Each week in my travels I come across another small, family business that has gone to the wall, another friend who cannot pay the mortgage or another work colleague whose husband has been made redundant. The recession continues unabated, and figures show that it has had a very detrimental affect on diet and long term physical and mental health.
The title of this Blog is not an exaggeration. For centuries Italian peasants have eaten the sort of food for which British people have to pay a king’s ransom in a smart restaurant or gastro-pub. The Italians have lived through 2500 years of wars, invasions, political instability and recessions, yet despite the fact that the majority of the population lives within very stringent budgetary requirements, Italians eat better and live longer, healthier lives than many other developed nations with a similar level of GDP per capita ratio. We are taught by our mothers how to do it.
What matters is less what is in your wallet and more what is in your head. Frugality is a philosophy, and excellent gastronomy can be achieved by knowing good ingredients and doing very little to them.
1. Spend what you have on really good base ingredients.
Make spending what little money you have on good base ingredients the single most important priority of everyday life. Good bread, milk, butter, vegetables and grains. If you can afford it buy good meat and fish. If not, go without.
2. Buy less of all the food, but better quality.
Cutting down on portion sizes is better for everyone’s health, and good quality food is higher in nutritious value.
3. Make stock.
Good quality stock can be made with animal bones (free) and vegetables which may even be past their prime. A good stock is the supporting base of nearly all good dishes.
4. Make soup and cook with pasta and rice.
Throughout the history of civilisation, soup, pasta (or noodles) and rice have been amongst the most widely eaten, nutritious food staples of the peasant class. They are delicious if home cooked with care, cheap to make and the end result can be frozen.
5. Buy or make good quality bread.
Bread fills you up, it is good for you if it is wholemeal and can bulk up many a meal with flavour and texture. Use in soups and to accompany all your meals.
6. Do not eat until you are hungry.
Eat when you need to eat, and not consistently, through boredom. The UK is Europe’s biggest consumer of snacks (£437 million) and ready meals (£2.3 billion) and the UK population has its highest levels of obesity. You only need three meals a day.
7. Limit the alcohol.
Alcohol is very expensive, filled with empty calories and toxins, yet £37.5 billion is spent on it in the UK every year. Have a small glass of good red wine a day. Drink plenty of water. It’s free.
8. Shop on a Friday or a Monday.
On average, there are more discounted food offers before the weekend rush and just after it.
9. Learn.
Read cookery books (from charity shops), read newspapers (free in many cafes), learn, absorb and copy. By widening your knowledge you will have a greater and more intelligent repertoire of peasant cookery, which is the most delicious in the world.
10. Group together and stay together.
Familist societies, or social groups that create collaborative communities and co-operatives have historically eaten well by sharing resources, talents, equipment and skills.
Photograph by Keiko Oikawa, www.keikooikawa.com
