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As the ongoing recession/inflation/credit crunch drives the cost of food higher and higher, British chain Sainsbury's has begun working to minimize food wastage. Meanwhile, ever-increasing numbers of consumers are cooking from scratch in an attempt to stretch their food budgets. Clearly, thrift is back!As you rush around in your search for cheap things to eat, it's worth remembering that, in the kitchen at least, poverty can definitely be the mother of invention. Although cheap gas, greenhouse gardening, and factory farming drove down the price of food for most of the last century, the vast majority of human history has been characterized by the desperate search for sustenance. Keeping that in mind, here's a reminder about a few of the techniques that long-gone chefs once developed to preserve the harvest, get their vitamins, and avoid throwing anything away:
Organ meats: In the days before easy canning and greenhouse gardening, it was incredibly difficult to get the necessary daily allowance of vitamins. Lacking access to fresh fruits and vegetables, medieval farmers turned to organ meats. For example, rich in iron and Vitamin A, the liver was a dietary staple for generations. Similarly, kidneys, sweetbreads, and brains are also great sources of necessary vitamins. Much later, immigrants and the lower classes continued to eat these organs, as they were healthy and relatively inexpensive.
Today, prepared organ meats tend to be pricey. However, while a crock of chicken liver pate might set you back a fair bit, the livers themselves are actually really cheap, as are the rest of the ingredients. A quick glance at Epicurious.com should give you some great ideas for ways to use the cuts that most people avoid.
Processed meats: From sausage to scrapple to sauerbraten, most processed meats are the result of historical attempts to use and preserve unattractive cuts of meats. For this reason, sausages still tend to be among the most inexpensive meat dishes. A simple meal of fried onions and peppers, when paired with Italian sausage, can be a fantastic feast, as can a sauerkraut/knockwurst pairing. While these are cheap, they are also delicious, filling, and relatively good for you. If you're in the mood for something a little more grand, you might try making sauerbraten. Traditionally used to soften tough cuts of overaged cow palatable, it is a delicious and extravagant meal that doesn't require the best meat.
Sauces: Although many chefs will try to pretend that vegetable sauces were born out of some sort of aesthetic impulse, the truth of the matter is that most of them were basically attempts to either preserve the harvest or use unattractive and rotten vegetables. With this in mind, if you happen to have some overripe tomatoes, you might want to cut off the bad spots and make tomato sauce. You can also use tired produce as the base for various stocks, vegetable terrines, ratatouille, banana bread, jellies, jams, and citrus curds.
Most elevated foods, from pates to prociutto and beyond, have their roots in eras of extreme poverty. Over time, they were hijacked by gourmands and fetishized by haute cuisine, but, in their hearts, they are still the children of thrift. With that in mind, I'm taking the current recession as an opportunity to dust off some great recipes and reclaim my culinary roots!
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9-18-2008 @12:48AM Pricewatcher said... Just a comment about cutting costs. If you went back a few generations, you would find people making good meals out of the ingredients at hand, not planning meals and then going forth to find the ingredients. The best ways to save are (1) to buy meat from a butcher with reasonable prices choosing what is on sale; (2) always have staples such as pasta, rice, potatoes, baking ingredients on hand; (3) always have green or yellow vegetables (fresh or frozen) depending on best buys; (4) stock up when items you like or regularly need are on sale; (5) try store brands (often they are as good or even better than the national brands); (6) avoid waste by cooking smaller amounts unless a food is naturally good left over. The way to cutting costs is not to buy "meals" but to get the best buys on food that good meals can be made from. Eating less meat makes more sense than eating meats you don't like, or those that require a lot of additional ingredients to be palatable. Save the big cooking adventures for company and keep it simple with an emphasis on the foods you like best.
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