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ACORNS.

Acorns are the ripened fruit of the oak tree. They once formed a considerable part of the food of primitive man and are still used in some countries as a substitute for bread.

Acorns contain starch, sugar, albumen, citric acid, and tannin; to the last named all parts of the oak tree owe their astringency.

Acorn Coffee.

When dried, roasted, and ground, acorns constitute a fair substitute for coffee, and mixed or blended with a due proportion of either coffee or cocoa they are used as popular beverages in Germany. It is a pity that the acorn is not better known and more freely used in this country, seeing that the oak tree is so widely grown here.

Acorns are gathered in the late autumn, when they are fully ripe; they are shelled, cut into pieces, slowly dried in hot dry air, then roasted to a cinnamon brown colour, ground, and put away in any air-tight package.

Beverages made of roasted acorns are tonic and astringent, and are thus useful in cases of catarrhal irritability of the digestive and other organs. In Germany acorn cocoa is often given to children so suffering as a temporary substitute for milk when the latter is found to be exerting an injurious effect. Acorn coffee is also thought to diminish the desire for strong drink in those afflicted with this craving. If used alone, acorn coffee is best served up as a decoction, the ground roasted acorns being boiled for about five minutes in water, then strained and served.

ALCOHOLIC DRINKS.

Alcohol, especially if taken in the form of whisky, brandy, or strong spirits of any kind, stimulates the nervous system of the body and produces a temporary feeling of well-being. This ultimately lapses into a variable degree of intoxication, drowsiness, and sleep, according to the quantity taken. Alcoholic indulgence exacts an enormous toll in the form of paralysing influences upon the whole human system. Surely, then, it is sheer lunacy for anyone acquainted with the real facts to talk of alcohol as being serviceable and useful to mankind.

There is not the slightest necessity for anyone, whether in health or ill-health, to partake of alcoholic beverages, and no enlightened Food Reformer would dream of touching them in any shape or form.

If one must indulge in alcoholic beverages, then the light wines and beers, such as are used universally on the Continent, should be chosen in preference to the stronger wines and spirits resorted to in this country.

Wine.

Wine contains albumen, sugar, dextrin, with an abundant supply of organic mineral salts. The light native wines of France and Italy, etc., contain relatively little alcohol, and thus do not bring on those destructive changes in the tissues which occur as a result of imbibing spirits or the stronger wines and beers. The organic salts in the light wines, although verging on the inorganic, may play an important part, since they are asserted to be highly anti-scorbutic. The Food Reformer will, however, infinitely prefer to obtain these same salts by eating the grapes themselves, or similarly constituted fresh fruits or vegetables, before they have been allowed to get into the despoiling hands of the brewers and wine-makers.

Beer.

Beer, like wine, in addition to the alcohol present, contains sugar, dextrin, and organic mineral salts, combined with the yeast extract derived from the yeast fermentation. Its distinctive taste is due to the added hops and bitter aromatics.

When beer is freely drunk, the alcohol, sugar, and dextrin will greedily appropriate the oxygen supply of the body. In this way it saves the fatty and muscular tissues of the body from combustion and equally retards the destruction of uric acid and other partially burnt-up forms of tissue waste. Heavy beer-drinkers either become fat, some of them abnormally so, or they develop rheumatism or gout.

Furthermore, the free acids present and the bitter principles from the hops act as a stomachic and tonic. They stimulate appetite, thereby inducing people to eat more food than they need.

The mineral salts of beer, especially the phosphates of potassium and magnesium, are often present in relatively large amounts, and, as in the case of wine, are said to be anti-scorbutic. Beer has, unquestionably, a decided effect upon the blood in some cases of scurvy, acne, and skin troubles of a pustular kind. This may be due to its inorganic salts, or it may equally be caused by the yeast extract which beer contains (see under Yeast).

Taken in any excess, beer, especially the modern bottled gaseous varieties, will excite attacks of gout and rheumatism even more readily than wine. For such reasons alone it should be rigorously avoided by those who are in any way predisposed towards the rheumatic diseases.

From a nutriment point of view, beer or stout are supposed to give us a supply of soluble carbohydrates, important organic mineral salts, and bitter tonic principles. This may be so, but the whole effect is marred by the alcohol and vinegar present. A better way would be to give these items in the form of “Sweetwort,” the beer liquid before it has undergone the fermentative, destructive alcoholic process, or by the use of malt extracts suitably diluted and flavoured with tonic aromatics. A still better way is to eat the grains first-hand, as some form of wholesome cereal food, and drink with it plain water, to which fruit or vegetable juice has been added.

The following information culled from the Vegetarian Messenger of August 1909 may interest readers:—

“Reprinted from the ‘Hospital’:—‘A glass of beer is 89 to 94 per cent. water, 2 to 6 alcohol, 1 to 5 malt sugar, 2 to 3 the nutriment in bread crust, and half that in meat. A glass of good ale is as nourishing as one of milk. A quart of good beer equals nearly ¼ lb. bread. It contains one-sixth of the energy a working man needs daily.’

“A correspondent writes:—‘This is rather disturbing—what is the truth? Surely some comment is needed in the Messenger.’

“I am astonished that a medical journal of such standing as the Hospital should print such a statement. The writer, if a medical man, must be strangely ignorant of simple food analyses. Here is Professor Church’s analysis of a pint of pale ale, i.e., 20 ounces:—

oz. grains grains grains

18 409 water 17 acetic acid 10 mineral matter

1 12 alcohol 372 extractive matter

“Here is Church’s analysis of a pint of milk:—

oz. grains oz. grains grains

17 330 water 0 333 milk fat 72 mineral matter

370 protein 1 22 milk sugar

“The comparison speaks for itself; apart from water, the chief ingredient of beer is alcohol, described by some dictionaries as a powerful narcotic poison.”

ALMONDS.

Sweet almonds are one of the most highly nutritious forms of food known to mankind. They contain approximately 21 per cent. albumen, 55 per cent. pure fat, 17 per cent. carbohydrates, and 2 per cent. organic mineral salts.

The sweet Valencia and Jordan varieties, on account of their purity of taste and composition, are particularly suitable for making nut milks and nut beverages. Almond milk is especially useful as a demulcent in catarrhal troubles. The bitter almond is sometimes used for flavouring and culinary purposes, but it contains certain principles which render it impossible to be used freely as a food stuff.

Almond Milk.

One method of preparing a milk from almonds is that known as the old-fashioned Almond Mixture which the chemist of olden days often found a troublesome thing to prepare. To make this it is first necessary to prepare the compound powder of almonds. This is composed of 8 ozs. of almonds, 4 ozs. of refined sugar, and 1 oz. of gum arabic. In selecting the almonds for use they should not be too old, as they are then too oily and do not lend themselves to beverage making. They should not be rancid or unpleasant to taste, otherwise the beverage will be undrinkable. Pine kernels can be used with almonds if desired, if it is wished to cheapen the cost of the finished article. Assuming that the nuts are fresh and of good quality, the next thing is to blanch them. The best way to do this is to soak them overnight in cold water, then rub off the skins and subject them to a slow dry heat until all moisture has been removed and the nuts are found to break crisply. It is a bad plan to put the almonds into very hot or boiling water, as this coagulates the albumen of the nut, toughens it and so renders it difficult of assimilation.

When the almonds are blanched and thoroughly dry they must be pounded or buttered. In the olden times it was usual to place the almonds in a mortar and pound them until they were reduced to a soft buttery mass. Nowadays it will be found better to put the dried nuts through a food chopper which possesses a nut butter attachment, or through the flaker attachment of the Dana Food Flaker. In this way we get an almond butter in a state of very fine subdivision. This will answer equally well either as a nut butter for table use, or for the purpose of making the almond mixture or almond milk. Pure almond butter (or “almond cream”) is sold by most “Health Food” stores, ready prepared in tins and can be purchased by those who do not wish to go to the trouble of making it for themselves. To make the compound powder of almonds, mix the pounded or buttered nuts with the sugar (or with an equal amount of sugar of milk) previously mixed with the gum arabic also in a state of fine powder. Rub them all lightly together and pass through a coarse sieve. To make the almond mixture, add gradually one part of the compound almond powder to 8 ozs. of distilled water, then triturate and strain.

To make almond milk, add water to the prepared “almond cream” mentioned above, little by little, working the cream and water together all the time with the back of a spoon, until the desired consistency is attained. This constitutes a very digestible and extremely valuable substitute for cow’s milk. Pine kernels can be used to replace almonds if desired.

Almond Emulsion Milk.

Almond milk of a sort can be made by mixing 3 ozs. of pure almond oil with 1 oz. of the best quality of powdered gum arabic, then adding water gradually with constant stirring until it has become thickened, then adding more water until the required consistency is obtained. Rose water, or orange flower water, used to be added to this in the olden days, but powdered cinnamon, or lemon juice, or other flavouring can be added instead, if preferred.

APPLES.

The apple is the best of all fruits, and has also the immense advantage of now being practically available all the year round. It contains ·4 per cent. of protein, 14·2 per cent. of sugar in its perfect form, ·5 per cent. of fat, ·5 per cent. mineral matter, with 84 per cent. water, also in its purest form.

Apple juice stimulates life and activity, owing to the purity of its ingredients and the large store of organic nerve-feeding phosphorus that it possesses.

Naturally the best way to drink apple juice is by eating the fruit itself, ripe and ready to hand, finished by Nature. As this is not yet compatible with the modern view, which calls for endless variety and no end of cooking, the apple has of necessity to lend itself to all forms of cookery, and, as such, has to be prepared in many different ways as beverages. In the case, also, of ill people, the cooked apple, although in reality less digestible than its unfired prototype, yet may appeal more to the jaded appetite of the invalid.

One noted fact which should not be forgotten is that the typhoid bacillus, and many other germs of the same family, cannot exist in fresh apple juice for any length of time. Hence fruit and vegetable juices are obviously the remedy for typhoid fever, not milk or whey.

Fresh Apple Juice.

The juice of fresh apples is extracted in cider-producing districts, and is a very excellent drink. Cider, too, is good if the amount of alcohol contained in it is very small. At the present time there are several brands of sterilised apple juice on the market which are practically free from alcohol.

To extract quickly the juice from apples so that it may be available in an uncooked or unsterilised form, all that is necessary is to pass apples, from which all bruised and tainted parts have been cut out, through an Enterprise Fruit Juice Press. This costs from 18s. upwards according to size and capacity required. In this way the juice can be quickly extracted in a vital, uncooked state.

Crab-apple juice, or verjuice, is much appreciated in certain parts of the country, the sharpness appealing to some palates more than sweetness. If some of our farmers in the apple-growing districts would start small factories and have one or two machines with a quantity of bottles and a sterilising outfit, they could use their windfalls, and any ripe apples which they could not sell to advantage, for the purpose of bottling sterilised apple juice.

Apple-peel Tea.

The peel of an apple contains quinic acid, which is a powerful natural solvent of uric and other acids. Some food reformers have even advised people to eat the peel, and discard the pulp. The peel of apples should never be thrown away, but made into a drink, or added to other beverages. It should, of course, be rubbed clean, and any decayed parts removed before use.

Apple Soups.

Fruit soups are made on a general plan of utilising one or more fruits to give the distinctive flavouring, then adding some form of starchy material, such as potato flour, sago or barley, to thicken, then adding honey, dried fruits, and spices to flavour the soup. This is a strange way of treating one of Nature’s finest productions, but the modern palate has to be led, not pushed.

Apple soup should preferably be served cold, or iced, in small cups. It is a food—spoilt to some extent by the cooking process—and should always be very slowly sipped, and used as an appetiser.

A plain apple soup can be made as follows:—Take 2 lbs. of apples, preferably of the sour cooking kind; either slice them along with peel and core, or, if the soup is wanted at once, finely grate the apples on a flat grater, or the apples can first be roasted or baked. To the apples prepared in one of these alternative ways add 1 oz. of mealy baked potato, or flaked rice or pot barley, and about 2½ pints of water. Simmer until soft, strain through a wire sieve, and serve either very hot or very cold. If the apples are sour, season them with honey or prune juice; and if sweet, use parsley, spices as cinnamon or cloves, or ginger. Chemical-free “cracker” or “wafer” biscuits, or macaroons, can be served with the soup.

Apple Water.

This is an excellent cooling, antiseptic fever drink provided it is not too much dosed with sugar. To prepare it, cut a few sound apples into small pieces, or grate them finely; remove any tainted or wormy parts, while doing this, but do not throw away the peel, as this, as mentioned, contains valuable organic salts which exert a strong purifying effect upon the blood. If the outside surfaces of the apples are dirty, they can be scrubbed and dried before use. Place the apples (say three large ones) into a quart of boiling water, cook, or, better, simmer in a double-lined saucepan until soft. Pour off the liquor, season with a little lemon juice, grated lemon peel, and honey, and serve very hot. Unripe apples make the best apple water, or windfalls can be used for this purpose.

Another method of making apple water is to bake some sound apples in the oven. When softened, stick a few cloves into them and sprinkle with a little brown sugar. Let the apples fully bake and the cloves and sugar become slightly browned, then pour boiling water upon them. Let them stand until the water has taken up the goodness, then finally strain and serve hot.

Apple Coffee.

Apple coffee, or apple tea as it is sometimes styled, as sold commercially, is made by taking a quantity of apple rings or pippins, drying and roasting them slowly until quite crisp, then grinding them and storing away in an air-tight receptacle. Moisture causes the powdered roasted apple coffee to become sticky, and eventually to cake together in a mass.

To prepare apple coffee for use, add to one teaspoonful of the powder a half pint of boiling water, boil for a few minutes to bring out the flavour, then serve hot by pouring through a strainer into a breakfast cup. Add milk or cream and lemon juice if desired.

Apple coffee is a pleasant beverage if nicely made, but people soon tire of it and return to ordinary coffee or tea, unless they have entirely evolved out of the use of all stimulating beverages, and then they would not require even the apple coffee.