B

BANANAS.

The banana, on account of its peculiar flavour, does not lend itself well to the making of beverages. This fruit contains 1·3 per cent. of protein, 22 per cent. of carbonaceous material, ·6 per cent. of fat, ·8 per cent. mineral matter, with 75·3 per cent. water.

The banana contains a relatively large amount of starch and sugar. While unripe the fruit develops starch, and in that state closely resembles the potato. As the fruit ripens this starch is converted into sugar. If the fruit ripens naturally on the plants, this sugar will become fruit or grape-sugar. If, on the other hand, the bananas are picked unripe, and then imported from the Tropics to this country, the sugar obtained will be largely cane sugar. The latter sugar is evolved by the starchy part of the unripe banana undergoing fermentative changes which lead to the production of cane, and not fruit sugar. It is this cane sugar, developed in the imported and artificially ripened fruit, that makes the banana more difficult to digest here than in the countries where it is allowed to ripen naturally.

Banana Soup.

Pass a number of bananas through a potato masher to finely pulp them, then sterilise by prolonged boiling in a steamer or double-lined saucepan. Dilute, if necessary, with rice water and serve as a soup. This soup exclusively used is said to be excellent as a cure for severe diarrhœa or dysentery. 10 to 40 ozs. of banana pulp can be taken daily in this way.

Banana Water.

Unlike apple water, banana water is not very pleasant, and it is difficult to make it palatable. To make it, put about three fully ripe sound bananas into a pint of boiling water, allow to slowly simmer until dissolved, then strain and warm up for use as required. A little honey or malt extract, with ginger, cinnamon, or other spice, can be added to give flavour.

Banana Coffee.

This is not at all an unpleasant drink if properly prepared and not burnt.

It is made from the dried bananas which are sold usually at 6d. per lb. These are cut up, slowly dried in the oven until crisp, then ground and stored away in any damp-proof packages. The beverage is prepared by pouring ½ pint of boiling water upon a teaspoonful of the ground coffee. A few minutes’ simmering brings out the flavour more strongly, and so does a small pinch of salt, if the user has no objection to this. The coffee should be poured through a fine strainer before serving.

BARLEY.

Barley is a cereal grain which in many respects differs from wheat and other cereals. The Roman gladiators were trained on barley; and barley cakes, or bread, constituted the staple article of diet among the labourers of earlier days. The protein of barley consists chiefly of albumen and casein (not gluten). Hence, like oatmeal, it cannot readily be made into bread, unless wheat or rye flour, which is rich in gluten, be mixed with it. Barley cakes are a splendid food and have the advantage for most people of being decidedly laxative. Barley contains from 15 to 17 per cent. albumen or protein, 2 to 3 per cent. fat, 70 to 75 per cent. starch and dextrin, 2·5 to 5·5 per cent. of mineral salts, being specially rich in iron and phosphates, and from 10 to 15 per cent. water. There are several varieties of barley sold commercially. The grain sold varies according to the amount of treatment that it has undergone at the hands of the miller. Thus, we have whole barley, which when ground is known as barley meal, a favourite food, alas, for pigs. This when rolled and supplied as flaked barley is best for making beverages, etc. Scotch milled or pot barley is the grain deprived of its outer husk by the miller. Pearl barley is this same pot barley deprived of all its covering layers and rounded and polished by attrition. Patent barley is the flour made from pearl barley. Pot barley bears the same relation to the pearl variety as unpolished rice does to the polished kind. The polishing process removes the outer coating of the grain, in which much of the protein and the bulk of the organic salts are secreted.

Barley Water.

Barley water is useful as a remedy for colds and catarrhs, and, when taken for coughs and chest troubles, is usually flavoured with liquorice, figs, and raisins. To make it, proceed as follows: Take 4 tablespoonfuls or 2 ounces of either pot or flaked barley, wash same and put into 1 or 2 pints of clean cold water, preferably distilled. Bring to the boil and simmer for from 5 to 20 minutes. The time allowed should be regulated according to the consistency required. The more glutinous the longer should it boil. When done to the required consistency the water should be strained and served up very hot. To season, just before time has expired for boiling, add strips of lemon rind and some lemon juice. Gum arabic can be used to increase demulcency, and honey or malt extract to sweeten. To make “Barley water pectoral” for coughs, etc., add to each quart 2 ounces of sliced figs, ½ ounce of bruised liquorice root, 2 ounces of stoned raisins, and 1 pint of water, then boil down to 1 quart and strain.

Barley water as usually made is said to contain to each pint 43·6 grains of solid matter. It is composed thus in 100 parts: Protein ·028, fat ·025, carbohydrates ·375, mineral salts ·021, water 99·551.

Barley water, unless made with the whole or flaked barley, is much overrated as a food for infants. It is better to give extract of malt (a teaspoonful to a pint of fresh cow’s milk) than a mixture of milk and barley water made with pearl or patent barley.

Infants under 5 months of age secrete very little “diastase,” the mouth ferment which digests starch or sugar. Mother’s milk is rich in diastase and other ferments.

Barley water should not, as a rule, be made from the patent barley flour, which is mainly starch and sadly deficient in protein and mineral salts. The sole justification for its use is urgency, for barley water can be prepared at once with the patent flour. One teaspoonful of the flour is added to two tablespoonfuls of cold water, and a pint of boiling water is poured upon it; it is then boiled with constant stirring for 5 minutes until clear.

BEEF TEA.

Considering what an almost endless series of palatable and really nourishing drinks can be produced from purely vegetable sources, it is surely unnecessary to add beef tea to their number.

Yet a few words about beef tea may not be out of place, in order to clear up any doubts that the public may have about it.

Beef tea imparts a sense of well-being and exhilaration, because it stimulates the living tissues of the body to increased and unnatural activity. This is naturally followed by a subsequent stage of fatigue.

Claude Bernard found that dogs fed on meat extractives and beef teas died sooner than dogs having nothing at all but water. This arose from the stimulation of these preparations.

Dr. Austin Flint of New York also showed that beef tea and urine gave practically identical results on analysis. (Bulletin No. 28, revised edition, Agricultural Dept., U.S.A.)

Urine is an extract of the tissues; the blood bathes the tissues and washes out from them the poisonous waste; these are carried by the blood-stream to the kidneys, by which they are thrown out of the body as urine. An extract from the tissues, as in the case of meat extracts or beef tea must thus possess the same characteristics as urine. Why, therefore, drink it, or indeed any form of meat beverage?

The truth has been well expressed by Mr. Edgar Saxon in the following passage (extracted from The Christian Commonwealth of June 7, 1911):—

“It is obvious to all who have studied animal physiology that conservative cookery applied to mutton or any meat is a fatal error. Animals function in the same way as you and I. Their processes of digestion, assimilation, and excretion are, especially in the case of the higher mammals, almost identical with our own. When their life ceases under the poleaxe or the knife their tissues are inevitably saturated with waste matter on its way to excretion through the kidneys, the lungs, and the skin. The comparatively pure arterial blood escapes; the impure venous blood to a large extent remains, and gives the colour and flavour to the gravy so highly prized by meat-eating nations.

“So that the only way to get the proteid (or the body-building element) out of meat, without at the same time getting all this highly undesirable and distinctly poisonous broken-down waste matter is to make the strongest possible ‘beef tea’ or ‘mutton tea,’ throw it down the sink, and then eat the tasteless fibre that is left behind. The latter is rich in proteid, the former is simply a harmful and intrinsically repugnant stimulant. These are not the wild ravings of a one-eyed vegetarian crank, but plain scientific facts which cannot be refuted.

“It would seem to be, therefore, a fair working principle to lay down if we say that the juices of vegetables should be conserved as cleansing tonics, and the juices of meat eliminated as poisonous stimulants.

“I hasten to add that I am not suggesting that people should live on vegetable broth and meat fibre! The former is an excellent natural medicine, but not a food in the sense of building tissue. The latter is very nourishing, but insipid to a degree.”

BEETROOT.

The beetroot of our kitchen gardens contains a large amount of cane sugar, mixed with, relatively, an abundant supply of organic mineral salts. Sugar is extensively manufactured from beetroot on the Continent. Among the organic salts, that of soda predominates, so that in a raw state beetroot is an excellent food to remove acidity.

Beetroot is in almost universal use as a form of salad. For this purpose it is cooked, peeled, cut into slices and then served steeped in vinegar. In this state it is decidedly indigestible. The vinegar should be omitted and the cooked beet should be put through a wire sieve to form a purée. In this form it can be taken freely without discomfort.

Undoubtedly the best way to serve beetroot as a salad is to first clean and scrub the uncooked roots, then scrape them with a cobbler’s knife, which should have a saw-edge made by sharpening it upon a piece of sandpaper. A plateful of fine beetroot shavings is thus obtained which are very light and digestible. They contain also the full available amount of the mineral salts in the roots. Scraped beetroot, mixed with lemon juice, makes an excellent dressing for green salads. It can also be used to give colouring to salads or to drinks.

Beetroot Juice.

The juice from beetroots can be extracted by means of the Enterprise Press, or it can be had by finely grating and then extracting the juice under pressure. 1 ounce of juice can be obtained from about 2 ounces of the freshly pulled roots.

Decoction of Beetroot.

Take 1 large fresh beetroot, scrub, clean and chop it up into pieces, add 1 quart of water, boil until the goodness has been fully extracted, then strain and serve.

BLACK CURRANTS.

The black currant, on account of its rich flavour and acid, astringent juice, lends itself specially to the making of pleasant beverages.

Black Currant Juice.

The freshly expressed juice of black currants sparingly taken, diluted with distilled water, makes an excellent cooling and tonic beverage. The juice can be extracted in quantity when the fruit is in season by means of the Enterprise Press and, after first being sterilised, can be kept in bottles for use as required. If only small quantities are needed an ordinary potato masher will do quite well for extracting the juice. When ordinary wine bottles are used for sterilising purposes the juice must be bottled into them and then sterilised. If corks are used instead of stoppers they must be first boiled in paraffin wax.

Black Currant Drink.

Take one ¼ lb. jar of best black currant jelly, add the contents to 1 pint of hot water, dissolve and serve hot. This should be sipped at intervals and not taken freely.

BRAN.

The bran and husks of wheat are the richest known substances in potash and phosphate salts. 1 lb. contains 93·1 grains of potash and 201·6 of phosphates. There are several kinds of bran, but that known as “Pollard” (the part of the flour rejected in making “Standard” flour) is the best for making beverages.

Bran Water.

To make this, select bran that is fresh and clean, so that a fair percentage of the cerealin, or bran ferment, adheres to it. Take two handfuls of this fresh bran and pour pure cold water over it. Allow it to stand four hours, or overnight; then strain off the clear part for use.

Add lemon juice for making bran lemonade. Do not boil or heat the bran used for making bran water, as heat destroys the action of the bran ferment. This drink is invaluable in cases of rickets, and can be sweetened with honey or malt extract.

Bran Tea.

Take three heaped-up tablespoonfuls of good fresh bran. Place in a large jug. Pour upon it a quart of boiling water. Cover with cosy, and let stand for fifteen minutes to draw. Strain and sweeten with lemon and honey, and if required in a thickened form add a few pieces of good gum arabic.

If required thick and glutinous, the bran should be boiled in the water until it has attained the requisite consistency. An eggshell is useful to clarify the liquid. The gum arabic would not be needed if the bran were boiled for any length of time.

Bran Coffee.

To use bran as a coffee substitute, old bran will do just as well as new. It needs to be roasted until a strong coffee flavour has developed; but great care should be taken not to burn the bran. It is often a very desirable thing to bake or roast old bran, as thereby it is effectively sterilised.

BROOM.

The tops of the ordinary broom, which grows freely on moors and commons, are said to be a good remedy for dropsy and kidney trouble. The tops contain much carbonate of potash, and a powerful sedative.

Broom Tea.

This is made by pouring a quart of boiling water upon a large handful of fresh or dried broom tops, placed in a warmed jug, allowing to stand until drawn, straining and serving up warm as required.

Broom Decoction.

This is made by boiling broom tops in water in a covered vessel for 10 minutes and then straining for use. Use 1 oz. of tops to the pint of water.

Compound Broom Decoction.

Boil half an ounce each of broom tops, dandelion leaves and juniper berries, with 1½ pints of water. Continue to boil until the liquid has been reduced to 1 pint, then strain for use.

BUCHU.

Buchu leaves come to us from South Africa, and contain a strong aromatic principle which has an excellent effect upon the kidneys.

Buchu Tea.

Put ¼ oz. of the leaves in a teapot, previously warmed, pour on them 1 pint of boiling water. Allow to stand for 5 to 10 minutes and then pour into cups and drink.