Among the words for storing away in your Pantry, there is bound to be FRUGALITY. According to an old traditional saying, frugality is the greatest richness. And today, this word that sounds so good and which is marvelous to pronounce upon the lips, is a modern and newly refurbished term, in favor of a lifestyle that is within everyone’s means and respectful of the environment around us. Certainly, those who scorn little, scorn much – are other simple words of wisdom. Certain products in fact take a little, a minimum, even a few drops, and imbue it with meaning, making it the secret behind an exquisite mystery. This is true, for example, of the ladies of Borgo del Balsamico, Cristina and Silvia Crotti, who raise one of the miracles of the Italian gastronomic tradition to new heights. Being frugal also means conserving, recovering, and reusing. It’s no coincidence that “preserves” arrive from the basic practices at the heart of agricultural home economics, representing a way of stopping time and the seasons, while storing them inside the space of a jar. Conserving such delicacies is the team at Fredo: a producer of mustards, jams, pickled vegetables, and candied fruits, it stands out for its use of fruit and vegetables that are almost always fresh. And the pairings are always original: cherries are candied with cherry syrup and colored with violet carrot and hibiscus syrup. Likewise, in Abruzzo, and more specifically in Fossacesia, Ursini practices the art of ideal conservation (without preservatives or vinegars), using extra virgin olive oil as the common denominator of every specialty… the famous “drizzle of oil”. Frugality is basically an uncovered secret: how the simplest things can be the most extraordinarily delicious. Like for example, the Migliori Olive Ascolane: blessed be the genius who dreamed up the idea of stuffing an olive and then frying it. At Ascoli, in this shop, they are still made by hand, one-by-one, and every bite is a delight. 
What about the comfort of having a sauce, a side dish, or a snack ready-made from the jar? Frugality in fact also means efficiency, not only because time is money, but because time is life! And so, it must be used for the best: for example, by treating yourself to one of the truffle-based delicacies of Savini Tartufi, which for four generations has been making this exquisite tuber a world of experiences for all palates. Conserving also means guarding the tradition of historic family recipes, as in the case of Antico Forno Santi di Migliana, in the extremely green Valley of Bisenzio: here, in a small and typical workshop, delicious biscuits have been coming out of the oven since 1920, keeping intact the taste of a sweet tradition. 
Returning to the topic of food shopping, what does it mean to shop with frugality? It means finding the right balance in terms of the amount spent (but also in terms of space and time), for a correct sense of economy. This is also what was declared by Galileo Galilei in Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems: “nature does not act by means of many things when it can do so by means of few”. So, why lose energy, time, and money?
The legendary Pellegrino Artusi likewise wrote that food deserves respect and possesses such an elevated level of sacredness that he ended his preface with the phrase: “Love beautiful and good things wherever you find them and do not waste God's gracious gifts”.


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