cipes for non-flesh
dishes. Nowadays most people admit that "too much meat is eaten"; but
when the housewife tries to put before her family or friends a meal in
which meat is to be conspicuous by its absence, she is often at a loss
how to set about it.

Vegetarians also frequently stay with non-vegetarian friends, or lodge
with others who do not understand how to provide for them. For such
this book will especially prove useful, for in it will be found a set
of thirty menus, one for each day in a month, giving suitable recipes
with quantities for one person only. Throughout this book it will be
found that the use of wholemeal has been introduced in the place of
white flour. Those persons who do not care to follow the hygienic
principle in its entirety can easily substitute white flour if
preferred. The recipes have been written bearing in mind the necessity
for a wholesome diet; and they will be found to be less rich than
those in most of the cookery books published. Should any one wish to
make the dishes richer, it can easily be done by an addition of
butter, eggs, or cream.

Let me draw the attention of vegetarians to the use of soaked sago in
many dishes. This is a farinaceous food which should be used much more
largely in vegetarian cookery than it is. Thoroughly soaked sago
should be used in all dishes, savouries or sweets, in which a
substitute for suet is required to lighten the mixture; that is, in
boiled savouries or sweets which are largely made of wholemeal, as,
for instance, in vegetable haggis, roly-poly pudding, and all fruit or
vegetable puddings which are boiled in a paste. When soaked sago is
used (taking a teacupful of dry sago to two breakfastcupfuls of meal)
a light paste will be obtained which would mislead any meat eater into
the belief that suet or, at any rate, baking powder had been used.
Baking powder, tartaric acid, soda and bicarbonate of soda, are all
most injurious to the system, and these chemicals have been left out
of this book entirely. In breads and cakes I have used a small
quantity of yeast for the rising of the dough; those who once have got
accustomed to the use of yeast will not find it any more trouble than
using baking powder. It may here be beneficial to give a few hints as
to the harm done by the use of the most commonly introduced chemicals,
namely, soda, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, tartaric acid, and
citric acid. Not only do they delay the digestion of the foods in