Fire as an agent in human culture / by Walter Hough.

  • Walter Hough
Date:
1926
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Fire as an agent in human culture / by Walter Hough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    effects of the use of cooked food upon the progress of mankind, which offers a basis for an extended study merely to be suggested here. It is seen that the special inventions mentioned arise primarily in the stages of progress, and secondarily the increasing variety of proc¬ esses are due to the substances to be cooked. For example, animal substances require certain technic, starting with those simple devices connected with the beginning of cooking, and vegetal substances, whose requirements for rendering the food edible are more complicated. It is also apparent in the larger consideration of the subject that environment is a major factor in the character of the food supply and food habits. Schematically we may make a zonal distribution of food supply to man as follows: Arctic, animal; Temperate, mixed; Tropical, vegetal; South Temperate, mixed; and Antarctic, animal. “ No strict lines separate these classes, so that in regions where it is commonly said that the tribes are meat eaters exclusively, vegetal food is also of importance, and vice versa.76 The following table gives the processes used in cooking and the de¬ vices coming under the various heads arranged in the suggested order of development: CLASSIFICATION OF COOKING PROCESSES AND DEVICES Roasting and broiling_Broche, skewer, animal in skin. Spit. Gridiron. GrUl. Frying_Flat stone. Pan. Deep fat vessel. Baking_ Flat stone. Pottery vessel with cover. Oven_ Hot stones on object. Clay cover. Pit oven. Reflector. Baker's oven. Dutch oven. Oven in range. Electric oven. Boiling- Stones in basket. Pot over fire. Stewing-Pot on range. Steam jacket pot. Chafing- In can or steaming. Steaming-Over boiling water. Sunning-Exposure to hot sun. Electric___Above methods. Chemical__ By lime. 74 Article, Food. Handbook of American Indians, Bull. 30, Bur. Amer. Ethnology, 1907, p. 466.