Thread by @SimonPease1

🧵I am going to take a risk. The last time I tweeted about the joys of #peasantfood and what we could learn from peasants, I got roundly ticked off by people who wanted to educate me about how bad the life of peasant was, how "very few" of their children survived...

(I wonder where the next generation of peasants came from?) and so on. You learn so much on twitter🙄

I warn such people now, you'll just get muted, so you can shout at me forever.

And I would point out that at least one recent study has revealed, surprise! ...

That people who had a diet high in vegetables and low in meat, and refined sugars, were often healthier than their better off betters. (They look at bones and teeth)

I make no apology whatever for suggesting we could learn from them, and "primitive" societies in general...

In doing so, I am not suggesting we all become peasants, interesting though that might be. You can do a lot of damage with a pitchfork.

I know many of them led miserable lives and died from not enough food...

Nor am I suggesting that people struggling to pay their heating bills, or their mortgage, or energy bill, or who simply struggle home from a long day and don't have the time, should try to cook like this. It probably is a luxury, today.

But people in primitive societies...

need to make the best of what they have; and they are often wise in the ways of doing so. Some of the best meals I have had in different parts of the world, have been their simple dishes. And I've had some very disappointing fare in "posh" restaurants

So this is really for people who have the time, and the interest, and can afford to do it. You get something delicious and don't waste.

I have just eaten a soup, made by Mrs P, inspired by Italian peasants (I don't imagine rich families ate much Ribollita). Like all these folk recipes, every family has its own, usually Nonna's recipe, and it is the best. No one else's is quite as good as Nonna's...

Even though she probably varied the ingrtedients depending on what she had.

Mrs P's included some stock made from a chicken carcass (a packet of frozen or near date wings would do just as well). Plenty of onion and garlic. Some left over (previously cooked) greens...

A couple of potatoes. Two parsnips from a packet of wonky parsnips. Some parsley stalks, chopped up. Olive oil, to taste. Salt and pepper. Most important some crusts of stale crusty bread, chopped up into small chunks, and added in the last ten minutes. Enjoy.