Action Cook Book. Len Deighton

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СКАЧАТЬ Curry powder is chock-a-block with it (21 mgs. per oz.), but an ounce of curry powder goes a long way, so it won’t give you so much per serving.

      Vitamins. There is no need to take vitamin pills if you are eating well, for the body adjusts its intake to the correct proportions for health.

      Vitamin A. Important for cell-growth, especially cells of eye, mouth and intestines. It aids the retina in vision. Best sources are undoubtedly fish-liver oils (which are sold in chemists’). Sheep and beef liver also contain Vitamin A, but only one per cent of the amount the best fish liver does (measured ounce for ounce). If your diet is Western and adequate, you are getting enough.

      Vitamin B. A large complex, covering many groups of chemicals. It is vital for the working of all muscles and nerves, and is needed in large quantities when convalescing from influenza, colds, pneumonia. If you eat much starch and sugar, you use Vitamin B to convert these foods into energy. Therefore, you need even more Vitamin B. Eat liver, lean meat, peas, whole-grain bread or flour, and lentils.

      Vitamin C. This is needed daily because it cannot be stored. It is important in forming the connective tissue between cells. Gums, joints and muscles weaken when there is a deficiency of it. The best sources in order of descending value are: blackcurrants, or blackcurrant juice, brussels sprouts, cabbage, watercress (and other green vegetables) and citrus fruits. Remember Vitamin C is washed away by water and destroyed by heat.

      Vitamin D. Important in the formation of bone and therefore growth. It also keeps the bone hard in normal wear and tear. We make it in our skin in sunlight (but we destroy some Vitamin B), and therefore need more Vitamin-D-rich foods in winter. They are the fish-liver oils (especially tuna and halibut), with cod-liver oil also a source. Certain whole fish are also rich sources, namely herring, sardine, pilchard and salmon. There are two other sources, but they are comparatively poor (about one-sixtieth of the poorest of the above foods); they are egg yolk, and the type of margarine that has added vitamin.

      Carbohydrates and Fats. The eating of these is proportionate to the sophisticated wealth (but not health) of a person. If you care enough to read this book, you are probably sophisticated and wealthy and already cutting down on these foods.

      Our civilization has developed a craving for starches. Starch gives a fast lift, because it is the upper intestine where the enzymes act upon starches and give a rise in blood sugar with its allaying of appetite within twenty minutes. The digestive enzymes that act upon protein do it when the middle intestine is reached, thus it is slower in allaying appetite.

      Salt is a mineral (NaCl) of which the sodium (Na) is the part the body needs. Sodium occurs naturally, by permeation through the land-mass, in any fish, vegetable or food that is produced within 200 miles of the sea. Therefore only people living in the centre of a huge land-mass need salt, and in these regions one finds salt-traders bringing this life-giving food. Most people in the world use salt only as a luxury.

      Salt is one of the most important elements in complex actions in the blood, and although it is true that if you lose sodium you lose weight, salt-restriction must not be used in slimming diets. Any chemist will sell you KCl (potassium chloride) as a salt-substitute, but this is a dangerous expedient, for the body cannot distinguish between K and Na, and will excrete Na, creating a sodium lack and a potassium build-up, which can lead to serious disorders. Use ‘salt-free salts’ only under medical supervision, if at all. Cooks preparing salt-free food should step up herb and spice content to help cloak the blandness of such a diet.

      If you want to lose weight. Starch foods are cheap foods. It is very expensive to eat a non-fattening diet. If you want to lose weight, remember these four points:

      1 Eat plenty of meat, fish and eggs, and you will find that (owing to specific dynamic action) you will be less hungry.

      2 When eating ask: ‘Am I hungry?’ When you are not, stop eating.

      3 It is hard, hard to remove fat once it has formed. On a good diet (i.e. not too quick) it is the fourth and fifth weeks which show the true loss of fat. The loss during the first two weeks is mostly fluid and is only too easily picked up again.

      4 Eat two good protein meals a day. Do not have tasters or snacks. Don’t cheat.

      Construct your diet around things you don’t like. Don’t cut out things you are very fond of and tell yourself it’s only for a few weeks—it’s far better to guide your eating habits into more sensible patterns. The things you must not eat should be left unbought, otherwise they provide a constant temptation. Lastly, remember that most of the world have a diet problem of a different sort: they are hungry.

* Strange but true.

       WHO NEEDS A REFRIGERATOR?

      Refrigeration doesn’t destroy bacteria. A small refrigerator from which cold air escapes when the door is opened subjects the contents to a fluctuating temperature—one of the quickest ways to turn food bad. Keeping the door closed, however, makes the air inside go stale. The greatest benefit a refrigerator can bestow is a supply of ice. Most refrigerators in common use provide six or eight cubes, then take three hours to make another set. In America there is an ice-making machine; until Britain discovers it, it is a good idea to order a few pounds of ice cubes from an ice company, so that guests can have more than half a cube each in their glass. Crushed ice as a bed under a large plate of oysters, or in a bucket with a couple of bottles of Chablis, will work more efficiently than an overcrowded fridge and be appetizing on the table.

      If buying a refrigerator for the first time, note that an absorption type uses over twice as much electricity and has a less efficient freezer than the compression type. On the other hand the former are silent, and the latter will need repairs and replacements now and again. Look at the cubic capacity (ignore the size of shelf space—it doesn’t mean a thing), and ask about ice-making capacity and speed. Your refrigerator should be in the coolest, most draughty place in the kitchen. Heat will rise from it, so don’t have it in the bottom of the larder.

      DEFROSTING: This is necessary when the ice on the freezing compartment is about a quarter of an inch thick—probably about once a week.

      1 Remove food.

      2 Disconnect supply.

      3 Empty freezer of ice and frozen food.

      4 Place a tray of boiling water inside refrigerator.

      5 Wait. Let all ice melt, don’t prod it.

      6 Wipe shelves and inside with a damp rag (with a trace of vinegar).

      7 Switch on, replace food.

      AUTOMATIC DEFROSTING: This switches current off when a certain temperature is reached, and then switches on again. I am not convinced that this is a good way to treat food, even though it is much easier than normal defrosting as above.

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