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About peasant cooking |
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Page 3 of 7
In my travels, I've noticed that most peasants are quick and gracious in offering their hospitality. Personal and group integrity also tends to be stronger among the peasantry. As Cato the Elder observed in 200 B.C., "Farmers are, of all men, the least given to vice." This value is ingrained in the peasants' way of life, because there are fewer people for them to depend on in times of adversity. Firm and lasting bonds must be made with neighbors.
It is not uncommon, for example, for the women in a peasant household to spend several days before a holiday preparing the dishes of their ancestors.
Peasants unconsciously use their culinary traditions to identify themselves with their peer group and to exclude outsiders from membership in their group. Their unique cuisine gives them psychological reassurance that they are a special people. It also binds them, an essential quality when a hostile force threatens them.
Because of the identification factor, peasants are less likely to try a new food. Case in point: Within the last half century, thousands of peasants in Asia and Africa starved because they refused to eat the unfamiliar ingredients imported by relief agencies.
When it comes to these foods, peasants are more economy-minded than their city brethren. A country cook in China will, as the saying goes, use everything but the squeal of a pig.
The more isolated a peasant's homestead, the more sufficient they tend to be.
I've met peasants who tended to view the land not so much as a means of generating income, but as an intrinsic aspect of life itself. Not only do they develop a deep emotional attachment to the soil that furnishes their livelihood, they also focus most of their familial thoughts and hopes on that small piece of real estate.
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I hope you find this page about peasant cooking informative ©2008 HQP / Hillman Quality Publications
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Cultural and
Peasants possess
