Stuffed Lamb Breast

Food of the “Poor”

When I was a child my mother told me a story about a family so poor that some days all they had to eat was onions and potatoes. Unsurprisingly they didn’t want the neighbors to know how bad off they were so the mom would cut the vegetables and boil them in water in an effort to create the aromas of good home cooking. Soon the savory scents and wispy vapors wafted untold wealth in the tenement hallway, suggesting a delicious and substantial repast.

Such is the magic of humble ingredients.

Today we revere onions and potatoes as well as a host of other modest ingredients once regarded as fit only for the poor. We now understand that these foods are valuable for reasons beyond their obvious economic advantage.

Consider this -- who could imagine life without mashed potatoes or French fries? The spud is the most popular vegetable in America, the second most popular food in the world, after rice. Potatoes are simply too tasty and nutritious to pass up. But when Spanish explorers first brought the tubers back from the new world in the 16th century wealthy folks wouldn’t eat them.

The poor had no choice. Potatoes are nutritious, cheap and easy to grow, so they were a boon to those who had no money for finer fare. In fact, potatoes are so worthy that in the 18th century Germany’s King Frederick forced the peasants to plant them – with severe consequences for anyone who refused. Eventually, this vegetable became such an important food source that the blight that ruined the Irish crop in 1845 caused mass starvation, disease and emigration to the United States.

Beans have also been scorned for their association with poverty. As a historical matter, only the lower classes ate them; those who were rich always preferred meat as their protein of choice. But today bean cuisine has become fashionable among people of all economic levels, used for favorites such as baked beans, chili, lentil soup, black bean soup, Pasta Fagiole, red beans and rice. We’ve all learned that beans are flavorsome and filling and also provide huge nutritional benefits. Eaten together with whole grains such as brown rice or bulgur wheat, they are an excellent source of protein, contain only a tiny amount of fat and have no cholesterol. Beans are a smart choice for the health conscious. They are also incredibly versatile, not only because there are so many varieties but because they are useful for almost every course on the menu, from hors d’oeuvre to soup to salad to main course.

Cereals such as oatmeal were once considered the stuff of Dickensian orphanages. French Toast was invented to make the most of stale bread. Both are now breakfast mainstays. Liver, sweetbreads and other organ meats were once discarded or sold as cheap scraps; today these cuts are considered gourmet luxuries – and priced accordingly. And America’s top chefs, even at the fanciest restaurants, now turn cheaper meat cuts such as lamb breast, oxtail and pork shoulder into epicurean treats, even those these same ingredients were once sneered at by those who could afford to eat well.

Those who love good food really don’t give a hoot whether a particular dish is highbrow or not. In fact, if you ask people to describe their favorite food, what they would wish to eat if they could choose but one item, some might speak of lobsters or caviar or some other prohibitively expensive dish. But invariably most will mention something ordinary that they’ve loved since childhood. Mom’s meatloaf. Dad’s special chili. Grandma’s pasta with marinara sauce. Homey family fare recalls treasured time shared together around the table. That many of these foods have humble origins doesn’t matter. It’s how they taste that counts.