Tag: measurement

Topic modeling for government publications

Here are the topic modeling results for the United States government publications in the collection. The ten word clouds in the chart below show different topics or clusters of words that recur across all of the texts. The names of the topics were not generated by the algorithm but rather added as a way to label and interpret the clusters. While it is impossible to draw definitive analytical conclusions, the topics do provide a interesting snapshot of the subject matter.

The government publications include primarily military cooking manuals with some additional USDA recipe booklets focusing on nutrition and use of substitute ingredients during wartime rationing. The subject matter of these publications is quite different from the rest of the cookbooks in the collection and this difference is demonstrated in the topic word clouds. The topics represent a more clearly defined, scientific approach to cooking with clear groups of ingredients and measurements. Topic 2 (dairy), topic 5 (bread), topic 6 (stew), topic 7 (meat), and topic 10 (equipment) are all quite straightforward descriptions of basic kitchen items.  Topic 4 (meat analysis) and topic 9 (bread analysis) emphasize weights, measures, and nutrition terms such as results, protein and digestibility.  Topic 1 (mess hall) includes words such as men, mess, recipe, meal, rations  and serves to describe the daily workings of a military kitchen. Topic 8 (labor and costs) addresses the economic aspects of running a large food service operation. 

 

Topic 1: Mess hall
  

Topic 2: Dairy
 

Topic 3: Nutrition
  

Topic 4: Meat analysis
 

Topic 5: Bread
  

Topic 6: Stew
 

Topic 7: Meat
  

Topic 8: Labor and costs
 

Topic 9: Bread analysis
  

Topic 10: Equipment

Fannie Farmer

Fannie Farmer

Fannie Merritt Farmer (1857-1915) was a major figure in American cooking in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Her most successful cookbook, The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, was first published in 1896 and sold millions of copies in many subsequent printings and editions. The 100th anniversary edition was published in 1996 and the book is still in print today.

The book was the first to introduce precise measurement and Farmer later became “the mother of level measurements.” Her discussion of food composition, caloric calculations and the body’s need for nutrients, formed a systematic view of cooking that influenced cooking instruction for decades to come (Feeding America).

Text analysis of Farmer’s books clearly illustrates her emphasis on precise measurements. When her books are compared to the full set of titles in Early American Cookbooks, the over and under-represented terms show that measurement is the key difference. In the tag clouds below, the over-represented terms are tablespoons, teaspoons, and cup. The under-represented terms are teaspoonful, tablespoonful and cupful which were frequently used in cookbooks of the era. Farmer insisted upon the difference between a vague “teaspoonful” and an exact “teaspoon.”


Fannie Farmer over-represented terms (Meandre Dunning Log Likelihood to Tagcloud Algorithm)
Fannie Farmer under-represented terms (Meandre Dunning Log Likelihood to Tagcloud Algorithm)

This visualization was created by comparing two sets of texts, Fannie Farmer cookbooks and the full Early American Cookbooks set, using the Meandre Dunning Log-likelihood to Tagcloud algorithm in the HathiTrust Research Center Portal.