Guest Series: Peasant Dishes

You know it seems like years since I have written any stories for the entertainment of others. But now I finally have something to write about.

It's not a well known fact that Heather and I are what you call foodies. What are foodies you might ask, well I'll tell you. A foodie is an aficionado of food and drink. Now don't get us confused with gourmets or gourmands. Those snobs have no idea what good food is. Gourmets are only concerned with eating and drinking the finest food and beverage at some new hot restaurant that has created the latest in over-priced crap that is passed off as exciting and rich in flavor. A foodie on the other hand is interested in everything about food and drink. Some will say that we foodies are obsessed with the science of food preparation and the history as much as the taste of dish and drink. A foodie is often preparing, cooking, eating, and drinking the very spirit of culinary delight. A foodie not only looks for the finest tastes from all over the world, but he is also very interested in the history of the food, the history of the culture that the dish comes from, the preparation of the food, the science of how it is cooked, and finally the taste that makes sense of it all. Most times the preparation of the food and how it gets to your table will be determined by the environment that surrounds you.

A brief history lesson about food preparation is in order here. Throughout time the wealthy elite have been eating the finer cuts of meats, the freshest veggies and certainly drinking the sweetest wines. If you did not go out and play a part in the killing of an animal during the caveman days, you received the scraps after the hunters were fed. Do you think poor Egyptians dined on the best the Nile had to offer? No. If you were friends of the royal court of England during the Middle Ages you would have supped on filet mignon, fresh fruits and vegetables and the earthiest of Cabernet Sauvignon. Before the colonization of the Americas, much of the state sponsored rations were considered the scraps of the royal kitchen. Instead of beef tenderloin they were supplied with beef backbone and rotting potatoes. There was no veal on the Santa Maria or the Nina. During the actual colonization of the Americas, the families that pioneered a new and freer way of living brought with them their peasant cuisines. These folks were used to taking the less-tender cuts of meat and adding vegetables or dried goods like rice, and creating savory dishes.

These heavenly creations were, and still are, very simple to make. It just takes a lot of love to prepare them. Farmers, peasants, colonists, pioneers, and even thieves would take the cheapest, and most times free, cuts of meat, day-old breads and vegetables and combine them all in a giant pot, cauldron, Dutch oven, or pan. The meat would be reduced in a liquid, usually water, to create a broth that was fantastically salty or smoky. The intensity of the salt or smoke depended on the preservation technique. The vegetables, or dry goods like rice or day old bread were then tossed in to simmer. Once all the components of the soup-like dish were saturated with the smoky, salty goodness it was time to eat. Believe it or not, the colonists were only trying to conserve energy, time, and resources when they cooked. What is now considered by foodies world-wide to be the most savory and unique forms of food preparation were once a very lowly way to eat, if you could call it that.

I have recently started to recall some of the “peasant dishes” that I experienced while growing up. As a child I would eat with my grandparents on weekends. Both sets of grandparents were from a farming background. The Ward Grandparents were tenant farmers for most of their life. My mother's parents lived in town and worked industrial jobs but the traditions of farm life were deeply ingrained in them. Back then, I was subjected to every green leafy thing that kids hate to eat. There was no shortage of the most questionable, sloppy, stinky, salty, squishy, indescribable dishes known in the kid world. I think this is why now I have a repressed desire to cook the perfect, most tasty, colorful meal each night. But, something has clicked. Something has changed in my heart of hearts. I think that I am beginning to crave those messy, gooey, slimy pots of indescribable goodness.

It was custom in our home that we were not allowed to leave the dinner table until the plate was clean. You know back then it wouldn't have mattered what I was being forced to eat, because I couldn't see it through the veil of tears that would inevitably fall. I just didn't want to eat that yucky stuff. But now, with this newfound dimension to my foodie nature and thanks to Heather's unconditional love for me and my bizarre tastes, I am going to start reexamining those "peasant dishes" that I hated so much as a child.