Then, too, a properly prepared hard-cooked egg is more digestible than
an improperly cooked one, although the degree of hardness may be
the same.
3. Cooking gives foods greater variety. The same food may be cooked by
various methods and be given very different tastes and appearances; on
the other hand, it may be combined with a large number of other foods,
so as to increase the variety of the dishes in which it is used. The
large number of recipes found in cook books show the attempts that have
been made to obtain variety in cooked dishes by the combining of
different foods.
4. Cooking sterilizes foods either partly or completely. Many foods
need partial or complete sterilization for safety. They must be
completely sterilized if the germs that produce fermentation or
putrefaction and thereby spoil food would be destroyed. This is done
when fruits and vegetables are canned for keeping. Foods that are
exposed to dust, flies, and improper handling should be thoroughly
cooked in order to destroy any pathogenic germs that might be present.
By such germs are meant disease-bearing germs. They differ from germs
that produce fermentation and putrefaction, or spoiling, and that must
in general be considered as a help, for these play an important part in
the raising of bread and the preparation of various foods, as is pointed
out later.
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