Loading...
The Seaforth News, 1961-10-19, Page 6Dinner For Eight • Weights, .'One Pound blow wotfld you like .to have a one-year's•supply offull-Course dinners and lunches - on..your kitchen shelves in ordinary room temperature—dried foods that you could "reeonstitute" in 15 minutes simply by putting them into water? These Are com- ing, The new freeze-dried foods, which need no refrigeration, will soon be seen in all food stores, and in a most tempting variety: single items like steaks, scram, bled eggs, vegetables, as well as. full -course dinners. A freeze-dried steak will look almost like an ordinary steak, but you will be surprised when you take it in your hand.- it will be very light because all the water except the last one per cent will have been evaporated. When you soak it in water, it will change in a few minutes to a regular steak, like the one your neighbor bought al the food market the same day. And your family will probably not be able to taste any difference. Of course, dried foods were already known in World War II, but who liked them? A com- pletely different process is now employed. The food is first frozen, and then placed in cham- bers with a high vacuum. All air is taken out of the chamber except the last 1/300. This low pressure corresponds to the pres- sure our astronauts find at a height of 28 miles above the earth. At this low pressure the ice crystals in the frozen food will be "sublimated," disappear- ing from the food. That means that the ice crystals will be changed directly to water vapor without first going into the form of liquid water, just as solid car- bon dioxide (Dry Ice) will sub- limate into carbon dioxide gas without first becoming liquid. If food is dried in the old- fashioned way,• without being frozen first, the cell walls burst and the taste will be inferior, The new process keeps the cell walls intact, and the taste is fully comparable to that of froz- en food, The great advantage is, however, that freeze-dried food needs no refrigeration, but can be kept at ordinary room tem- perature for years. The packing Must be light- proof and airtight in order to preserve the flavor. If a package is broken, the food will begin to absorb water from the air, and in a short time it will begin to decay. A lamination of alumin- um and plastic foils is being successfully used. it all began in Denmark in the '40's, when a Danish manufac- ture: of refrigeration units, Atlas, -Inc„ built a vacuum -drying plant for Norwegian Pressfish, a com- pany in A,lcsund, Norway. Al- though tin: plant had no freez- ing components, the product was far better than what was known among food technologists at that time, and an official British delegation. scouting Europe for now tint processes, declared that. this uta:, the most important de- velopment they had seen. They contracted for a plant to be built by Atlas, Inc., at the Experimcti- tal Faet'ty of the British Minis- try ut Food in -Aberdeen, writes lumen Gabe in the Christian Sonnies M011ii0r. NOW LIle hall was rolling. The Per, sorer engineers at Atlas dis- cocetecl that freezing food before it was vaenun-dried would solve a it r, at many problems that the lt,ud industry had battled with for }'art'. Atlas continued to improve the method under the expert leadership of Dr, EU rup Petersen, who was invited last year to lecture on freeze-drying at E. large incluitry-military meeting in Chicago. Also other manufacturers the world over have made. contributions to the efficiency of the process. Freeze-dried foods have been in production for a few years but why have they not reached the food stores? The answer is: Because the demand from the armed forces, from institutional kitchens, from explor'er's and campers has been ousels larger. than the few factories could supply, and it has been impos- sible to supply the supermar- kets too. Freeze-driedfoods were used by Sir Edmund Hillary in con- quering Mount Everest and by Sir Vivian Fuchs in crossing the Antarctic, because a package weighing 9 pounds will expand to 25 pounds of various foods when reconstituted in water, As 99 per cent of the water has been taken out, a dinner for eight per- sons weighs slightly above 1 pound. Both U.S. federal and state civil defense authorities have dried foods to stock private and shown great interest in freeze - public fall -out shelters. It must be remembered, however, that water is a must in preparing a meal from a package of freeze- dried food; so it would be nec- essary to stock a shelter with canned water for use with the freeze-dried .items, should the normal water supply be cut off. At present the Canadian or American homemaker is a little behind her European sister. As the process started in Denmark, it is not strange that homemak- ers in that country and in other European countries should be the first to serve food made from freeze-dried items. For quite a little time the Europeans have been able to buy a limited number of precooked, freeze- dried dinners, and on a some- what larger scale, the process has been used for meat chunks in dried soups. Will the refrigerator be oh- solete in a few years? Probably not, but maybe we can do with smaller models. Many believe that freeze-dried food is the food of the future. WE WILL BET ON THE PIGEONS OR STARLINGS To protect buildings and prop- erty from the depredations of birds, a California firm is mar- keting a compound that scares them by "upsetting their py- sche." Scarecrow Strips is a soft, colorless plastic gel squeez- ed from a tube into a pencil -thin strip that is laid along a ledge or any other area where birds are likely to land. As the bird moves around, the gel strip exerts a small, clinging pres- sure. This "sets up a feeling of insecurity" in the bird, causing him to fly off in a hurry, The maker claims the compound will not deteriorate in the hottest or coldest weather, and is effective for about one year. MISS CANADA — Nina Holden, of Victoria, British Columbia, has been named "Miss Canada." Or- iginally runner-up, she was ele- vated to first spot when judges disqualified Connie -Gail Feller. FAST MONEY—Europe-bound lady travelers. Sylvie Courbe, left, and Fran Manglcavallo are delighted by the quick action of the electronic foreign currency dispenser in an airline's office at New York's Idlewild Airport. They could receive, for example, 220 Belgian francs after inserting a five -dollar bill by pushing the right button for the foreign money. It holds five different. currencies. TABLE TALKS elan Andsews Several years ago, an enter- prising club group of homemak- ers in Halifax undertook to run a tea-room, When the subject of menus came up for considera- tion, it was decided to serve bowls of fish chowder for lunch on Fridays. Each member of the committee -in -charge had a fa- vourite recipe for this typically Maritimes dish. Ideas were pool- ed, tests were conducted, and the following recipe emerged as the overall favourite. Try it some- time for lunch or supper. A big steaming bowlful makes a nour- ishing main course dish, EAST COAST FISH CHOWDER 2 pounds haddock fillets ?i pound fat salt pork 1 medium onion, chopped 3 cups sliced potatoes 2 cups water 1 quart fresh mills ?{, cup evaporated milk 8 soda crackers, crushed 3 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons chopped parsley 2 teaspoons salt Pepper Cut fish into bite -sized chtmks. Dice fat salt pork finely and fry until crisp and brown. Remove pork scraps from the pan, drain, and reserve for a garnish. Fry onion in hot fat until tender but not browned. Add potatoes and water. Cook until the potatoes are tender, Add fish; simmer gently for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the chunks will flake, showing they are cooked. In an- other saucepan, combine milk, crackers, butter, parsley, and seasonings. Heat, but do not al- low to boil. Combine with cook- ed fish rod potatoes. Blend well and heat gently for a few min- utes longer. Serve sprinkled with crisp, pork wraps. Makes 8 servings. Note: The secret of success with this recipe lies in the slow cooking. Incidentally, if a whole fish rather than fillets is avail- able, it is an improvement to simmer the head and bones of the fish and use the strained cooking broth in place of water. Sprawled across the broad surface of Ontario are many lakes, rivers, and streams. Most important of these from the standpoint of the commercial fishermen are the Great Lakes. Oddly enough, Lake Erie, the shallowest and second smallest W '..E"NERS WALK—One of the mourners stopped to put a floral tribute on the casket of U.t Sec. Gen. Day HJmmarskjold, as other mourners paid their respects in NdoIa, Norihede f24a; ecia. of the Great Lakes, produces from 50 to. 75 per cent Of On- tario's annual catch of fish and , contains more varieties than any other body of water in the pro- vince, Within the past decade, an im- portant smelt fishery has been developed on Lake Erie. A fa- vourite way of cooking these small fish is pan frying. Fried tomatoes make a delightful ac- companiment. SMELT -TOMATO FRY 2 pounds smelt 1 egg, beaten 2 tabespoons milk 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup dry bread crumbs, cracker crumbs, or flour 4 large tomatoes, sliced 1 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley Thaw fish if frozen. Trim off' heads and tails. Clean and wash. Combine egg, milk and salt. Dip fish in egg mixture and roll in crumbs. Pan fry in fat which is very hot but not smoking. When fish is brown on one side, turn carefully and brown on other side. Drain on absorbent paper. Remove to a heated plat- ter, and keep warm. When fish are cooked, drain and clean frying pan. Heat an additional tablespoon or two of fat in it. Sprinkle tomato slices with sugar and salt. Fry in hot fat for 1 minute on each side. Garnish with a sprinkling of finely chopped parsley. Place on platter with fish. Serve immedi- ately. Makes 6 servings. Large numbers of yellow pick- eral and perch are caught in Ontario's lakes and rivers. They are delicious broiled with a bar- becue sauce, like this: BARBECUED FILLETS 2 pounds perch or pickerel fillets 12 teaspoon salt cup melted butter 2 tablespoons lemon juice ?a cup tomato ketchup 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 2 tablespoons minced onion is teaspoon dry mustard t, teaspoon salt Thaw fillets if frozen. Season with ?i teaspoon salt. Place skin - side down in a single layer an a greased broiler rack. Combine and heat remaining ingredients listed to make a barbecue sauce. Brush fillets well with the mix- ture, Place under broiler, 'hav- ing top of fish 2 to 3 inches from source of heat, Broil 3 to 5 minutes, Baste again with sauce but do not turn, Continue to broil 3 to 3 minutes longer, or until fish flakes easily on test- ing with a fork. Cooking tune will vary with thickness of fil- lets. Remove fillets carefully to a heated platter and pour re- maining hot sauce over them. If desired, garnish with sprigs of parsley. Makes 6 servings. Cooked breaded fishery pro- ducts, such as fillet portions and fish sticks, find favour with On- tario's busy homemakers, These products become quite special when complemented with a pi- quant, sweet and sour sauce such as the following: PIQUANT PORTIONS 1 cup canned pineapple juice 1 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons vinegar 14 teaspoon salt 1l tablespoons cornstarch 2 tablespdon cold 'water its cup canned pineaippie tidbits or shopped canned pineapple !a cup chopped green peper Combine pineapple juice, vine - ISSUE 41 1061 gar, sugar, .end salt. Heat to sim- tncring temperature, Blend corn- starch with water and stir into hot mixture. Cook, stirring con- stantly, until thickened and. cloudiness . disappears. Add pine apple tidbits and green pepper. Cook 3 minutes longer, Serve over 1 to 2 pounds heated fillet portions, or fish sticks. * w According to a recent survey, Ontario's farm ho in can a k ers' serve more canned fish than they do fresh or frozen fish. Salmon isone of our most. popular can- ned fish varieties, and one of the most popular canned salmon dishes is the salmon loaf, easily prepared as. described. SALMON LOAF 1 can (151/ ounces) salmon 1 cup liquid (salmon liquid 'plus milk) 1yz cups soft bread crumbs % cup chopped celery 1 teaspoon grated onion t/ teaspoon salt Dash pepper 2 teaspoons lemon Juice 2 eggs, beaten Drain salmon, saving liquid. Add milk to salmon liquid to make 1 cup total measure. Flake the fish, Combine all ingredients, Place in a well -greased loaf or pan or baking dish. Bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees F,) for 1 hour, or until loaf is firm in center. Let stand for 5 min- utes before unmolding on a heated platter. Serve plain or with a sauce. Makes 6 servings. Idle School Plants Too Expensive So the colleges must, if they are to care for the mount- ing tide of students, use their plants more efficiently. The pub- lic schools should eliminate non -essentials from their curri- cula, and for the benefit of tea- chers who want larger salaries, the school year should be leng- thened, It is cheaper to buy air conditioning for June and July than to permit the school 'plant to stand idle. More intelligent and imaginative use of teaching aids, mostly mechanical devices, is needed for the training of pu- pils. These are the responsibil- ities of all concerned — parents and school boards, but especially superintendents, principals and teachers—By Raymond Moley in NEWSWEEK Rhinos TrctnquilixerGet J To protect rhinoceroses from being wiped out by nativesand. big -garde h u it tars large-scale round -ups have been organized in South Africa so that the beasts, can,be transported to safer pine reserves. But at first the -rhinos often resisted attempts to drug them and charged their would- be captors, On one occasion, an infuriated beast turned nn. a man who fired a drugged dart add tramped him, inflicting serious injury. Other rhinos smashed their trucks, But now, says the Natal Parks' Genie and Fish Preservation Board at Maritzburg, :hose days of danger are over due ;t a greatly improved drugged dart. The Board has recently trans- ferred two white rhinos from rhe Umfolzi game reserve in Zulu- land to a better protected and more spacious reserve at Mituzi, This involved a journey of 500 miles, and neither rhino had to be hog-tied in case of a sudrien revival. They trace" ed quite peacefully in unrc;i:d .rates In "Operation White R', ne,' the syringe fired by a gun into the animal, contains three rep:ate*te drugs. The first causes the snima• to go down. It takes sense minutes to work, but expert:using ;n:.w that even the torr_he t iniac :r til go down within fifteen mon +es. The second drug :ndiues r.m- nesia, so that the animal ha; no memory, even a sabcons.-': us one, of what occurs while ;+ is powerless, and the :bird dr its; acts as a tranquilizer, Says the Board: "This mixture represents a great advance on drugs tried earlier," It has effect on the rhino's breathing, and the safety margin is wide. Animals are not seriously dis- turbed either by an overdos, or underdose. Indeed, the two white rhinos recently moved began browsing quite unconcernedly almost from the moment they recovered front the drug Q. How can 1 clean the inside of a deep vase or jar? A. You can usually make a good job of this by adding bits of wrapping paper to warm soapy water and shaking the. vase or jar well. Ammonia in the rinse water makes the glass more brilliant. Fashion Hint I!I II u rig. ni !Iplil hilllltlIthSl;!III 1111Ill�i pdilllll!IIII'iI�IW 11J "Ili ml6ll�!Ihll�ltiiii Ill ..: 1.1111