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  • From: <pbunch@cox.net>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Localvore Living: Peasant Secrets to Eating Like a Pharaoh
  • Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2009 4:19:05 -0800

Here in Colombia the practice of using less expensive cuts of meat is a
highly developed art. It extends well into the upper middle class. Each cut
is considered to be best used in different dishes. Many people will
immediatly recognize the flavor of a particular cut and when it is used in a
non traditional manner comments, and often in depth discussions are
frequently generated. These can be negative or positive.

When I first got down here I was not sensitive to these diffeence but after a
couple of months I began to understand what people were takling about. Much
of the cuisine here is still based on "peasent" dishes. It has been a joy to
learn a bit of the cooking style and methods of our neighbors at the finca.
People are often surprized that a gringo would be interested in what to them
is a commonplace. They are very willing share their knowlage and we have had
some great times just cooking up a batch of sancocho or some other dish. In
fact this has lead to the development of some very valuable and dear
friendships.

Perhaps we have a lot to learn from country folks. Our future may well depend
on relearning the social and practical day-to-day knowlage of the
countryside.

Phil
Medellin and Piedras Blanca
Colombia
---- Tradingpost <tradingpost@lobo.net> wrote:
>
> Localvore Living: Peasant Secrets to Eating Like a Pharaoh (Or, A
> Localvore’s Tale of Eating
> High on the Hog For a Few Bucks a Meal) Robin McDermott
> http://www.vtcommons.org/files/VC%20Issue%2027%20Winter%202009.pdf
>
> While many people claim that local food is “elitist,” some of the
> world’s
> great cuisines – Chinese, Italian, country French, Indian – come from
> the people who had the least to work with: peasants.
> Few of us are farmers or homesteaders, so unlike peasants, our livelihood
> is
> not directly focused on feeding ourselves. Still, there are many things we
> can
> learn from peasants and peasant cuisine that can
> help us lower our food bills and eat food produced
> closer to home.
> Peasants are small-scale farmers, ranchers, herders,
> hunters, or fishermen and this means that they
> are close to their food source – they are Localvores
> by necessity. By U.S. standards peasants appear to
> be poor, and many of us feel sorry for the “meager”
> lives peasants lead. In fact, peasant culture is rich
> in traditions passed down through the generations
> along with recipes for Cassoulet, Osso Bucco, and Roghan Josh.
> These classic recipes are typical of peasant cuisine, which often
> translates
> into hearty one-dish meals that combine “lesser” cuts of meat cooked in
> a
> savory broth with seasonal vegetables and some form of bread. Think Beef
> Bourguignon and a French baguette, Ribolita which is a Tuscan bread soup,
> or
> Huevos Rancheros, and you are thinking peasant food. YUM!
> So, what can we learn from peasants throughout the world to make Vermont
> meals more local and more affordable at the same time?
> First, carnivores like me need to learn how to work with the less expensive
> cuts of meat; leave the expensive steaks and roasts to the “nobility”
> like the
> peasants do. Serious cooks will tell you that a chuck roast is much more
> flavorful
> than a filet mignon, and it is usually a third to a quarter of the price.
> But
> you can’t just throw a chuck roast on the grill. It needs to be slowly
> cooked in
> broth to make it tender, which can easily be done with a crock pot, on a
> wood
> stove, or in the oven.
> Second, we need to use a little kitchen creativity to cook with what is
> both
> seasonally available and on hand. Missing an ingredient
> or two from a recipe? Ask yourself, “What
> would a peasant do?” Since the answer is not “run
> to the grocery store,” do as chefs in even the finest
> restaurants do everyday and improvise – substitute
> yogurt for buttermilk, or sauté vegetables for
> a stew in saved bacon fat (if you don’t have any
> bacon available) to infuse a bacony, smoky flavor
> into your dish.
> Third, we need to make the most of everything
> we have. Maybe the thought of making turkey soup after eating the
> Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey for three days isn’t all that appealing,
> but
> to me it is a crime to throw out the bones. Make turkey broth and put it in
> the freezer. In January a piping hot bowl of turkey soup will mean a free
> and
> delicious meal for you and your family. Most peasants don’t have
> freezers.
> Lucky us!
> In the cold and dark Vermont winter months who doesn’t crave a big
> bowl of soul-satisfying soup, the cornerstone of peasant cuisine? So, when
> your next retirement savings statement shows up in your mailbox, don’t
> cry
> about feeling like a peasant. Instead, get into your kitchen and start
> cooking
> like one. •
>
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