The meats that we commonly use are derived from the flesh of domestic and wild animals of herbivorous habits and from fowls. The flesh of carnivorous animals is seldom used as food. The various kinds are obtained as follows:
| Meat | Animal |
| Beef | Ox |
| Veal | Calf |
| Mutton | Sheep |
| Lamb | Young sheep |
| Pork | Pig |
| Ham and bacon | Pig |
| Venison | Deer |
Under the head of poultry we include the common fowl, turkeys, ducks and geese, the guinea hen, and game birds.
Quality of good meat.—The quality of meat is dependent on the condition of the animal from which it is derived. The creature should be in perfect health and well fed. Good beef is largely obtained from the cattle ranges of the West, but there is no reason why cattle should not be raised to greater extent in the East. Sheep for mutton are best raised where the climate is not too severe. Methods of slaughter, transportation, and preservation all affect the quality of beef. The pure food laws and Federal meat inspection law are valuable to the consumer in their control of the quality of the meat, that it shall be free from disease and from adulterations. See Chapter XVII for the discussion of preservatives and pure food laws.
| Key: | |
| A. | Ribs |
| B. | Hip bone |
| C. | Loin |
| D. | Porterhouse |
| E. | Prime ribs |
| F. | Shoulder |
| G. | Neck |
| H. | Head |
| I. | Brisket |
| J. | Shin |
| L. | Navel |
| M. | Plate |
| N. | Flank |
| O. | Leg |
| P. | Horseshoe |
| Q. | Round |
| R. | Oxtail |
| S. | Rump |
| Z. | Sirloin |
Courtesy of Bureau of Publications, Teachers College.
In meat as it is purchased we have bone, fat, and the flesh, consisting of the muscle of the animal with its connective tissue. The color of the meat should be clear and fairly bright, not purplish or dull. There should be little or no odor, and the meat should be firm and elastic to the touch.
Beef should be a bright red and well streaked with fat.
Veal should be pink and is somewhat less firm than beef. If watery and flabby, it is too young.
Mutton is a duller red, and firm. The fat is white or slightly yellow and hard.
Lamb is pink, rather than red, and slightly less firm.
Pork is rather pale, somewhat less firm than beef and mutton, and the fat is softer.
Courtesy of Bureau of Publications, Teachers College
Tough and tender meat.—To understand the difference between the tough and tender cuts we must be familiar with the structure of the muscle (see Fig. 57). Each muscle consists of bundles of tubes held together by connective tissue. In tough meat, the muscle tubes are thicker and there is more connective tissue present. Exercise strengthens the muscle, and this accounts for the fact that the unexercised muscles of the young animal give us a softer meat. In the mature animal the muscles most exercised furnish the tough meat, and the less used muscles the tender. If you study Fig. 58, you can easily determine where the tough meat will occur, if you think of the proportionate amount of exercise that the different muscles receive. The tough cuts come from the neck and legs, the tender cuts from the middle of the back, the toughness increasing as the cuts approach the neck and the hind legs. The muscles of the abdomen are also tender, but they give a coarse-grained meat. The various cuts of meat are shown as they occur in the standing animal in Fig. 58, and in the hind and fore quarters hanging, in Figs. 59 and 60. The individual cuts of beef and mutton are shown in the figures that follow. The tender cuts from the ribs and loin are the most highly prized, and therefore bring the highest price. These cuts are liked because of their tenderness although the nutritive value of the tough meat is as high or possibly even higher than that of the tender. All meat is now high-priced, and you will find the reasons for this discussed in Chapter XVII. For the sake of economy we are forced to use the relatively cheaper cuts, and to seek for meat substitutes. We must also take pains to use the cooking processes that will make the tough meats palatable.
| KEY | USES | |
| 1. | 1st and 2d ribs Prime | Roasts |
| 2. | 3d and 4th ribs Prime | ” |
| 3. | 5th and 6th ribs | ” |
| 4. | 7th rib | ” |
| 5. | 8th rib | ” |
| 6. | 9th rib | ” |
| 7. | Chuck steaks, or roasts, 10th to 13th ribs | ” |
| 8. | Chuck pot roast | ” |
| 9. | Neck | Beef tea, etc. |
| 10. | Yoke | ” |
| 11. | Navel | Stew and corning |
| 12. | Plate | ” |
| 13. | Brisket | Corning |
| 14. | Cross Rib | Pot Roast |
| 15. | Shoulder | ” |
| 16. | Shin | Soup |
Courtesy of the Bureau of Publications, Teachers College.
Composition and nutritive value.—Figure 64 shows you the composition of several common meats. Meat is valuable chiefly for its protein, fat, and mineral salts. The juices of the meat in the muscle cells contain nitrogenous extractive materials which give flavor, and are possibly stimulating, but they have no food value. From the bone and also from the connective tissue, gelatin is dissolved in cooking. Gelatin is a protein, but differs in certain chemical properties from other proteins, and cannot be used as the only source of nitrogen. It is a very useful protein, however, and as it can be substituted in part for more expensive proteins, it used to be called a “protein saver.”
In spite of the fact that meat is a common article of diet it should not be used in excess. Other forms of protein, as those in eggs and milk, are usually digested as easily, and most people can digest vegetable proteins if the vegetables are carefully prepared. Very little children should not have meat, for it has stimulating properties which are undesirable for them, and it takes away the taste for foods more important for growth (see Food for Growth, Chapter XVIII). When used largely in the diet, meat tends to cause intestinal putrefaction and to form excess of acid in the body. It is less likely to be harmful if taken with plenty of fruits and green vegetables and liberal drinking of clear water.
It should be realized that in none of the European countries is meat used so liberally as in the United States, and that there are reasons to believe that we might be better off if we could satisfy ourselves with a meat consumption nearer the average of other civilized peoples—say half as much meat per person per year as we are now accustomed to use. The fuel value of meat depends largely upon the amount of fat which is eaten. If a pound of steak contains 2 ounces of fat and 14 ounces of clear lean, the rejection of the fat means a loss of fully one half of the fuel value. The following table shows the difference between raw meat of the same cut, free from bones and connective tissue, due to differences in amounts of fat. Most people would prefer the strictly lean meat.
| Lean Meat | Medium Fat | |
| Weight, Ounces | Weight, Ounces | |
| Beef, round | 2.3 | 1.7 |
| Chicken (Fowl) | 3.2 | 1.6 |
| Lamb, leg | 2.8 | 1.6 |
| Mutton, leg | 1.9 | 1.5 |
| Pork, loin chops | 1.4 | 1.0 |
| Veal, leg | 2.9 | 2.2 |
For very complete and conveniently arranged tables giving the percentage composition, the food values per pound and per ounce, the weight and nutrients of the 100-Calorie portions of all the important meats and other food materials as well, see Rose’s “Laboratory Handbook for Dietetics.”
Dangers from meat.—Three dangers from meat must be recognized; (1) animal parasites, such as the trichina sometimes found in pork, (2) poisons developed in the meat by bacteria when it is kept too long or without sufficient refrigeration, this danger being recognized as ptomaine poisoning, (3) bacteria, sometimes present in meat, which are directly injurious to man and which are now held to be the cause of most of the sickness commonly attributed to ptomaine poisoning. Government protection must be given us here, but the housekeeper too has a responsibility. If the raw meat has failed to receive proper inspection, we can protect ourselves by cooking the meat to a degree that will kill any parasite present. For this reason meat should not be served that looks raw or too underdone. The cooked meat should be pink rather than red.
Meat poisoning may be avoided in the first place by exercising great care in regard to the odor of meat. Meat may hang to “ripen,” as the butchers say, but one must learn to distinguish between the odor of properly ripened meat, and that of even slightly tainted meat. Quite as important is the rapid cooling of meat, poultry, fish, and soups that are not to be used at once. Cases of digestive disturbance and even actual poisoning sometimes occur when underdone meat, especially lamb, veal, or poultry, remains warm overnight.
The effect of heat upon meat.—The fat of meat is melted by heat. The meat fiber shrinks and hardens with intense heat; on the other hand it softens at a temperature somewhat below the boiling point of water. The structure of the muscle must be studied further in order to make the principles of cooking perfectly clear. If you think of the structure of the muscle cell as somewhat resembling the structure of an orange, you can picture quite clearly what happens under different conditions. Open a section of orange and separate some of the single cells. These may represent the muscle cells of meat that can be seen only under the microscope. If you cut across one of these tiny cells, the contents will escape, and this is what happens when the muscle cells are cut across. Then, too, if the muscle is heated, the juices will pass through the membrane of the cell, and this happens, too, if the meat is put into cold water. The substances in the juices of the meat which are not coagulated by heat are called the extractives, because they can be extracted by hot water. The most valuable protein matter remains behind in the muscle cell, however. Among these proteins are those known as meat albumin, and this behaves in cooking very much as does the white of egg,—that is to say, it coagulates.
Bearing these facts in mind, we can decide just what to do in order to bring about the result that we desire in meat cookery, for sometimes we wish to extract the juices and sometimes we wish to have all, or nearly all, retained in the meat. We are now ready to state the principles of meat cookery as follows:
In broiling, pan broiling, roasting, and boiling the high temperature coagulates the meat albumin and hardens the fiber on the surface, thus forming a coating which prevents the further escape of juices. In the roasting and boiling of large pieces the temperature may then be lowered to prevent the further shrinking and hardening of the fiber in the interior of the meat, which comes from a protracted high temperature. With a very thick steak after the surface searing the cooking may be completed in the oven.
In beef juice or beef tea, this may be done by placing the chopped beef in a jar and placing the jar in an oven, or in hot water; or for beef tea and ordinary soup by putting the chopped meat, or small pieces of meat, in cold water and heating the water slowly.
This is desirable in stews, in braised beef, and in pot roast. State for yourself just how this would be accomplished.
Flavors suitable with meat.
Herbs. All the pot herbs including savory, marjoram, thyme, sage, pot marigold.
Vegetables. Onion, carrot, turnip, celery, celery root, parsley root and leaf.
Spices. Clove, allspice, mustard, red, black, and white pepper. Some nationalities use nutmeg.
Acids. Lemon, tomato, and other acid fruits.
Experiment A.
Chop finely a small piece of meat, squeeze out the juice with a lemon squeezer and heat this juice in a saucepan. Observe the coagulation that takes place.
Experiment B.
(1) Apparatus.—If possible, 2 glass beakers, 1 square wire net. If these are not available, use an ordinary tumbler and a small saucepan.
(2) Method.—a. Put a small piece of meat in a beaker with cold water, and allow it to stand.
b. Bring water to the boiling point in the beaker on the net over the gas flame. Throw in a small piece of meat.
Compare the appearance of the two pieces of meat and the water in the two beakers.
| Shin of beef | 6 pounds |
| Cold water | 3 quarts |
| Peppercorns | 1⁄2 teaspoonful |
| Cloves | 6 |
| Bay leaf | 1⁄2 |
| Thyme | 3 sprigs |
| Marjoram | 1 sprig |
| Parsley | 2 sprigs |
| Carrot Turnip Onion | 1⁄2 cup each cut in dice |
| Celery Salt | 1 tablespoonful |
| Lean meat | 3 | pounds |
| Potatoes | 4 | cups, cut in 1⁄4 inch slices |
| Turnip Carrot | 2⁄3 | cup each, cut in half inch cubes |
| Onion | 1⁄2 | small one, cut in thin slices |
| Flour Salt Pepper | 1⁄4 | cup |
Teacher’s Note.—Broiled steak would be suitable for group work, using small steaks (Delmonico cut). A small roast may be prepared by a group and roasted after class. This meat and that left from the steak should be used in a subsequent class for a lesson on left over meat. Broiled or pan-broiled chops may be prepared individually.
| Flour | 2 | cups |
| Baking powder | 4 | teaspoonfuls |
| Salt | 1⁄2 | teaspoonful |
| Butter | 2 | teaspoonfuls |
| Milk | 7⁄8 | cup |
| Onion | 1 | teaspoonful chopped |
| Salt | 1⁄4 | teaspoonful |
| Pepper | ||
| Flour | 2 | tablespoonfuls |
| Butter | 2 | tablespoonfuls |
| Sugar | 1 | teaspoonful |
| Cloves | 3 | |
| Tomatoes | 2 | cups |
| Cold meat or chicken | 2 | cups |
| Salt | 1⁄2 | teaspoonful |
| Pepper | 1⁄8 | teaspoonful |
| Cayenne | Few | grains |
| Onion juice | Few | drops |
| White sauce | 1 | cup, thick, hot |
| Beaten egg | ||
| Dried bread crumbs |
| Cold meat | ||
| Bread crumbs, soft | 2 | cups |
| Onion | 1 | slice, chopped fine |
| Salt | 1⁄2 | teaspoonful |
| Mixed poultry seasoning | 1 | tablespoonful |
In selecting poultry see that the flesh is firm, that there is a good amount of fat underneath the skin, and that the skin is whole and a good yellow. Notice the odor of the fowl particularly. The skin of cold-storage poultry has not such a good color and is sometimes broken. Often the flesh is shrunken, and if the cold storage has been too long continued the odor is unpleasant. Refrigeration is allowable for a period. Another way to judge cold-storage poultry is by the price. Well-fed poultry freshly killed brings a high market price and a bargain quite often proves to be poultry too long in cold storage. Good quality poultry is at present a high-priced food.
To prepare poultry for cooking, the “dressing” of the chicken is often done now at the market. If it is necessary to do this at home, make an incision with a sharp knife just inside of one of the legs, in the groin. Insert the hand and remove all the entrails. The skin must be loosened at the neck and the crop removed. In any case, wash the chicken thoroughly inside and out, even holding the cavity under running water. If there is hair remaining on the chicken, singe this off over burning paper or over a gas flame.
The composition is essentially the same as that of meat. The white of chicken, fowls, and turkeys is thought to be more digestible than the dark meat.
The principles of cookery are the same as with the meat. Chicken soup is made on the same principle as beef soup. After straining, it is delicious with the addition of milk or cream. The meat of the chicken may be chopped fine and used as a thickening. Rice may be added or a hard-boiled egg chopped fine.
Chicken may be served cold, for luncheon or supper, and is always very desirable in made-over dishes. Any stuffing left over may be used in the made dishes.
Laboratory management.—A lesson on poultry is a very expensive one and difficult to manage so that each may have a share of the work. Such a lesson is suitable where the pupils have had work in previous years and are used to working in groups.
Preserved meats and poultry.—Smoked and salted meats are valuable foods, although the nutritive content is somewhat less available for digestion. The salted and smoked meats need long and slow cooking below the boiling temperature of water.
Canned meats and poultry of good quality are now in the market, and they are convenient and useful when not used to excess. Buy well-known brands. The government inspection of canned meats is of great importance, for the individual cannot protect himself. Canned soups are convenient for those who cook by gas and who live in small quarters. Buy good brands even if they are somewhat more expensive. The best firms manufacturing canned soup are scrupulously clean in their methods and pride themselves on using good material.
Other parts of meat and poultry.—Some of the internal organs of the animals and fowl are used for food. Most of them are comparatively cheap, and may be made palatable.
The liver and kidneys are organs having to do with the waste products of the body and objection is raised to their use on that account. If used, they should be soaked in cold salted water, put into fresh cold water, and allowed to heat very slowly. This water should be poured off, and then a brown stew can be made. What flavors are pleasant with liver and kidneys?
Make your own recipe for liver or kidney stew.
The heart does not contain waste products. Why is it tough? What process would you select to make it tender? Even when softened, it would not be attractive or very palatable without further treatment. It is hollow, somewhat as the chicken is before roasting. Look over the recipes and flavors suitable to meat and see if you cannot make your own for Baked Heart.
Sweetbreads, the pancreas, are highly prized on account of their delicacy, and are costly. They may be broiled, or served in sauce in pastry cases or in patties.
Calf’s head and brain.—The brain is sometimes used as substitute for sweetbreads. From the meat and bones of the head soup and stew may be made.
1. From what animals are meats derived?
2. What are the chief values of meat?
3. Why should its use be limited?
4. What actual dangers may arise from its use?
5. What precautions must be exercised by the government, inspector and the housekeeper?
6. We are told that chicken pie should have the crust pricked or lifted when it comes from the oven. Is this reasonable?
7. How may you judge good meats in the market?
8. Why is the neck of beef tough? For what would you use it?
9. Why is porterhouse steak tender? Why is it not used in a stew? (It would make a delicious stew.)
10. What cuts would you select for stewing and braising?
11. Make a list of the cuts of beef and mutton and lamb, pork, etc., in your notebook, with the best methods of cookery for each.
12. Add to this list the current prices of each in your locality.
13. What is the size and cost of a 100-Calorie portion of beef round?
14. With this in mind, calculate how much round steak you would buy for dinner for five people. How much porterhouse?
15. Explain the structure of the muscle.
16. What takes place when meat is seared? When is this process used?
17. Explain the principle of soup making. Devise an experiment to show the effect of salt upon the pieces of meat. What is the nutritive value of soup meat?
18. Explain the principle of stewing meats.
19. What is the difference between broiling and pan broiling?
20. What are some of the best ways of utilizing left over meat and poultry?
21. Which is more economical, croquettes or an escalloped dish? Explain fully.
22. How may you distinguish poultry in good condition from that too long in cold storage?
23. Why is good poultry not a cheap food?
24. Discuss making soup versus buying canned soup.
25. What are the advantages of canned meat? The possible disadvantages?
Fish and shellfish are valuable assets as food, so much so that the government has a Bureau of Fisheries, and has established stations at intervals on the coast and on inland lakes for the study and production of those foods that come from salt and fresh water. We have used these products of the waters as if the supply were limitless, forgetting that fish and shellfish are living creatures with habits that we cannot ignore without working havoc to the species. Young salmon and shad are hatched in the upper reaches of the rivers, and if we insist on trapping the mature fish at the river mouth on their northern migrations, the number of young decreases, and salmon and shad become high-priced foods. To ignore fishery and game laws is an ignorant and dishonest proceeding, with far-reaching economic results.
Varieties of fish.—In Bulletin No. 28 of the Office of Experiment Stations, United States Department of Agriculture, forty-four different fish are listed, all used as food. A visit to the fish stall in the market of a seaboard city will acquaint you with many interesting species. Fresh and salt water fish differ in flavor, and there is a difference to be detected between fish from running, or from lake water, brook trout, for instance, having a superior flavor. The food supply also influences the flavor, and both fresh and salt water fish have a better flavor when taken from sandy and rocky bottoms rather than muddy. The habit of the fish also has an effect on the quality and taste. The chequit, for instance, is so sluggish and easy to catch that it is sometimes called “lazy” or “weakfish,” and it is watery and poor flavored compared with the shad, a fish of more vigorous habits. The amount of fat also causes a difference in flavor, such high flavored fish as salmon and shad containing much fat. The distinctive flavors of mackerel and herring are apparently not due to fat, since their fat content is not particularly high. Among the most common and best liked fish are bass, blackfish, bluefish, cod, flounder, haddock, halibut, herring, mackerel, porgy (sometimes called scup or scuppaug), salmon, shad, smelt, weakfish, whitefish. Brook trout and salmon trout are luxuries.
Composition and nutritive value.—Figure 65 shows the composition of several kinds. Compare their composition with that of meat. The nutritive content is high, yet fish seems a lighter and less satisfying food than meat, although on the seaboard of some countries it is the chief animal food. The digestibility of fish and meat are about equal, but some varieties of fish are less digestible than others, this being true of the oily and strong-flavored fish,—herring, mackerel, salmon, and shad.
There are popular prejudices for and against fish that are not warranted. The idea that fish is a “brain food” because it contains phosphorus was exploded long since, for fish contains no more phosphorus than some other foods, and phosphorus is no more valuable to the brain than to the other tissues.
Fish, however, is valuable in the dietary for supplying protein and giving variety, and in season, it is one of the cheaper foods.
Quality of fish.—Fish deteriorates and decomposes much more rapidly than meat, and is at its best when cleaned and cooked just after being caught. Ice will preserve fish for a short time only. If ever on a camping trip you have eaten bluefish caught in the surf, or trout from the brook, cooked immediately, you know what flavor a fish may have. Fish should be killed immediately, and put on ice if they are not to be cooked at once. If there is no ice, clean the fish, sprinkle the flesh with pepper and salt, wrap in a wet cloth, and set in a breeze or draught.
When fish are transported over long distances they should be packed in ice in refrigerator cars, and you will notice that the fishman in the shop keeps the fish on ice until he sells them.
In selecting fish, see that the flesh feels firm and that the eyes are still bright. If you have a keen sense of smell, this will also guide you, although to the novice the odor of fish may be disagreeable even if untainted.
Fish in season and caught plentifully near by, are of good quality and should be cheap. Shad and salmon have their season in the spring, bluefish come north in the summer, sometimes as late as August, porgies are a summer and autumn fish, and smelt are abundant in the winter. Deep-sea fish like cod and halibut have a long season, and may be bought at any time.