Chapter XVII

. For the sake of economy we are forced to use the relatively cheaper cuts, and to seek for meat substitutes. We must also take pains to use the cooking processes that will make the tough meats palatable.

[Illustration: FIG. 60.——The fore quarter of beef, hanging.

KEY USES 1. 1st and 2d ribs } 2. 3d and 4th ribs } Prime Roasts 3. 5th and 6th ribs ” 4. 7th rib ” 5. 8th rib ” 6. 9th rib ” 7. Chuck steaks, or roasts, 10th to 13th ribs ” 8. Chuck pot roast ” 9. Neck Beef tea, etc. 10. Yoke ” 11. Navel Stew and corning 12. Plate ” 13. Brisket Corning 14. Cross Rib Pot Roast 15. Shoulder ” 16. Shin Soup

_Courtesy of the Bureau of Publications, Teachers College._]

=Composition and nutritive value.=——Figure 64 shows you the composition of several common meats. Meat is valuable chiefly for its protein, fat, and mineral salts. The juices of the meat in the muscle cells contain nitrogenous extractive materials which give flavor, and are possibly stimulating, but they have no food value. From the bone and also from the connective tissue, gelatin is dissolved in cooking. Gelatin is a protein, but differs in certain chemical properties from other proteins, and cannot be used as the only source of nitrogen. It is a very useful protein, however, and as it can be substituted in part for more expensive proteins, it used to be called a “protein saver.”

In spite of the fact that meat is a common article of diet it should not be used in excess. Other forms of protein, as those in eggs and milk, are usually digested as easily, and most people can digest vegetable proteins if the vegetables are carefully prepared. Very little children should not have meat, for it has stimulating properties which are undesirable for them, and it takes away the taste for foods more important for growth (see Food for Growth,