PREPARED, OR READY-TO-EAT, CEREALS

82.

All the cereals that have been discussed up to this point require cooking; but there are many

varieties of cereal food on the market that are ready to eat and therefore need no further preparation.

Chief among these are the cereal foods known as

flakes

. These are first made by cooking the grain, then

rolling it between rollers, and finally toasting it. The grains that are treated in this way for the

preparation of flake foods are wheat, corn, rye, and rice. It is well to remember this fact, because the

trade name does not always indicate the kind of grain that has been used to make the food. In another

form in which cereals, principally wheat, appear on the market, they are cooked, shredded, pressed into

biscuits, and then toasted. Again, cereals are made into loaves with the use of yeast, like bread, and after

being thoroughly baked, are ground into small pieces. Wheat generally forms the basis of these

preparations, and to it are added such other grains as rye and barley.

83.

The toasting of cereals improves their flavor very materially and at the same time increases their

digestibility. In fact, cereals that have been subjected to this process are said to be predigested, because

the starch granules that have been browned in the toasting are changed into

dextrine

, and this is one of

the stages through which they must pass in their process of digestion in the body. However, the

housewife should not allow herself to be influenced unduly by what is said about all prepared cereals,

because the manufacturer, who has depended largely on advertising for the sale of his product,

sometimes becomes slightly overzealous and makes statements that will bear questioning. For instance,

some of these foods are claimed to be muscle builders, but every one should remember that, with the

exception of rye and wheat, which build up the tissues to a certain extent, the cereals strengthen the

muscles in only a slight degree. Others of these foods are said to be nerve and brain foods, but it should

be borne in mind that no food acts directly on the nerves or the brain. In reality, only those foods which

keep the body mentally and physically in good condition have an effect on the nerves and the brain, and

this at best is an indirect effect.