The flour, from which our bread is made, contains starch, and so does the potato. We can wash the starch out of some ?our in a basin of water. The starch is in the form of tiny grains or bags, too small to be seen with the naked eye. Boiling water bursts these bags, and so dissolves the starch.
Lesson 10
Starch for Food
"If someone had told me a week ago," said Willie, "that we eat starch every day, it would have sounded like a joke. But we know now that it is true, for our bread and puddings and cakes and potatoes all contain starch.""Teacher was talking about sago, arrowroot, and tapioca," said Fred. "He says they are almost pure starch.""I have seen mother make sago and tapioca puddings," said Norah. "Can you tell me anything about them, Fred?""I"ll try," said Fred.
"Let us think about the sago first. Mother gave me some in this saucer. Look at it. It is like little round balls.
"Teacher says it comes from a tree called the Sago Palm, that grows in very hot lands. It is got from the soft matter in the stem, which we call the pith.
"When the tree is fully grown, it is cut down, and the soft pith is taken out. This pith then lookssomething like the inside of a dried apple. It is rather sticky, too, like gum.