FOOD VALUE AND USE OF CHEESE.—Cheese is concentrated food, i.e. it contains much nourishment in small bulk. One pound of cheese contains as much protein as two pounds of eggs or one and one half pounds of meat, and as much fat as three pounds of eggs and one pound of beef. In addition to protein and fat, cheese contains ash and vitamines (see Division Seven).

Cottage Cheese is a particularly good food. Since it is less expensive than most foods rich in protein, it should be used to a greater extent than it is at the present time. Most tasty salads and meat substitute dishes may be prepared from cottage cheese.

Cheese was formerly considered somewhat difficult of digestion, but investigations (see Farmers' Bulletin 487, The Digestion of Cheese, p. 15.) show that cheese differs but little from meat in ease of digestion. Cheese, like protein foods in general, if cooked at all, should be heated at low or moderate temperature.

It is well to cook cheese in combination with other food materials. The use of cheese at the close of a dinner, when sufficient food has already been eaten, is not advisable.

CARE OF CHEESE.—Molds grow rapidly upon cheese, especially if it is placed in a warm place and the air is excluded from it (see Why Foods Spoil). For this reason, cheese should never be placed in a tightly covered dish or jar. It may be placed in a dish or jar and covered with a cloth. To keep cheese that has been cut from drying, wrap it in paraffin paper, then in a slightly dampened cloth, and then in paper. It should not, however, be kept in the damp cloth too long; molds will grow upon it.

MACARONI AND CHEESE

1 cupful macaroni 1 1/2 cupfuls medium White Sauce 2 cupfuls buttered crumbs 3/4 cupful grated cheese

Break macaroni into one-inch pieces. Cook in a large quantity of boiling, salted water, in the same manner as Boiled Rice. When tender, pour into a colander, and run cold water through it. Make the sauce, using half milk and half "macaroni water" for the liquid; then add the cheese and macaroni to it. Pour into a buttered baking-dish. Cover with the buttered crumbs and bake at 450 degrees F. for 20 minutes or until brown.

Rice or noodles, cooked in the same way, may be substituted for macaroni.

QUESTIONS

What must be the condition of cheese in order to grate it? If it is very soft, how should it be prepared to add to the sauce?

What is macaroni? What foodstuff does it contain in large quantity?

What is the effect of cold water on cooked macaroni (see Experiment 17)?

Why is it cooked in a large quantity of boiling water?

What does the water in which the macaroni was cooked contain?

What use can be made of the water that is drained from the macaroni (see Cheese Sauce,)?

What is the price per pound of macaroni? What is the price per pound of rice? What is the price per pound of cheese?

How much cheese, by weight, is required for one cupful of grated cheese?

How many will this recipe for Macaroni and Cheese serve?

How does cheese compare in price per pound with beefsteak? How does it compare in nutritive value? How much of the cheese is waste material? How much of beefsteak is waste material? Which is the cheaper food?