For centuries, farmers and peasants had to learn how to utilize minimal ingredients and food scraps to create dishes that provided sustenance throughout all seasons of the year. This culinary tradition is known as cucina povera, or poor cooking.

Cucina povera dishes have survived in Italy due to their simplicity, nutritiousness, and waste-free nature. The tradition has a particularly large presence in Florence and the region of Tuscany, whose culinary philosophy is “qui non si butta via niente,” or “we throw nothing away here.”