Cereals : Production and Composition

Library of Cookery
By Women's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences

(Page 3 of 19)

1. Origin of Cereals. - Cereals, which is the term applied to the edible seeds of certain grains, originated with the civilization of man. When man lived in a savage state, he wandered about from place to place and depended for his food on hunting and fishing; but as he ceased his roaming and began to settle in regions that he found attractive, it was not long before he became aware of the possibilities of the ground about him and realized the advantage of tilling the soil as a means of procuring food. Indeed, the cultivation of the soil for the production of food may be considered as one of the first steps in his civilization. Among the foods he cultivated were grains, and from the earliest times to the present day they have been the main crop and have formed the chief food of people wherever it is possible to produce them.

The grains belong to the family of grasses, and through cultivation their seeds, which store the nourishment for the growth of new plants, have been made to store a sufficient amount of nourishment to permit man to collect and use it as food. The name cereals was derived from the goddess Ceres, whom the Romans believed to be the protector of their crops and harvests. Numerous grains are produced, but only eight of these cereals are used extensively as food, namely, wheat, corn, oats, rice, barley, rye, buckwheat, and millet.

2. Abundance of Production. - With the exception of the desert lands and the Arctic regions, cereals of some kind are grown over the entire world. Some varieties thrive in the hot countries, others flower like in the temperate regions, and still others mature and ripen in the short warm season of the colder northern climates. In fact, there is practically no kind of soil that will not produce a crop of some variety of grain. Since grains are so easily grown and are so plentiful, cereals and foods made from them furnish a large part of the world's food supply. Indeed, about one-fourth of all the food eaten by the inhabitants of the world, when it is considered as a whole, is made up of cereals.

3. Economic Value of Cereals. - The abundance of the world's grain supply makes the cost so moderate that many of the poorer classes of people in various countries, especially those in the Far East, live almost entirely on cereals. Still there is another factor that controls the low cost of cereals and grains and keeps them within the means of all classes of people, and that is their excellent keeping quality. They require very little care and will keep for an indefinite period of time. Because of their imperishable nature, they may be stored in large quantities and distributed to consumers as they are needed and at a price that is fairly uniform.

Since the cost of cereals is moderate, they should form a large proportion of the diet of the entire family, especially if the family's income will allow only a limited sum to be spent for food. Some cereals, of course, are much cheaper than others, and in purchasing this kind of food the housewife should be governed accordingly. Those which require an elaborate manufacturing process in their preparation for the market are the most expensive, but they have an advantage in that they require practically no preparation before serving.

For the varieties that must be cooked, the cost of preparing the dish, especially if the price of fuel is high, must be taken into consideration, for unless some thought is given to the economical use of the fuel, as well as to the method of cooking employed, the cost of the prepared dish may be greatly increased. However, in the preparation of cereals, very little skill or energy is required and a general knowledge of the best methods for one of them can, as a rule, be applied to all.

4. Cereal Products. - Besides the cereals already mentioned, a number of products of cereals are extensively used in cookery, chief among them being flower, corn starch, and other starches. Although every housewife should possess knowledge of the uses of each of these, instruction in them is not given until later. This Section includes particularly the study of grains - whole, cracked, flaked, and those made into grits or meal - and the use and the serving of them, as well as ready-to-eat cereals, which are commonly referred to as breakfast foods. The only additional foods to which attention is given at this time are macaroni, spaghetti, and foods of a similar nature, for as these are made from wheat they are truly cereal products. In their preparation for the table, the rules that govern the other cereal foods apply also in a large measure to them.

Composition of Cereals

5. The composition of all cereals is similar, yet each one has its distinguishing feature. While all the five food substances - water, mineral matter, protein, fat, and carbohydrate - are to be found in cereals, they occur in different quantities in the various kinds. Some contain large quantities of protein and others practically none, and while certain ones have considerable fat others possess comparatively small quantities. A characteristic of all cereals, however, is that they contain a large amount of carbohydrate and a small amount of water. It is well to remember, though, that while the food substances of cereals are found in sufficient quantities to sustain life, they will not permit a person to live for long periods of time exclusively on this form of food. Likewise, it will be well to observe that the foods made from a certain grain will be quite similar in composition to the grain itself; that is, any change in the composition of the foods must be brought about by the addition of other substances.

6. All grains are similar in general structure, too. The largest proportion of carbohydrate lies in the center, this substance growing less toward the outside of the grain. The protein lies near the outside, and grows less toward the center. Fat is found in small amounts scattered through the entire grain, but most of it is found in the germ, which is a tiny portion of the grain from which the new plant sprouts. The mineral matter of cereals is found chiefly just inside the bran, or outer covering, so that when this covering is removed, as in the process of preparation for food, a certain amount of mineral matter is generally lost.