The "Cucina de Povera" Challenge

I used to work in a rustic Italian restaurant whose menu paid homage to the comforting fare of the common man. The big muckety-mucks at the restaurant called this concept "cucina de povera" which roughly translated into "the cooking of the poor." Some of those big-wigs could probably remember their grandmothers, back in the old country, mixing pasta dough by hand and treating the meats they rarely had the opportunity to enjoy like the delicacies that they were. In true cucina de povera style, we did most things from scratch at that restaurant. Our food was not fancy, but it was good quality.

If anything has improved my cooking over time, it has not been classes or recipes, it has been a lack of financial resources. I will not spin a tale of abject poverty to you, because I have been lucky enough to enjoy an abundance of good fortune in life, but there have been many times that my food budget has gotten impractically small in order to assign my liquid capital to some other category. The translation--sometimes getting the rent paid takes almost everything you've got. Since I really like good food and was only willing to take so much cabbage and ramen noodles, I had to figure something out. So I sharpened my cooking skills to eat like a princess while still earning a pauper's wages.

I always liked those 4.99 per loaf artisan breads, but a five-spot for some bread was NOT happenin'. So I learned to bake my own bread, which broke down to something like .35 a loaf.
Those shoe-leather cuts of meat can be made delicious if they are cooked properly, so I read and read and read and learned how to make a cheap cut taste steakhouse-worthy. Buying a whole chicken gets you so many meals...and makes you a beautiful pot of soup if you save the bones, all for the cost of a couple boneless breasts (which only gets you one meal). Learning how not to abuse and overcook eggs opens you up to a cornucopia of amazing, high-protein entrees for about .20 an egg. I finally paid close enough attention on how to fillet a whole fish so that I can now make quick work of it with a sharp knife. Yes, it takes a little longer and can be a little messy, but I can now get lovely whole fish that, pound for pound, is literally almost 70% less expensive than the prepared fillets. That big 70% discount makes it worth taking a few minutes to line the countertops with some old newspapers.

You do not need special equipment...except maybe a sharp knife or two. In fact, lately I have stopped using a mixer and dough hooks when I make my own bread. The equipment is messy and a pain to clean. I can actually knead the dough by hand much better... and then the only equipment I have to wash is my own little set of paws. And if you think about it, your favorite cuisine probably grew out of kitchens without any special equipment. When you think of some of the best-loved ethnic cuisines: southern Italian, Mexican, Southeast Asian, you don't think about a lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-famous kitchen with imported granite, high BTU ranges, and fancy stand mixers. If regular people all over the world can make delicious, nutritious meals without all the fine appointments of convenience, then so can you.

Here is your challenge: Cook meals for one full week on a rock-bottom low grocery budget. Do this when you have time, because it will take some effort. It's not like watching re-runs of Friends while you wait for the pizza delivery guy. You have to do the work. Sometimes it's a lot of work. But it is rewarding and it's certainly cost-effective. So set a low budget...I cook for two of us, fairly regularly, on about 80 bucks a week...but I have some staples in my pantry already, so you can adjust your numbers, if necessary. (And of course there are weeks during which I exceed that budget, but I'm issuing a challenge here!) Once you have your low budget in mind, make a menu. Don't think lofty. Think of what fits the assigned budget. If you want a more expensive piece of protein, that's totally fine...but then you may plan on a rice-and-beans dish for another dinner to offset the cost. Based on that proposed menu, make a grocery list. Then kind of "guesstimate" the prices of the items you'll need. Tally it up. If you are on-budget or close to it, go for it! If you have landed in a higher range, make adjustments. Do you really need everything on that list? Can you do something more cost-effectively? Can something else be made from scratch?

I can almost hear people telling me that this is way too much work. It is a lot of work. But it is important work. It is work that some families must do every week to keep everyone healthy. Once you get the hang of it, you also have a complex skill set that can serve you for many years. You will learn so much about cooking technique in such a short period of time. You can share this knowledge with people you care about. You can actually help create momentum that begins to slow the epidemic of diet-related illnesses in our country. WOW.

...and all you were trying to do was to eat healthy for cheap...!