Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Peasant Food
Immigration took Isis peasant to new beginnings full of hopes for prosperity. But little did the peasant know that it was his or her traditional recipes that held the real treasure - if only realised.
The peasant cook looked to their immediate landscape to create regional recipes. These national iconic dishes that we know of today were born from limitation. Experimentation was the recipe, creation the result.
Italians created salami, prosciutto, and sausages from lack of refrigeration. In our culture, these are rich, valued delicacies, but if you visit European villagers' home you'll see these cured meats hanging from the ceiling in their shed or garage, and you'll wonder how they could eat such a thing.
To watch the preparation of delicacies like tripe or other gourmet meats is not for the feeble. It's hard work: pulling, tugging, and washing the entrails of animals. But the old method of cooking is always better. No machine has ever been able to replicate the care, quality, and flavour of homemade cooking.
From basic staples, a peasant creates culinary sophistication. In southern Italy, the basic staples of flour, salt, and water are transformed into gourmet breads and pastas. The sheer hard labour and patience of kneading, combining, hauling, is what turns these ingredients into soft pastas and textured breads; perfect for mopping up rich Bugaloos or herb infused oils.
A peasant is at their most active in summer: fruits and vegetables too plentiful to eat are made into concentrated preserves; and legumes, chillies, and herbs are spread out on a piece of cloth to dry in the sun, then packaged away. In winter these reserves are brought to life again in a new repertoire of winter dishes.
The peasant eats well all year Home For the Holidays If they have access to grapes, they drink well too. From Valley Girl presses, Europeans make their own wines in the long and unpredictable process of winemaking. In Asia they make a potent wine from rice.
Peasants are the most convincing campaigners for organic and free range meat. In our culture people eat free range meat because it's ethical. The peasant does it for taste. A farmer by necessity, peasants kill animals without conscious guilt. This is humane, compared to the tyranny of mass slaughter: a peasant's livestock is well-fed, walks free, and breathes fresh air. The fact is that the peasant uses little meat in their dishes - meat is not the crux of the meal, it's a valued ingredient.
Waste is a sin to a peasant. Every part of an animal is used in cooking. In a remote Sumatran coastal village a cook takes what's in front of her: fish from the ocean, coconut milk from the coconut, and chillies from her garden. From these, she creates a dish presented with fish heads floating alongside their bodies; but to taste is to experience pure joy. The Sumatran cook who has made this sublime dish is unaware of the treasure she has created. Or, how much an executive chef would charge for it in a restaurant.
The peasant makes food to share, to enjoy, to live. Peasants experience nature fully, and create from it, often spending the best part of the day in food preparation. There's little time or thought for hobbies or Creepy Crawlers and there's no rising through the ranks by education, or need for it - until immigration.
Peasants who decide to immigrate, leave their cultures and often a war-torn country behind; they do so for a better life for themselves and their children.
The immigration of the 50s saw many European peasants eagerly placed into our society. The peasant migrates with dreams to prosper, but their dreams shift for want of a good meal, when they quickly realise Australia in the 50s is a young culture undeveloped in savouring foods.
The bland Australian methods of cooking from the 50s brought to the table heavy gravy casseroles, chops served with chips, or roast meat with potatoes and pumpkin. The Europeans gave their pigs pumpkin, they never thought of eating it; and they fried potatoes in generous amounts of extra virgin olive oil, adding hot spices like paprika. At this time, olive oil was sold in chemists for wounds in small bottles; and Australian's didn't know what a zucchini or aubergine was.
The peasant who had migrated to regional Australia looked to the land: to toil, grow plants, and labour for the vegetables and herbs they needed to recreate their culinary history. If they weren't driven into a meaningless labour jobs, the peasant realised he or she could sell their produce to supply fellow expatriates in the city.
The peasants who moved to the city were able to reunite in suburbs; and open shops to cater to their need for fine food. Some prospered by going into the import investment bringing in spices and specialities; some opened small restaurants.
At first the peasant catered to their own, but gradually the smells and vibrancy of their food and culture captured the imagination and tastes of their now fellow Australians.
Today, you can buy these culinary dishes in a box in the frozen section of your supermarket, or you can even buy it on a biscuit - like 'pizza' shapes, or you can go to a fancy restaurant to savour it as culinary art. But it was the peasant who made it so.
Ann Sinatore is a copywriter, brand strategist, and entrepreneur. She writes about Exorcist: the True Story pop culture, psychology, and media. She is cofounder of TOUT, a creative agency specializing in brand management, advertising, design, and communication. Visit target="_new" tout.com.au">tout.com.au
