Peasant foods are dishes eaten by peasants, made from accessible and inexpensive ingredients. Studies on historical rural diets in Sweden indicates that peasant foods were predominantly grain-based. Periodic shortages in domestic grain production led to Sweden's reliance on imported grains while the Swedish peasants relied on locally available resources to survive. In many historical periods, peasant foods have been stigmatized.
Common types
Meat-and-grain sausages or mushes
Ground meat or meat scraps mixed with grain in approximately equal proportions, then often formed into a loaf, sliced, and fried
Balkenbrij Black pudding Boudin Daing, a style of sun-dried fish in the Philippines Goetta, a pork or pork-and-beef and pinhead oats sausage Groaty pudding Haggis, a savory dish containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver, and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and cooked while encased in a sheep's stomach Knipp Livermush Lorne sausage Meatloaf Scrapple, a spiced mush of pig scraps, cornmeal and other flours fried up solid Slatur
Pasta Pasta con i peperoni cruschi, an Italian pasta dish from Basilicata, defined a true representative of cucina povera (Italian for 'cuisine of the poor') Pasta e fagioli, a traditional Italian pasta soup Pasta mollicata, Italian pasta dish from southern Italy, especially Basilicata, often known as a "poor man's dish" Testaroli
Sauces
Agliata – a garlic sauce in Italian cuisine that has been a peasant food, and also used by upper-class people
Soups and stews
Acquacotta, an Italian soup that dates to ancient history. Primary ingredients are water, stale bread, onion, tomato and olive oil, along with various vegetables and leftover foods that may have been available. Batchoy (Tagalog), a Filipino meat soup or noodle soup made with pork and pork offal in ginger-flavored broth, traditionally with pork blood added Cassoulet, a French bean, meat, and vegetable stew originating from the rural Southwest that has since become a staple of French cuisine Cawl, a Welsh broth or soup Cholent, a traditional Jewish Sabbath stew Congee, a rice-based gruel associated with rice-growing societies Chupe, refers to a variety of stews from South America generally made with chicken, red meat, lamb or beef tripe and other offal Duckefett, a German sauce Dinuguan, a Filipino pork blood stew infused with vinegar Feijoada, originally a Portuguese stew consisting of beans and meat; also a Brazilian dish originally made by slaves from leftover ingredients from their master's house Gazpacho, typically a tomato-based vegetable soup, traditionally served cold, originating in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia Minestrone, the meal in one pot of ancient Italy that is still a basic part of Italian cuisine Mulligan stew, a stew often made by itinerant workers Mujaddara, an Arabian dish of lentils, rice, grains, and onions Pappa al pomodoro, a bread soup typically prepared with tomatoes, bread, olive oil, garlic, and basil Pea soup or "pease pudding", a common thick soup, from when dried peas were a very common food in Europe, still widely eaten there and in French Canada Pot-au-feu, the French stew of oxtail, marrow, and vegetables, sometimes sausage Pottage, a staple stew made from boiling vegetables, grains and whatever was available, since Neolithic times in the British Isles Ratatouille, a French stewed vegetable dish Shchi, a traditional Russian soup made from cabbage, meat, mushrooms, flour and sour cream, usually eaten with rye bread Scouse (food), a stew-type dish from Liverpool, which gives its name to the residents of the city, who are known as scousers Zatiruha, an Eastern European soup
List of peasant foods
Baked beans, the simple stewed bean dish Barbacoa, a form of slow cooking, often of an animal head, a predecessor to barbecue Bulgur wheat, with vegetables or meat Broken rice, which is often cheaper than whole grains and cooks more quickly Bubble and squeak, a simple British dish, cooked and fried with potatoes and cabbage mixed together Finger millet balls made from ragi flour which is boiled with water and balls are formed and eaten with vegetable gravy Greens, such as dandelion and collard Head cheese, made from boiling down the cleaned-out head of an animal to make broth, still made Hominy, a form of corn specially prepared to be more nutritious Horsebread, a low-cost European bread that was a recourse of the poor Katemeshi, a Japanese peasant food consisting of rice, barley, millet and chopped daikon radish Lampredotto, Florentine dish or sandwich made from a cow's fourth stomach Panzanella, Italian salad of soaked stale bread, onions and tomatoes Pierogi, a Polish dumpling filled with potato, cheese, mushroom, sauerkraut, meat, or berries. Polenta, a porridge made with the corn left to Italian farmers so that land holders could sell all the wheat crops, still a popular food Pumpernickel, a traditional dark rye bread of Germany, made with a long, slow (16–24 hours) steam-baking process, and a sour culture Ratatouille, the stewed vegetable dish Red beans and rice, the Louisiana Creole dish made with red beans, vegetables, spices, and leftover pork bones slowly cooked together, and served over rice, common on Mondays when working women were hand-washing clothes Salami, a long-lasting sausage, used to supplement a meat-deficient diet Soul food, developed by enslaved African-Americans, primarily using ingredients undesired and given away by their enslavers Succotash, a blend of corn and beans Tacos, cooked meats or vegetables wrapped in native maize tortillas in the Americas
See also
Famine food – foods turned to in times of crisis, sometimes across whole societies Farm-to-table Slow Food – a social movement inspired by home cooking and regional tradition as an alternative to fast food Social class differences in food consumption Traditional knowledge
References
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