With shocking UK food-waste stats emerging almost daily, we can learn from such thriftiness – stretching ingredients, using cheaper cuts of meat ("My mum worked in a butchery, I grew up with brisket and shin") and using neglected bits of veg.
It is, essentially, an Andalusian peasant dish designed to stretch cheap ingredients to their absolute limit.
The old idea behind fritters was to stretch an ingredient like zucchini, corn or clams.
Here he stretches those ingredients well beyond the tolerance point to tell the story, such as it is, of a filmmaker (played by Mr. Swanberg) who is shooting a sex scene and is dismayed that its female half (Josephine Decker) is falling for its male half (Kent Osborne).
Her father figured out how to use his chocolate ration to make nut clusters and save the sugar ration for peanut brittle and bars, thus stretching his ingredients.
A good thrifty cook can make a tasty, nutritious meal from inexpensive ingredients and "stretch a meal".
From mushrooms and kale to oysters and foie gras, it's safe to say cocktail ingredients have stretched beyond straight spirits and citrus wedges.
As with many peasant dishes of the Mediterranean diet, cooking techniques such as stewing and braising stretch the flavour to other ingredients, such as fibre-rich vegetables.
Other commandments include buying in bulk, using ingredients you can stretch -- like one roast chicken to make 17 meals -- and never letting anything go to waste, which will likely involve getting to know your freezer a little better and making use of food parts like broccoli stems and radish tops.
For anyone who would like to support sustainable farms, or would prefer to drink only organic milk, eat free-range meat and pesticide-free plants, buying the ingredients raw will stretch your dollar by leaps and bounds compared to searching for this only in restaurants.
