Meats are among the most important articles of diet. From them man obtains the largest part of his protein food.

Meat flavors are especially savory and excite a flow of saliva and gastric juice. Raw meat, if it is finely divided or thoroughly masticated, is readily digested. It is not so palatable as cooked meat, and is therefore rarely eaten by civilized people.

Cooking effects several changes in meat: it causes a loss of water, a loss of fat, a loss of extractives, and, by gelatinizing the connective tissue, which then becomes soluble, loosens the fibers of the flesh so that they fall apart and are readily reached by the digestive juices. The change effected in the color of the meat renders it more agreeable to the eye of the diner, and the modification of its flavor is more agreeable to the taste.

It is not necessary here to discuss in detail methods of cooking, but the processes should be understood sufficiently to comprehend their purpose. Meat may be boiled by placing it in cold water and subjecting it to moderate heat for a long time. Before the temperature of the water is much elevated the greater part of the salts, of the juice, and of the extractives or flavors of the meat will be dissolved. As the flesh is subsequently cooked through by the greater heat of the water in which it is placed, the fiber becomes gray in color, the connective tissue being gelatinized and partly dissolved so that the meat readily falls to pieces. It is, however, quite tasteless, although not lacking in nutritive properties. The flavoring is in the fluid in which the meat has been cooked. This is the proper way to stew meat when moderate quantities of water are used and the meat is cut into small pieces before being placed in it. The meat and the fluid in which it is cooked are then eaten together. This makes a savory and easily digested dish. But if a large mass of meat is to be cooked in water, the water should be boiling before the meat is put into it. The albumin of the superficial fibers will be at once coagulated and will seal the juices in the meat. The water should then be allowed to cool so that it is at about 1800 F. instead of 2120 F., and should be kept at this temperature until the mass of flesh is thoroughly cooked. By this process the meat will be stewed in its own juices, which are retained in it.

When meat is roasted after the modern fashion, it is placed in a very hot oven. The hot air about it rapidly coagulates the superficial fibers and therefore prevents the escape of the juices. It should then be kept for a considerable time at a somewhat lower temperature. Large pieces, such as joints and large roasts, should be frequently basted by pouring over them the fat and juices that accumulate in the dish. This helps to seal the meat more thoroughly and to retain the largest part of the juice. It also causes chemical changes that modify the flavor.

The olden English fashion of roasting was to place the meat upon a spit before the grate and turn it continuously so that each portion of the periphery was successively exposed directly to the heat. Broiling or grilling over an open fire is essentially the same process, but the portion of meat is small in size and is cooked through at once. Exposure to very hot air coagulates the albumin upon the surface, and the juices within help both to cook the inner fibers and to cause the whole to swell slightly. The inner fibers are juicy and particularly savory.

Frying, as it is ordinarily practised, is not properly managed. It is customary to put a small quantity of fat or oil in a shallow dish over a hot fire; just enough is used to prevent the food from sticking to the dish. When it is melted and simmering, the meat is put in the dish, cooked quickly upon one side, turned and cooked upon the other; if it is small, turning is not considered necessary. The surface of the meat is seared in the hot fat, but as it is not immersed in it, this is done unevenly. Some of the fat penetrates and often saturates it. The hot fat is partly decomposed, and fatty acids are liberated that irritate the stomach when the meat is eaten. The fat that permeates the meat prevents the ready access of the gastric juice to the fibers, and therefore makes their digestion slow. The correct method of frying is the following: A deep dish full of oil is heated to boiling, which means that the oil is at a temperature of from 3500 to 3800 F.; and the meat to be fried is immersed in this boiling oil. The surface is at once completely seared, the superficial albumin coagulated, the mass made impermea-able and doubly so because the particles of water attempting to escape from the meat keeps it surrounded by a layer of steam. Immersion in the extremely hot fat cooks the food with rapidity. If it is removed from the oil as soon as it is cooked and permitted to drip, it is not excessively fat and not nearly so indigestible as what is ordinarily called fried food.

Meat is made most savory by roasting or broiling. It is most digestible when properly stewed, and least so when fried. All meats retain their flavor and their juiciness when the surfaces are rapidly coagulated by high temperature and the interior slowly cooked at a much lower temperature. Roasting accomplishes this well, although boiling can be made to do so when it is carried out correctly.

The flavor of meat varies with the species of animal from which it is derived. It is most distinct and characteristic in mature animals, and especially in those that have led an active life. The food habitually taken by an animal modifies the flavor of its flesh. The difference thus produced is especially noticeable in ducks fed only upon grain, and in ducks fed partly upon fish. The flesh of the latter retains a distinct taste of fish. When animals first are killed, their meat is less savory than when kept for some time in a cool place. By keeping, changes are produced in it. The albumin partly coagulates, lactic acid forms in the muscle and modifies part of the albumin, making it somewhat more soluble, and rendering the whole more tender. Except in the tropics, where meat cannot be kept long, it is customary to keep it in cold rooms for some time, both that a richer flavor may develop in it and that it may become tender.