This story originally appeared on the Gents Cafe Newsletter. You can subscribe here.
‘Good cooking,’ writes Patience Gray, one of its most underrated proponents, ‘is the result of a balance struck between frugality and liberality.’ Timely advice for eating well as another year dawns.
Christmas is over; waists and wallets show the strain. Kitchen cupboards open empty, and there’s a fridgeful to finish up… What have we got?
Roasted red peppers with chilli and garlic; a couple of sausages; a chunk of Parmesan cheese; sprigs of basil and sage. Not enough for a meal, but just enough for frittata – a rustic, Italian omelette that will happily accommodate practically anything you like.
Beat some eggs and add your leftovers; warm a non-stick pan. A splash of olive oil; toss the lot in. Turn down the heat and let the bottom of your mix brown. Quickly crisp the top under a nicely-hot grill. Serve with bread and red. Buona!
Making the most of a little is baked into Italy’s culture, as much as its cuisine. Here l’arte di arrangiarsi (the art of getting by) finds culinary expression in la cucina povera (poor cooking), which is anything but. It’s a recipe for life.
Eat seasonally; shop locally; preserve what you can. Gastronomic principles formed from necessity and refined by common sense. In 2023, they ring truer than ever, because the statistics are somewhat harder to swallow.
Globally, we over-produce food to feed nearly 10 billion people, yet 30% of the world’s 8-billion population lacks access to healthy nourishment. 800 million go hungry; a further 2 billion are chronically obese. And more than 17% of edible food – all 1.3 billion tonnes of it – is thrown away annually. Mostly at home… Go figure!
Back to Gray and balance in Honey from a Weed, her astonishing work on fasting and feasting across Tuscany, Catalonia, the Cyclades and Apulia:
‘It is born out in communities where the supply of food is conditioned by the seasons. Once we lose touch with the spendthrift aspect of nature’s provisions epitomized in the raising of a crop, we are in danger of losing touch with life itself’.
Patience is right: we are what we eat – across the entire food chain. Our choices have an impact; on both our bodies and our planet. She continues:
‘Poverty rather than wealth gives the good things in life their true significance’.
So, let’s make this a resolution: savour the food we have, and don’t squander a single crumb.
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