Economy Gastronomy

Last night we watched "Economy Gastronomy" BBC2 at 8pm. We watched it last week as well. At last a food programme on food which anybody can tackle, everyday food with a bit of pzzazz.

The basic premise of the programme is that inexpensive food doesn't have to be bad, bland, uninteresting food. I wholeheartedly agree. Most of my adult life we've not had much money but, on the whole, we've eaten well, better than many richer folk. We ate at home because we couldn't afford to eat out. Convenience foods were just too expensive to have on a daily basis. Maybe that's why we never went down that road as so many people seem to have done these days.

What I find remarkable about this programme is not the financial benefits that result but the benefit to family life. Under the regime proposed by the two chefs, the whole family get involved in cooking & shopping, eating together & sharing conversation around the table. Food has become a central part of their life together & a source of pleasure, an expression of love, rather than the inevitable chore demanded by the basic necessity for food.

I confess I boggle at the amount some people spend on food. I feel so extravagant these days & yet I've never had a shopping bill of over £100 in a week, even over Christmas & stocking up on alcohol, or having guests visiting & eating with us.

The secret, Paul Merritt, one of the chefs, reckons, is planning & lists, & then sticking to the list. I entirely agree. I've always made a list & stuck to it. I used to allow myself one indulgence, a store cupboard ingredient, usually something on special offer, so when money was really tight, I could use the stored up food to feed us for a week without buying more than some milk & maybe a loaf of bread. I devised this idea after the Fox's mother, one year, gave us a box of food for Christmas, her own collected food hamper. Each week she had bought just one item & put it in a large carton box. She didn't particularly notice the amount extra on her own shopping but she had, for us, an invaluable present, that augmented our diet for ages.

The other thing I concluded is that if you've been out working all day you need something quick to cook - an hour maximum, preferably half that. But that still leaves a vast range of foods. Eggs, bacon, chops, steaks, fish, all are fast to cook. On non-work days it's worth cooking something slower, maybe even cooking a larger casserole so some can be reheated later in the week. A roast gives lots of leftovers for quick mid-week meals & sandwiches for lunch.

The other thing that comes with lists & sticking to them is that there is so much less waste. You only buy what you are going to use. I find the amount of what was good food thrown out almost criminal. I can't understand why people keep buying so much more than they can possibly use.