Excerpts from Unfired Food In Practice

[light food]

I have this old raw food book and I thought I would excerpt interesting parts of it. It was published in 1913 by Stanley Gibbon (revised 1924 by Edgar Saxon)

WHY UNFIRED FOOD

Unfired food! "Raw food" some people call it. What does it all mean, and why is there so much talk of it to-day! . . .

It cannot be claimed that ordinary vegetariansim is an unqualified success as regards health. It cannot be claimed that it succeeds remedially in all cases, or that vegetarians are never ill; though there is no doubt that the average vegetarian who starts at the same point as the average meat eater is healthier, other things (environment, occupation, etc.) being equal. We have yet to find a case of failure when the unfired diet has been adopted as the cure; that is, not the suppression of symptoms as in the use of drugs, but the removal of causes, always provided that the patient conscientiously follows the rules of eutrophy laid down by a qualified trophotherapist. Nervous breakdowns, dysepepia, chronic catarrh, uric acid troubles in general, and the great curse of this day and generation, constipation - these are but various forms of a deep rooted disorder traceable to a faulty diet. . .

It then goes on about constipation, putrfication, colon health and toxins.

With regard to the practical abolition of cooking and the heavy reduction of food preparation involved in the unfired dietary, this manifestly aids in a real emancipation of woman. An unfired meal of four courses can be prepared, eaten, and cleared away in two hours, including the washing of all dishes. It leaves the chef, or rather the "troph" with a greater amount of time . . .

It should also be born in mind, when entertaining those who are strange to unfired feeding, that most people are pleased to have a novel meal, provided it be served artistically and proper attention paid to flavours. Thousands cleave to the old conventional dishes through sheer lack of acquaintance with new and untried methods; and with such, a daintily prepared unfired meal is generally a far more effective piece of propaganda than hours of zealous argument!

ON BEGINNING

It is not essential that the meateater should go through a long course of the fired, or conventional, vegetarian dietary as a preparation for the vastly preferable unfired foods. But changes must be made slowly, in order that the system may get adjusted to the pure food at its own leisure; otherwise the system, finding it has not to deal with the customary supply of toxins, wastes and de-vitalized elements contained in the usual food, may make a rush in getting rid of the accumulated impurities, and cause the beginner some degree of discomfort in the form of bilious attacks, or skin eruptions, or colds. It is therefore wise to reduce the intake of undesirable foods little by little. In proportion to the reduced intake, the system will then cease to store up poisons, and gradually get rid of them through the eliminative organ - the skin, the lungs, the kidneys, and the bowels.

Daily bathing, skin culture by friction, and the practice of deep full nasal breathing, will be found invaluable reinforcements of the diet in carrying through the cleansing process.

The unpleasant symptoms which often accompany the change of diet are really grand things, as disease is but Nature's effort to rid the body of accumulated impurity. When this great truth is grasped, the transition can be acheived without depression or fear.

The rest of the chapter is about easing into raw food by substituting this for that, slowing down detox if needed, chewing well: "the true pleasure of food lies in retaining it in the mouth until all the flavours have been extracted"

The beginner, having come thus far along the path, should now be ready to emerge into the realms of complete "unfired-dom." In common with all who have made that journey he will be astonished, increasingly, at the immense variety of dainty yet satisfying dishes, and at the almost infinite variety of delicate flavours.

"Un-fired-dom" will disclose to the honest seeker an appreciation and delight in life hitherto unknown to him, both in its beauty of colour and in its chaste pleasures. Finally, both experience and ancient wisdom indicate that by training the body to subsist on the simple, vital, unspoiled fruits of the earth, the mind itself takes on new powers, and the entire organism becomes a more responsive vehicle for the higher energies of the spirit.

SPECIMEN MEALS

Below is given a specimen of a day's meals as partaken of in an "apyrtropher" household. They are all simple, and can be prepared and eaten in the specified time of two hours per meal. Of, course breakfast would not take so long.

BREAKFAST
Nut-o-Meal, 2 to 4 ozs, with Fruit Salad in season

LUNCHEON
Vegetable Salad
Nut-o-Meal
Health Drink

DINNER
Soup
Vegetable Salad
Nut-o-Meal
Dessert of Fresh Fruit or dried fruit

A complete unfired meal would include, in addition to the foregoing, Unfired Breads, Confections, Cakes, Pies, etc. Recipes for the preparation of these are beyond our present scope; but this book will, it is hoped, stimulate many to investigate and experiment, as the varieties of delicious combinations that can be obtained are almost endless.

It is a significant fact that the intelligent and increasing introduction of unfired dishes or foods into the dietary produces an increasing disinclination for cooked food, while the reverse process has no such effect . . .

The chapter then explains these foods in more detail. Soups can be warmed, fruit drinks are the pulp of macerated fruit diluted with water and well beaten, Nut-o-Meals are ground grains with an equal proportion of ground nuts with fresh or dried fruit. and since lemons and limes "are not always within the range of practical domestic economy" they used rhubarb juice instead.

RECIPES

No.2 CREME D'ASPERGE
1 1/2 oz. Asperagus, cut as thin as a knife-blade, using tender tips only.
Cream: Mix together and beat until creamy:
1 oz. Pine Kernels or Peanuts
1 oz. Rhubarb juice
1/2 oz. Honey

No. 5 GREEN CORN SALAD
2 oz. Green Corn, sliced off the cob; also grate cob.
1 oz. Pine Kernals, milled.
1/2 oz. Olive Oil
Stir well and serve in Lettuce Leaf.

No. 9 STRAWBERRY SALAD
1 oz. Strawberries, macerated.
1 oz. Pine Kernels or Almonds, milled.
Beat together to a creamy consistency and pour over
3 oz. Strawberries.

No. 12 BLACKDA SALAD
3 oz. Blackberries
1 oz. Stoned Dates, chopped
Toss together and add-
1 oz. Pine Kernels or Peanuts, milled

No. 25 BANRA SALAD
2 oz. Banana, chipped
1/2 oz. Seedless Rasins
1/2 oz. Pine Kernels, milled.
Put raisins and Pignolias through a mincer, and beat to a cream, adding water to taste: pour this over chipped Banans and serve in Lettuce or Cabbage Leaf.

No. 27 WINTER MEDLEY
1/2 oz. Apples, chopped
1/2 oz. Figs
1/2 oz. Dates
1/2 oz. Currants
1/2 oz. rasins put through a mincer
1/2 oz shelled Walnuts, milled
Toss all together and serve with Dressing No. 45 Lemonade.

No. 38 LEMON CHEESE
1 oz. Pine Kernels or Peanuts, milled
Mix into a stiff paste with Lemon Juice to taste.

No. 43 RAISIN TEA
1oz. Rasins
6 oz. Water
Mince Raisins and beat thoroghly with 6 oz. water. This is improved by standing for a hour or two.

[GreenPrince]

Unfired food... I really like this expression. Unfired, of course, why should I ”burn” my food?

Suprising modern thinking in the beginning of the last century. We can't wait another 100 years.
We have to accelerate the development now.

I want to try some recipes too.

[mcasburn]

Suprising modern thinking in the beginning of the last century.

No, it's surprisingly ANCIENT thinking... :)

This excerpt was really interesting to read! Thanks for posting it.

[JennaBoBenna]

Hey, that's cool!

[Dutchie]

This is so interesting. How can it happen that they know
this 100 years ago, and we still eating SAD!
In Holland we have a similar book too, it's from Dr.Vogel.
Maybe you know him, he is the one from the Herbamare,
that LayLay sometimes uses in her recipes.
He was talking about raw food to, that's how I got
here by surching the net.

Edit; some info about Dr.A Vogel.

Click here for info.

[light food]

Raw food is both a very old and a very modern idea, it's constantly being rediscovered :) Another interesting thing about this booklet is that it was published in England, and the variety of fruits that they had available in 1913 like Bananas and figs. The book said that lemons might be too expensive but nowhere in the book does it mention that bananas are out of the price range of the average person!

Thanks Duchie for that info, I may have heard the name Dr. Vogel, but I never read his bio before. It's impressive that he worked until 88 and died at 94!