It is divided into four cells, in each of which are closely packed the seeds which const.i.tute the so-called nuts, of commerce. These seeds are exceedingly rich in oil, one pound of them producing about nine ounces of oil.
The _Cocoanut_ is perhaps the most important of all the sh.e.l.l fruits, if we may judge by the variety of uses to which the nut and the tree which bears it can be put. It has been said that nature seldom produces a tree so variously useful to man as the cocoanut palm. In tropical countries, where it grows abundantly, its leaves are employed for thatching, its fibers for manufacturing many useful articles, while its ashes produce potash in abundance. The fruit is eaten raw, and in many ways is prepared for food; it also yields an oil which forms an important article of commerce. The milk of the fruit is a cooling beverage, and the woody sh.e.l.l of the nut answers very well for a cup from which to drink it. The saccharine juice of the tree also affords an excellent drink; and from the fresh young stems is prepared a farinaceous substance similar to sago.
The cocoanuts grow in cl.u.s.ters drooping from the tuft of long, fringed leaves which crown the branchless trunk of the stately palm. The cocoanut as found in commerce is the nut divested of its outer sheath, and is much smaller in size than when seen upon the tree. Picked fresh from the tree, the cocoanut consists first of a green outer covering; next of a fibrous coat, which, if the nut is mature, is hairy-like in appearance; and then of the woody sh.e.l.l, inside of which is the meat and milk. For household purposes the nuts are gathered while green, and before the inner sh.e.l.l has become solidified; the flesh is then soft like custard, and can be easily eaten with a teaspoon, while a large quant.i.ty of delicious, milk-like fluid is obtainable from each nut.
As found in our Northern markets, the cocoanut is difficult of digestion, as is likewise the prepared or desiccated cocoanut. The cocoanut contains about seventy per cent of oil.
The _Chestnut_ is an exception to most nuts in its composition. It contains starch, and about fifteen per cent of sugar. No oil can be extracted from the chestnut. In Italy, and other parts of Southern Europe, the chestnut forms an important article of food. It is sometimes dried and ground into flour, from which bread is prepared. The chestnut is a nutritious food, but owing to the starch it contains, is more digestible when cooked. The same is true of the _Acorn_, which is similar in character to the chestnut. In the early ages, acorns were largely used for food, and are still used as a subst.i.tute for bread in some countries.
The _Hazelnut_, with the _Filbert_ and _Cobnut_, varieties of the same nut obtained by cultivation, are among the most desirable nuts for general consumption.
The _Walnut_, probably a native of Persia, where in ancient times it was so highly valued as to be considered suited only for the table of the king, is now found very commonly with other species of the same family, the _b.u.t.ternut_ and _Hickory nut_, in most temperate climates.
The _Pecan_, a nut allied to the hickory nut, and grown extensively in the Mississippi Valley and Texas, is one of the most easily digested nuts.
The _Peanut_ or _Groundnut_ is the seed of an annual, cultivated extensively in most tropical and sub-tropical countries. After the plant has blossomed, the stalk which produced the flower has the peculiarity of bending down and forcing itself under ground so that the seeds mature some depth beneath the surface. When ripened, the pods containing the seeds are dug up and dried. In tropical countries the fresh nuts are largely consumed, and are thought greatly to resemble almonds in flavor.
In this country they are more commonly roasted. They are less easily digested than many other nuts because of the large amount of oily matter which they contain.
_RECIPES._
TO BLANCH ALMONDS.--Sh.e.l.l fresh, sweet almonds, and pour boiling water over them; let them stand for two or three minutes, skim out, and drop into cold water. Press between the thumb and finger, and the kernels will readily slip out of the brown covering. Dry between clean towels. Blanched almonds served with raisins make an excellent dessert.
BOILED CHESTNUTS.--The large variety, knows as the Italian chestnut, is best for this purpose. Remove the sh.e.l.ls, drop into boiling water, and boil for ten minutes, take out, drop into cold water, and rub off the brown skin. Have some clean water boiling, turn the blanched nuts into it, and cook until they can be pierced with a fork. Drain thoroughly, put into a hot dish, dry in the oven for a few minutes, and serve. A cream sauce or tomato sauce may be served with them if liked.
MASHED CHESTNUTS.--Prepare and boil the chestnuts as in the preceding recipe. When tender, mash through a colander with a potato masher. Season with cream and salt if desired. Serve hot.
TO KEEP NUTS FRESH.--Chestnuts and other thin-sh.e.l.led nuts may be kept from becoming too dry by mixing with an equal bulk of dry sand and storing in a box or barrel in some cool place.
TABLE TOPICS.
Who lives to eat, will die by eating.--_Sel._
Fruit bears the closest relation to light. The sun pours a continuous flood of light into the fruits, and they furnish the best portion of food a human being requires for the sustenance of mind and body.--_Alcott._
The famous Dr. John Hunter, one of the most eminent physicians of his time, and himself a sufferer from gout, found in apples a remedy for this very obstinate and distressing malady. He insisted that all of his patients should discard wine and roast beef, and make a free use of apples.
Do not too much for your stomach, or it will abandon you.--_Sel._
The purest food is fruit, next the cereals, then the vegetables. All pure poets have abstained almost entirely from animal food.
Especially should a minister take less meat when he has to write a sermon. The less meat the better sermon.--_A. Bronson Alcott._
There is much false economy: those who are too poor to have seasonable fruits and vegetables, will yet have pie and pickles all the year. They cannot afford oranges, yet can afford tea and coffee daily.--_Health Calendar._
What plant we in the apple tree?