Oatmeal

“ A high power is necessary for the examination of these latter. The starch of the oat does not polarise light.
OAT′MEAL. Syn. Avenæ farina, F. ex seminibus avenæ (Ph. D) , L.
Oatmeal is the grain of the oat deprived of the skin, kiln-dried, and afterwards ground. It is regarded as one of the most nutritious of our cereals, being rich in nitrogenous matter, fat, starch, and sugar. According to Letheby it contains in 100 parts:—
Kreusler has shown that the nitrogenous principle of oatmeal contains gluten-casein, a substance very similar to the legumin of peas and beans. ”

“ Pour a little melted butter over them and serve with green peas.
PROPER COOKING OF CEREALS.
Starchy foods in any form must be well cooked. Gluey, slimy oatmeal, full of hard lumps of half-cooked grains, the whole forming a raw, horrid mass, is very different from the smooth, well cooked, easily digestible, oatmeal prepared by a good cook. Rolled oats are more easily cooked than oatmeal, as they are already prepared. For four people, put a quarter of a teaspoonful of salt into four cups of hot water and stir in slowly one cup of rolled oats, being careful not to allow lumps to form. ”

“ It will be seen that oats, and especially the meal, or flour, is rich in nitrogenous or muscle forming compounds, namely, the albuminoids. There is also a very large per cent. of fat, and less starch than in corn or wheat.
Of the nutritive value of oatmeal Professor Brewer notes: “Whether it is true that oatmeal is actually more wholesome or more nutritious than cracked wheat, for example, is very questionable, but it certainly is more palatable to work people. ”

“ We do not recommend to you even the whole meal of wheat as a substitute for your oatmeal or your oaten-cake. The oat is more nutritive even than the whole grain of wheat, taken weight for weight. For the growing boy, for the hard-working man, and for the portly matron, oatmeal contains the materials of the most hearty nourishment. ”

“ Oatmeal is recovering its position as a nursery food, after its temporary banishment. Oatmeal porridge is the food par excellence of the infants born north of the Trent, or was, at least, and stalwart people were the results.’
There is no doubt oatmeal is an excellent food, not for children only, but for everyone, especially for those who work hard. It is much to be regretted that it is not more universally used. The English, as a rule, eat too much animal food; and do not give sufficient attention to the proper preparation of vegetables. ”

“ With this object, each man is allowed a certain quantity of oatmeal daily: the oatmeal is served out by the foreman, and is scalded with hot water and made into thin gruel; this is the drink with which the men supply the place of the perspired fluid. ”

“ Ingredients.—1 tablespoonful of fine oatmeal, 1 pint of water, or milk and water mixed, sugar to taste, a pinch of salt.
Method.—Mix the oatmeal with a little cold water, boil the remainder, pour in the blended oatmeal, and stir until boiling. Simmer gently for 1⁄2 an hour, stirring frequently. Strain, add a pinch of salt, and sweeten to taste. Nutmeg, ginger, butter or cream are frequently added when the gruel is intended as a remedy for a cold. ”

“ Chemistry has here stepped in, and by her analysis of both, has proved not only that the oat is richer in muscle-forming matter than the grain of wheat, but that oatmeal is in all respects a better form of nourishment than the finest wheaten flour. ”

“ SIR,—I am not less than fifty years' old, and marked with small-pox, and therefore I think that Oatmeal and Oranges would be sure to do my complexion good. As mine is perhaps a rather unusual case, I am trying the remedy in a peculiarly thorough way. I have an Oatmeal-bath twice a day, during which I suck six oranges. My breakfast consists of porridge and marmalade. I have engaged a policeman to knock at my front door three times every night, to wake me. I then sit up in bed and consume oat-cakes soaked in orange-juice. ”

“ The oat is generally cited as the most nourishing of all the cereals, and a good nerve food. The fine oatmeal gruel of our grandmothers has gone almost entirely out of fashion, but its use might be revived with advantage. Like wheat, it is a complete food. ”

“ None of the breakfast foods which are so much used are so wholesome as a simple dish of rolled oats or the old-fashioned oatmeal. Served with or without cream and sugar, these are to be highly recommended to persons who are compelled to live indoors a great deal, and are generally relished by those who lead an outdoor life. Although rolled oats is supposed to be a dish quickly prepared, it is better, like oatmeal, for being cooked a long time, and baked for two hours, after being boiled a few minutes, it is very palatable and nutritious. ”

“ An oatmeal set stands at each place, accompanied by the knife, fork, and spoon, tumbler, napkin, [Pg 23] butter-plate—unless the oatmeal course is preceded by one of fruit, when fruit plates, with fruit napkins and finger-bowls, should hold the first place.
With the fresh room, the bright cloth, the shining glass and silver, the vase of flowers, the appetizing food, one must be either very dyspeptic or a confirmed pessimist who does not feel a slight rise of spirits as he takes his place at the breakfast-table. ”

“ A good dish of oatmeal is as creditable a product as a good loaf of bread. It cannot be made without taking pains to get the right proportions of meal, water, and salt, and to cook thoroughly, which means at least four hours in a double boiler, over night in a fireless cooker, or half an hour at twenty pounds in a pressure cooker. Half-cooked oatmeal is most unwholesome, as well as unpalatable. It is part of our patriotic duty not to give so useful a food a bad reputation. ”

“ Each man takes his large wooden bowl and puts into it three or four handfuls of oatmeal, a big pinch of salt, then pours boiling water on it, stirs it with the handle of his spoon, adds sweet milk, and eats his breakfast. ”

“ Oatmeal for the table is made from kiln dried, large, white oats, freed from the husks. Alone it does not make good bread. If long used as a sole or chief food it is reputed to overtax the digestive organs, heat the blood, and produce eruptions of the skin. ”

“ Oats are rich in all the elements necessary for nutrition. Oatmeal is a favorite article of diet among the Scotch, and, judging from their hardy constitutions, their choice is well founded. In consequence of the large proportion of phosphorus which they contain, they are capable of furnishing a large amount of nourishment for the brain. ”

“ Digestion experiments show that when oatmeal is cooked for four hours or more, it is more readily acted upon by the diastase ferment and digested in a shorter time than oatmeal cooked only a half hour. [5] Oatmeal is one of the cheapest sources from which protein is obtained, and when well cooked it can advantageously form an essential part of the ration. Unless thoroughly cooked, the oat preparations do not appear to be quite so completely or easily digested as some of the other cereals. [Pg 126] ”

“ Compare this with the beef and potatoes above, and it will be seen that it is superior in every item excepting the water. One hundred ounces of oatmeal contain 1·9 ounce more of albumen than is contained in 100 ounces of beef and potatoes mixed in equal proportions. The 100 ounces of oatmeal supplies 39·6 ounces more of carbo-hydrate (starch) . The 100 ounces of oatmeal is superior to the extent of 3·8 ounces in sugar. It has the advantage by 3·7 ounces in fat, and 0·9 ounce in salts, but the mixed diet beats the oatmeal by containing 581⁄2 ounces more water ”

“ Physicians say that oatmeal that is swallowed whole is more to be dreaded than meat taken in pieces at a gulp. If you are really found of a cereal, then choose cracked wheat, which is not as heating as oatmeal, is more easily digested, and is more generally well cooked. That the brawny Scotchman is a wonder of health upon an oatmeal diet is not denied, but he, unlike you, is taking much exercise, and spends nearly all his time in a wonderful, bracing air. ”

“ Mix one tablespoonful of oatmeal in half a cupful of cold water, add three cupfuls of milk, or of water, or of milk and water, and a little salt. Cook half an hour in a double boiler, stirring often. Strain if desired, and serve hot or cold. May be flavored with a bit of lemon-peel, spice, or orange-flower water. For children and convalescents.
OATMEAL GRUEL WITH EGG
One cupful of oatmeal and one teaspoonful of salt stirred into four cupfuls of boiling water. Boil one hour, strain, and pour on to two eggs well beaten. Reheat until it thickens, and serve with cream and sugar. ”

“ Now, oatmeal is good for a big, strong man who is out in the open air a great deal; for a woman who is not, it, first of all, has a tendency to cause a greasy skin, and in time to upset the digestion. ”

“ Oatmeal.—Of the good qualities of this Scottish favorite, most of us are aware. “Oatmeal is,” says one authority, “when eaten with milk, a perfect food, having all the requisites for growing children and the young generally. Oatmeal requires much cooking to effectually burst its starch cells, but when it is well cooked it will thicken liquid much more than equal its weight in wheaten flour. The oats of this country are superior to those grown on the continent and in the southern parts of England, but certainly inferior to the Scotch, where considerable pains is taken to cultivate them ”

“ Oatmeal is another staple that we have, and as luxuries we have a good stock of jams, tinned fruits, tinned vegetables, sardines, tinned mackerel, Liebig’s extract, a big box of Stilton cheese, coffee, tinned butter, and white flour. ”

“ Set a boiling some fair water in a pipkin, then strain some oatmeal and put to it, with large mace, whole cinamon, salt, a bundle of sweet herbs, some strained and whole prunes, and some raisins of the sun; being well stewed on a soft fire, and pretty thick, put in some claret-wine and sugar, serve it in a clear scowred deep dish or standing piece, and scrape on sugar. ”

“ Another important fact, especially at the present time, is that we never though of adding sugar to our oatmeal. Those ploughmen would have as soon thought of sprinkling epsom salts on their porridge as sugar. To this day nothing gives me such satisfaction at breakfast as a bowl of oatmeal and milk. To eat a bountiful supply of oatmeal and suppliment it with meat, eggs, etc., is a great mistake. It is too nurtitious and impedes digestion. In those days such terms as calorics, protein, carbohydrates were never used and need never be used when speaking of oatmeal. ”

“ A small quantity either of the boiled, or of the baked flour, or of the baked crumb of bread, ought to be made into food, in the same way as gruel is made, and should then be slightly sweetened, according to the state of the bowels, either with lump or with brown sugar.
(8) Baked flour sometimes produces constipation, when such is the case, Mr. Appleton, of Budleigh Salterton, Devon, wisely recommends a mixture of baked flour, and prepared oatmeal, [Footnote: If there is any difficulty in obtaining prepared oatmeal, Robinson's Scotch Oatmeal will answer equally as well.] ”

“ Oatmeal.—Oats, too, are full of value; a pound and a half a day will keep a hard-working man, for oatmeal increases the power of the muscles, and is rich in bone and flesh-forming materials. What you can get out of oats for 5 cents would cost you 75 cents in lean beef. Oats give increased mental vigour and vitality, as they have so much nerve and brain nourishment in them.
Oatmeal should be kept fresh in a shut case or package. ”

“ We assume then that food is to be selected for three meals from the vegetable kingdom. The meals consist of breakfast at 8.30 a.m., dinner at 1 p.m., and supper at 6.30 p.m. A good breakfast may be made of oatmeal porridge--a splendid dish especially in winter. In almost every household, they have this porridge for breakfast in winter. Thousands of Scotch people live on oatmeal. It tastes like wheat and is sweeter. The preparation is very simple. You can stir one ounce of oatmeal into a sufficient quantity of water and put it on the oil stove. ”

“ Steep the oatmeal over night in warm milk, next morning boil it in cream, and being fine and thick boil’d, put beef-suet to it in a dish or tray, some cloves, mace, nutmeg, salt, and some raisins of the sun, or none, and an onion, somtimes savory, parsley, and sweet marjoram, and fill the panch, &c. ”

“ The articles used in thickening, seasoning, and flavouring broths and soups, are chiefly bread, flour, oatmeal, peas, rice, Scotch and pearl-barley, isinglass, maccaroni, turnips, beet, carrots, mushrooms, garlick, onions, shallots, cress, parsley, thyme, sage, mint, and other sweet and savoury herbs; also allspice, cinnamon, cloves, mace, nutmeg, ginger, pepper, lemon-juice, essence of anchovies, &c. these combined with wine and mushroom catsup, form an endless variety for flavouring and seasoning broths and soups. ”

“ This diet, together with the abandonment of nostrums, led to a cure. Zwieback is bread sliced, and dried in a moderate oven until light brown. Whole wheat bread is best. It is very delicious and is quite easily digested. In the case of the young man, it is probable that the difficulty with the oatmeal was the lack of sufficient cooking. Oatmeal made into gruel, well cooked, and diluted with a large quantity of scalded milk is easy of digestion. ”

“ There are certain things which from their natural composition are more easy of digestion than others, such, for instance, as milk, eggs slightly coagulated and raw, beef tea with the juices in solution, cocoa milk, and cocoa, coffee, jellies, gruels, porridge from prepared grains (except oatmeal) when thoroughly cooked, oysters alive, rice, venison, and tripe. ”