History of Natto and Its Relatives (1405-2012 - SoyInfo Center

31): Coffee is known to be detrimental to good health and
void of nutrients. Rye, for example, has been used since the
17th century as a coffee substitute. Barley also plays a major
role, especially as malt. A table (p. 30) shows the nutritional
composition of ten coffee substitutes, including chicory, fi gs,
lupin, and carob. Soy coffee tastes remarkably similar to real
coffee. In Istria (Istrien), in the Austrian alps, in Switzerland
as well as in Alsace (Elsass), the soybean has been used
since its introduction as a coffee substitute. Haberlandt
reported in his work that a teacher from Capo d’Istria told
him that the soybean was used as a coffee substitute in
Istria, and a friend told him that there was no difference
between the fl avor of the two. The Thunschen is used to
make good soy coffee. The soybeans are mechanically
cleaned, put into a trommel, agitated with water at 65-70ºC,
brushed and thereby freed of a large number of impurities
which can leave a burned smell. The aroma of soy coffee
can be improved by impregnation with an extract of largely
decaffeinated coffee. It has roughly twice the nutrients of
regular coffee and no harmful constituents.
Soybean milk (Sojabohnen-Milch, p. 32-33): The most
popular vegetable milk is Dr. Lahmann’s Vegetable Milk
(Lahmannsche Vegetabile Milch), an emulsion made from
almonds and nuts. In Japan, they make milk from soybeans;
he describes the process, inaccurately, based on information
from Winkler. This milk is also used to make cheese [tofu].
Also in Europe there have been successful attempts to make
a soymilk adapted to European tastes, as in France by the
Caseo-Sojaine at Vallées near Asnieres, and in England by
the Synthetic Milk Syndicate. Using the process of Dr. Fritz
Goessel, the latter company has a factory in Liverpool; it
makes 100 liters of soymilk from: 10 kg ground soybeans
plus 5 gm sodium phosphate, 2.4 kg lactose, 2 kg sesame oil,
6 gm common salt, and 60 gm sodium carbonate. Also the
Soyamawerke in Frankfurt makes a soybean milk, named
Soyama, as mentioned above (fresh and dried milk and
cream). Recently Prof. Melhuish developed a new method
using soybean, peanuts, and added coconut milk fat.
Soy meat substitutes (Soja-Fleischersatz; p. 33):
Soyamawerke makes a product named Soyama-Fleisch-
Ersatz.
Soybean as a chocolate substitute (p. 34): Haberlandt
reports such a product.
Soya rubber substitute (p. 34): Goessel and Sauer have
developed a rubber substitute made from soybean oil.
The utilization of soya in agriculture (p. 34-38): Use as
fodder for cows. In 1880 Blascowicz [Blaskovics], Assistant
at the Royal Hungarian Academy in Hungarian Altenburg,
conducted fodder tests, whose results are given in various
tables.
Conclusions (p. 38).
Note: This is the earliest document seen that uses the
word Ersatz or the word Fleischersatz. They mean “artifi cial
or inferior substitute” and “meat substitute” respectively.
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 81
Though often associated with World War I, the word “ersatz”
(which means simply “substitute” in German) was actually
adopted into English as early as 1875, in reference to the
German army’s “Ersatz reserve,” or second-string force,
made up of men unqualifi ed for the regular army and drawn
upon only as needed to replace missing soldiers. Hence
the meaning “inferior substitute.” Address: Frohnleiten,
Steiermark [Austria].
135. Lyman, Benjamin Smith. 1917. Vegetarian diet and
dishes. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Ferris & Leach. 416 p.
See p. 155-58. Index. Portrait. 21 cm. [3 ref]
• Summary: Discusses the physiological, economical, and
ethical advantages of a vegetarian diet, with recipes and
principles of preparation. The author, who wrote mostly
about geology, lived 1835-1920.
A large table titled “Composition of foods” (p. 44-47)
gives the percentage of protein, fat, carbohydrates, and ash
(on a dry basis) for many foods, including natto, fresh tofu,
soy bean–dried, Swiss miso, soy [shoyu] No. 1 and 2, and
white miso (all fi gures from Abel 1900), plus peanuts–dried.
In the chapter titled “Foods of vegetable origin” (p.
141-267), the section on “Pulse” (p. 152-78) contains a
subsection titled “Soy bean” (p. 155-58), which begins:
“The soy bean of China and Japan is perhaps the most
important food plant there, next to rice. The bean is eaten
to a small extent boiled like other beans; but is generally
elaborated into a variety of products remarkably rich in
protein and fat and therefore going well with rice so defi cient
in those constituents.” The following soy-related subjects
are discussed, based largely on the writings of others: Soy
sauce (Abel), natto (Abel), miso (R. Takahashi), tofu (Abel),
aburage, koritofu, substitutes for milk and cheese, and
nutritional comparison with eggs, milk and cheese (Abel,
Atwater).
The section titled “Substitutes for milk and cheese”
states: “The Chinese in Paris [probably Li Yu-ying] have
been urging the culture of the soy bean. The seeds, when
boiled, mashed, and pressed, yield both milk and cheese;
if thinned with water, a very good substitute for animal
milk; and if coagulated with mineral salt, a cheese that is
usually eaten fresh, though it may be preserved by salting
or smoking, after being cooked. Three varieties of the
cheese are common in the oriental markets; a fermented
kind [fermented tofu], white, yellow, or gray in color, with
a piquant taste, like roquefort; a salty and white kind, like
goats’ milk cheese; and a third kind, smoky and resembling
Gruyére. The soy cheese costs about a fi ftieth as much as
animal cheese; and in nutritive value, like the vegetable milk,
compares very favorably with the ordinary products of the
cow. (‘Phila. Ledger,’ Sept. 27, 1906).”
Note 1. No such article in the Philadelphia Ledger or the
Public Ledger (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), of this date, can
be found.