Cucina Povera is steeped in culture and tradition.
I have a friend who once said to me “Soup is for poor people”. I must have looked stunned, so he clarified: “Only poor people eat soup.”
Coming from an Italian background, and he from a Brazilian, I understand where he’s coming from. In Italy, we refer to it as Cucina Povera, or poor cuisine/peasant cookery that is deeply rooted in heritage and customs.
Soups were traditionally the sustenance of the peasant class, utilizing what was inexpensive or accessible. The motto – In the kitchen, nothing is thrown away – resonates deeply with this tradition.
In the last decade soups and rustic cooking have made a remarkable comeback, evolving into main meals as cooks rediscover their versatility. Unlike in the past, when my parents served soups as the Primo (first course) and always followed by a Secondo (second course/main) today’s focus on minimizing waste aligns beautifully with the philosophy of – fare qualcosa fuori di niente – making something out of nothing.
The ingredients for traditional Cucina Povera depended on local produce. As Patience Gray notes in Honey from a Weed: The fact that every crop is of short duration promotes a spirit of making the best of it while it lasts and conserving a part of it for future use.
The contadini, or peasants, often relied on less desirable cuts of meat, seasonal or discarded vegetables, wild herbs, grains, and pulses, the produce that they couldn’t sell. Despite their limited resources, these simple ingredients resulted in nutritious and flavourful soups. When cooking, they also had to take into account practical considerations, such as the size and number of pots and the methods of heating.
In many Italian households, it is still common to add stale bread to soups that originally was used for sustenance and as thickening. For example, Pappa al Pomodoro, a pureed tomato soup is thickened with bread. Pappa means pap. I also remember Pappa di Pane (bread), being a favourite and often the first solid food for babies.
A more perfect example of the ultimate zero-waste soup of Cucina Povera is is Ribollita, a thick, Tuscan soup made with cannellini beans, vegetables (including cavolo nero) and bread.
Ribollita means “reboiled” and the next batch of Ribollita sees the leftover soup being used to make the new batch. More vegetables are added, and it is once again thickened with stale bread.
Coastal regions also have a rich tradition of fish soups and many famous Italian fish soups originated from peasant cuisine, often made from discarded fish that were simmered to make a flavourful stock.
Elisabeth Laud highlights that: The limitations imposed by a single pot, a single heat source, local produce, and little or no access to imports are characteristic of peasant cooking, giving it a distinct identity.
Cucina Povera encompasses more than just soup, it includes a variety of regional pasta, polenta, and rice dishes, all made with frugal ingredients.
Growing up, my family enjoyed a multitude of Zuppe and Minestre. And you may wonder about the distinction between them.
A Zuppa refers to a soup or broth served over slices of bread, allowing the bread to soak up the delicious liquid. In contrast, a Minestra typically contains rice or pasta, making it heartier. The Oxford Companion of Italian Food by Gillian Riley notes that: a pureed vegetable soup is classified as a zuppa.
The term Zuppa is thought to derive from a Celtic word that translates as “slice of bread.” Historically, wealthy nobles would serve extravagant dishes on large pieces of bread, using the bread as a base for their meals. The leftover soaked bases of bread would often be given to servants, who would then cook the soaked bread with simple ingredients to create soups.
Minestre, on the other hand, comes from the Latin ministrare, meaning “to administer,” perhaps demonstrating what happened in family gatherings where a figure of authority (the father) would serve from a central pot.
The Minestra, therefore, could imply “a thicker soup” with rice or pasta or polenta or some other cereal as a thickener. So, what are we to make of Minestrone, which is signifies a big, hearty soup, implied by the ending –one as distinct from Minestrina, the -ina indicates a little light soup. Usually a Minestrina is fed to babies or young children, or sick people. It is never heavy.
And what about Vellutate? It derives from the word velluto – velvet. One could have a good time guessing.
The terminology has become increasingly ambiguous over time. There’s much more to explore, such as Brodo (broth) and wet pasta dishes that don’t fit neatly into the categories of soup or Pasta Asciutta – pasta dishes that are dressed but remain dry.
I consulted a number of resources and this book: Grande Enciclopedia Illustrata della Gostronamia. It is written in Italian and therefore it is probably not surprising that it has more clarification about Zuppa and Minestra.
I like this quote from this book:
Ma benché sia così radicata nella tradizione italiana oggi non è affatto semplice definire che cosa sia esattamente una minestra. (But although it (minestra and zuppa) are so rooted in the Italian tradition, today it is not at all easy to define what exactly a soup is)
I love the Italian language!
Moulinex for making vellutate (veloutés), baby food and Pappa al Pomodoro
CAVOLO NERO and three ways to cook it (Ribollita)
