6. Kinds of pastry:
(1) Plain pastry.--In this, one quarter to one third as much fat as flour is used, and it is all "cut in".
(2) Flaky pastry.--In this, the same amount of fat is used as in plain pastry, but half of it is "laid on" and folded in.
(3) Puff pastry.--In this, one half as much fat as flour, up to equal parts of each is used; one quarter of the fat is cut in, and the remainder is laid on and folded in.
7. Amount of ingredients for plain pastry for one pie:
1 1/2 cup pastry flour; 1/4 tsp. salt; 1/2 cup fat (lard and butter); ice water.
CHAPTER XII
FORM IV: SENIOR GRADE (Continued)
MEAT
As meat is rather a complex food the teaching of which involves a good many lessons, and as it does not lend itself as well as other foods to the making of dishes useful in practice work, it seems wise to defer the study of it until the Senior Form is reached; the ability and home needs of the pupils should decide this. The season of the year should also be considered. It is wiser to take meat lessons in cold weather because it is then more pleasant to handle and easier to keep. The latter consideration is important in some rural districts, where shops are not convenient.
More preparation is needed for the first meat lesson than for most foods. Some days before, thin bones such as leg or wing bones of fowl, or rib bones of lamb should be soaked in diluted hydrochloric or nitric acid (one part acid to ten of water), to dissolve the mineral substance which gives the bone its rigidity.
Any time before the lesson, a large solid bone of an old animal, such as a knee or hip joint of beef, should be burned for hours to get rid of the connective tissue which holds the mineral substance in shape. This should be carefully done, in order to retain the shape of the bone and to show the porous formation of the mineral substance. If the bone is not blackened by the fire, its white colour will also indicate the lime of which it is formed.
On the day of the lesson it will be necessary to have a piece of meat showing the three parts--fat, bone, and muscle. A lower cut of the round of beef has all these parts, and the muscle is sufficiently tough to show its connective tissue plainly. For the study of fat, a piece of suet is best, as it can be easily picked apart to show its formation.
In examining fat meat and lean meat it is essential that, at least, every two pupils have a piece, as close scrutiny is necessary. One or two samples of bone will suffice for the class.
No definite amount of work can be laid down for any one lesson. The interest and ability of the class must be the guide. In rural schools, the time of each lesson must be comparatively short, though no Household Management teacher should spend more than forty minutes on purely theoretical work without a change of some kind.
The following is an outline of the facts to be considered in this particular study:
LESSON I
1. Names of meat:
(1) Beef, from the ox or cow. The best meat comes from an animal about four years old.
(2) Veal, from the calf. It should be at least six weeks old.
(3) Mutton, from the sheep. Spring lamb is from six to eight weeks old; yearling is one year old.
(4) Pork, from the pig.
(5) Fowl, poultry--chicken, turkey, duck, goose.
(6) Game, wild animals--deer, wild duck, partridge, etc.
2. Parts of meat:
(1) Fat.--(_a_) Inside fat, around the internal organs, usually called kidney fat, or suet.
(_b_) Outside fat, next the skin, called caul fat.
(2) Bone, (3) muscle, or lean meat.
3. Composition of fat:
(1) Connective tissue, (2) true fat, (3) water.
Fat should be the first part studied, because it is the simplest tissue and the parts are most plainly seen. Pick the specimen apart, and the tissue that holds it together is found. Its name is easily developed from its use.
The water may be shown by heating pieces of fat in a small saucepan and, when it becomes hot, covering the dish with a cold plate. Remove the plate before it gets heated, and moisture will be condensed on its surface. The presence of water in fat may also be reasoned out by remembering that water enters into the composition of all body tissues.
4. Composition of bone:
(1) Mineral matter (lime), (2) connective tissue, (3) water.
Neither the mineral substance nor the connective tissue in bone can be seen until either one or the other is eliminated.
Strike the fresh bone with a steel knife, and it shows the quality of hardness. Bones are built from food, and the only food substance that is so hard is mineral matter. Show the burned bone, with only the mineral matter left, and let each pupil examine it. Its formation indicates the spaces which the part burned out of it occupied. Let it fall or crush part of it in the fingers, to show how easily it is broken. Such bones would be no use as a framework to support the body. The bones of very old persons get too much like this, and we are afraid to have such people fall. The burned bone needs something to hold it together--a connective tissue. Such a tissue was in the spaces before the bone was burned.
Show the bone after it has been prepared in an acid solution, with only the connective tissue left. Explain how it was prepared. Bend it to show its pliability. To be of use in the body it needs some substance to make it hard and rigid--the mineral matter which was dissolved out.
NOTE.--This is an excellent time to show the necessity for bone-building mineral in the diet of babies and young children. If they do not get this mineral substance during the growth period, they cannot have hard, rigid bones, and their bodies are apt to become misshapen--bow legs, curved spines, etc. This substance is also necessary for hard, sound teeth.
Draw attention to the fact that the mineral matter in milk and eggs is in solution, and therefore ready to be used by the body. Mineral matter is not in solution in bone, and cannot be dissolved by the digestive process, therefore it is practically of no use as food.
Compare the connective tissue of bone with that of fat, and let the pupils account for the difference in thickness. Lead them to see that connective tissue can be dissolved in hot water, and in this way may be extracted from the mineral part of bone. The housekeeper may do this herself, or she may buy it already extracted, as gelatine.
5. Composition of muscle:
(1) Connective tissue
(2) Red part, made up of microscopic tubes holding a red juice. The juice contains: (_a_) Water (_b_) Red colour (_c_) Flavour (_d_) Muscle albumen--a protein substance similar to egg-white (_e_) Mineral matter.
[Illustration: Muscle fibres highly magnified
Bundle of fibres. Tubes of one fibre. Proper carving of fibres--across the grain.]
It should be made clear that the walls of such tiny tubes can never be thick enough to be tough. Attention should be called to the real cause of toughness--the thick connective tissue.
NOTE.--Very small pieces of meat will serve for specimens. Tough meat is better, because it shows the connective tissue more plainly. When the muscle is being examined, it should be carefully scraped with a knife, until a layer of connective tissue is laid bare. The red part that is scraped off should be explained, and a drawing should be made to illustrate it.
Minced lean beef should he soaked in a little cold water for at least twenty minutes, to extract the muscle juice for examination. The juice should be strained through a cheesecloth and poured into a glass. It shows nothing but water and a red colour.