since the dawn of civilization in the form of
gruels, porridges, and congees. Corn grits,
oatmeal, and cream of wheat are modern
examples. Cooking the whole or milled cereal
in excess of hot water softens the cell walls,
gelates the starch grains and leaches starch
molecules out, and produces a digestible,
bland mush. The only significant
improvement brought by the machine age has
been a reduction in cooking time, either by
grinding the cereal finely enough that it’s
quickly cooked, or by partly precooking it. it
Ready-to-Eat Cereals Ready-to-eat cereals
are the more common breakfast cereal by far
in the United States. Ironically, the industry
that has come under fire for giving children
little more than empty calories, a sort of
early-morning junk food, began as a “pure”
and “scientific” health food, an alternative to
the destructive diet of turn-of-the-century
America. Its story involves a uniquely