Traditional peasant style dishes?

Lolly_willowes

So I'm reading a book called European peasant cookery by Elisabeth Luard and it's been getting me all inspired.
I love looking at the food that was traditionally quite frugal but filling and tasty cooked by peasants from all around the world. Things like pierogi from Poland, Dahl from India, all the traditional variations of beans and rice and that kind of thing.
I was wondering what other dishes others would recommend from around the world in this vein?
Cookbook recommendations, dishes, recipes, I'd really love to see what you guys suggest I try next?

MandM90

I love middle eastern peasant food - falafel, hummus, flatbread/ lentil/chickpea soups and dishes like mujadara (lebanese rice, lentils and onions).

caronc

Three I can recommend:)
Spanish Lentil Soup
Portuguese Green Bean Soup
Tuscan Bean & Pasta Soup

spadoosh

Came across a youtube channel yesterday that seems to fit in line with what youre after. Mainly american based but i noticed he makes things like crumpets and scotch eggs. Not seen much of the videos but its a pretty big channel with lots to go through.

https://www.youtube.com/user/jastownsendandson/featured

Lolly_willowes

MandM90 wrote: »

I love middle eastern peasant food - falafel, hummus, flatbread/ lentil/chickpea soups and dishes like mujadara (lebanese rice, lentils and onions).

I love this kind of food too! It's my go to style of eating in the summer and exactly the sort of recipes I was looking for. :beer:

Lolly_willowes

caronc wrote: »

Three I can recommend:)
Spanish Lentil Soup
Portuguese Green Bean Soup
Tuscan Bean & Pasta Soup

Thanks so much for these recipes, particularly the Portuguese one as that's a cuisine I'm not that familiar with at all.

Lolly_willowes

spadoosh wrote: »

Came across a youtube channel yesterday that seems to fit in line with what youre after. Mainly american based but i noticed he makes things like crumpets and scotch eggs. Not seen much of the videos but its a pretty big channel with lots to go through.

https://www.youtube.com/user/jastownsendandson/featured

This channel looks like so much fun! I never would have found it on my own so another huge thank you from me.

jackyann

One of my favourite books, she writes so well about the history of food.
I love any of the dishes where pulses are seasoned with cured meats. I grew up when the English cottage tradition of keeping a family pig was dying out, but a few still kept them. I remember the salting and curing, and how every last scrap was used.
Every winter I cook ham hock with pulses a few times. When I can get really good garlic sausage, I make a cassoulet.
I also do as my mother did, and chuck any game into a casserole, then make the leftovers into pie.

Lolly_willowes

jackyann wrote: »

One of my favourite books, she writes so well about the history of food.
I love any of the dishes where pulses are seasoned with cured meats. I grew up when the English cottage tradition of keeping a family pig was dying out, but a few still kept them. I remember the salting and curing, and how every last scrap was used.
Every winter I cook ham hock with pulses a few times. When I can get really good garlic sausage, I make a cassoulet.
I also do as my mother did, and chuck any game into a casserole, then make the leftovers into pie.

She really does doesn't she. She describes everything so beautifully. That's a wonderful memory to have jackyann and I'd love to hear any recipes you recommend or books.
I am a city kid and I had to teach myself to cook the sort of food I love and I love hearing how others cook the recipes , the books they can't be without ect so I'm all ears!
Have you read honey from a weed another evocative cookbook that you can just feel the landscape from?
I'm an avid collector of cookbook classics in the vein of Elizabeth David, Jane grigson, Claudia roden et all. It makes me sad when I see people reviewing cookbooks now and saying they won't use them if they don't have pictures. Pictures are a nice extra sometimes but to me the writing and recipes are what should really matter.

buildersdaughter

It's me, jackyann (I had to get another ID during the password debacle, but if I usemy tablet it keeps me as jackyann!).
I too have read Honey from a Weed. Elisabeth Luard has written some other books - European Festival Food (going up market!) and some others.
They aren't really 'recipes'. However, I'd say, ask your butcher (or look in in the supermarket) for a ham / gammon hock. You need to soak it. Soak some dried peas (or yellow split can go straight in). Add whatever 'pot vegetables' you have - a withered carrot, tough bit of celery, some parsley stalks, and depending on your choice, a diced onion, or one just cut into quarters.
Water as recommended on the packet - or to barely cover - and cook slowly (slow cooker, hob or oven) for several hours. Fish out the veges you don't want to eat, mash the peas, and boil a bit if you need to drive off water. The hock should be falling apart and you can dice it to go with the peas. If I am making this a 'solid' meal I might do jacket potatoes or mash. A more soupy version gets bread.
Leftovers make soup. Bits of diced hock can go into anything -a Spanish omelette for example. Or, for a treat breakfast / lunch, stir into leftover mash, add a beaten egg to soften, and fry in dollops!

Lolly_willowes

buildersdaughter wrote: »

It's me, jackyann (I had to get another ID during the password debacle, but if I usemy tablet it keeps me as jackyann!).
I too have read Honey from a Weed. Elisabeth Luard has written some other books - European Festival Food (going up market!) and some others.
They aren't really 'recipes'. However, I'd say, ask your butcher (or look in in the supermarket) for a ham / gammon hock. You need to soak it. Soak some dried peas (or yellow split can go straight in). Add whatever 'pot vegetables' you have - a withered carrot, tough bit of celery, some parsley stalks, and depending on your choice, a diced onion, or one just cut into quarters.
Water as recommended on the packet - or to barely cover - and cook slowly (slow cooker, hob or oven) for several hours. Fish out the veges you don't want to eat, mash the peas, and boil a bit if you need to drive off water. The hock should be falling apart and you can dice it to go with the peas. If I am making this a 'solid' meal I might do jacket potatoes or mash. A more soupy version gets bread.
Leftovers make soup. Bits of diced hock can go into anything -a Spanish omelette for example. Or, for a treat breakfast / lunch, stir into leftover mash, add a beaten egg to soften, and fry in dollops!

Thank you so much for the recipe. I was looking at her festival food but it appears to be out of print and I need to find it at a price I can stretch to.
I have some of her food memoirs on my shelf. I will dig into those once I've finished my diploma at the end of the month. I'm a sucker for a good food memoir.