Page:The Chinese cook book.djvu/219



The most important thing is that food should be of the proper quality. Quality is more important than quantity. Food must also be of the right kind and in season.

A cook should know what the different foods contain, so that he can pick out the most nutritious.

Fat only is not a benefit to the body, but when combined with other foods it is used as fuel.

The value of food as a source of energy is stated by a heat unit called a calory. A calory is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water one degree centigrade. The fuel value of foods may be computed in a different manner.

Different foods require different lengths of time for digestion.

The following table gives approximately the