Thrifty Foodies

Growing up in the Midwest, St. Louis to be exact, you get exposed to many ethnic cuisines. Let us not forget that wagon trains and railway tracks went through St. Louis as the country expanded West and some immigrants just had enough travel and stopped there. Let’s just say that St. Louis is ethnically very diverse, or at least it was when I lived there from the early 1960s to the late 1980s.

In those days “The Hill” was called Dago Hill and no one got upset about it (at least I never heard anyone get upset about it). It was the home of authentic Italian restaurants and bakeries. Some of them are still there after many decades in business.

My maternal grandmother was born in St. Louis but raised in Chicago, so Summer vacations with her to visit family and friends meant an obligatory trip to Chinatown there.

Then there’s the area known as Dogtown in St. Louis which is the Irish neighborhood and the German area where Anheuser Busch is located. For those who want to know more about the ethnic history of St. Louis, this is quite interesting (at least it was to me). Peopling of St. Louis

The point is I grew up eating very ethnically diverse cuisine so when I met my mate 22 years ago it seemed logical for me to learn how to make his ethnic cuisine which is Jewish Moroccan food. Although some dishes are similar between the Jews and non-Jews of Morocco many things are unique to the Jewish Moroccans or the technique and seasonings are different.

So the question begs to be answered can one be a thrifty foodie and create authentic (or at least close to it) ethnic dishes and maintain the thrift aspect.If one can, where does one find those authentic ingredients and the utensils and gadgets.

In truth it is actually easier to do it in a thrifty manner than to eat it outside. I’ll give you an example. I’m also beginning to think that eating traditional ethnic cuisines may be the thriftiest of all approaches.

The last few weeks I have had the Asian bug. Never been a sushi eater, and fish is NOT my choice if I have a choice. I do NOT cook like the average American cooks. Macaroni and Cheese is NOT a main dish in my house. It will NEVER be one! Am I a food snob YES.  But before you get your nickers in a twist let me clear up the confusion you may be feeling. My mother made, in my opinion, the MOST delicious macaroni and cheese I have EVER eaten and it is a perfect SIDE DISH when made from scratch.

As usual I digress, get used to it.

The next few posts from me will be sharing the stuff I have learned about shopping for those exotic ingredients and making Asian food at home. That means techniques like stir-fry, and chopping all those fancy veggies, and even rolling sushi and making Miso soup from scratch.

Welcome to the first day of Thrifty Foodies adventures.

Alright so this is not the first online adventure I have ever had but it is my first food adventure and I want to invite you to come along and share it with me.

I’m off and running with a few words about who I am and where the vision for this site first began.

Visit our About Us page and then stop on over and get to know Lori as an individual.