Don't Forget To Eat Your Black Eyed Peas!

[SlowwHand]

Here are some recipes to get things going.

Black Eyed Peas for New Year's Day
By Brenda Hyde

Blackeyed peas have long been a tradition for the New Year's table. They supposedly bring good luck for the coming year, and eating them shows "humility". Some Southerners have been rumored to eat one pea for each day of the year to insure good fortune! They are a humble food, therefore, eating them represents humility. The taste of blackeyed peas are unlike other beans, and unless you've grown up eating them, as my husband did, you may find the taste a bit "earthy". In our house, we cook blackeyed peas with ham hocks, or a ham bone, and water. That's it. No fooling with the recipe is allowed! However, I do have several recipes you can use if you prefer a spicy version. They make a nice side dish served with cornbread, ham and greens, if your family enjoys a Southern style meal. The spicy versions are good served with fajitas, tamales or similar dishes.

Blackeyed Peas and Ham
Ingredients:
1 pound dried blackeyed peas
2 ham hocks or a ham bone with ham left on it
Pepper to taste
onions, sliced
hot sauce

Place the ham bones or hocks in a crockpot, add the peas after they have been rinsed (but not soaked), and cover with water completely. Cook all day on low, or 4 or 5 hours on high. Crockpots vary, so keep checking. You may need to add more water. Stir a couple of times while checking. Some people like them almost mushy, but I like them not quite that soft. Season with pepper if you wish. Serve with slices of onion and hot sauce-a smooth cayenne variety.


Spicy Blackeyed Peas
Ingredients:
olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. dry mustard
2 tsp. chili powder
1 16 oz. can blackeyed peas (drained)
1 16 oz. can diced tomatoes with chilies
1 tsp white vinegar
salt, pepper

Sauté onion, garlic, and spices in a little oil until the onions are soft. (Be very careful not to brown the garlic). Add the peas and tomatoes. Simmer for 20 minutes Add the vinegar, salt, and pepper. Serve over rice, with soft tortillas or cornbread.


Stove Top Blackeyed Peas
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups dried blackeyed peas
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped onion
1 small piece salt pork or thick bacon piece

Soak the peas overnight in enough water to cover. Drain them, and add to a large pan or Dutch oven, covering with about 2 1/2 cups hot water. Add other ingredients and stir. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until peas are soft.

About the author
Brenda Hyde is a wife and mom to three who lives in the winter wonderland of Michigan. She is a freelance writer and editor of OldFashionedLiving.com.

[Ecthy]

Didn't the Black Eyed Peas give a concert in Sydney for NYE?

[SlowwHand]

Scheduled, but the Aborigine's, being informed people, ate them.
They'll have good luck.

[Provost Harrison]

Yeeehaaa!

[Spiffor]

I generally prefer to eat lenses on New Year's. Being rich for the whole year

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by Spiffor
I generally prefer to eat lenses on New Year's.

Do they help you focus throughout the coming year?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Black Eyed Peas are mostly a Southern thing. I remember I never heard of this "tradition" until I moved to Atlanta.

[Elok]

Sure, the food tastes good now, but whatcha gonna do with all that junk, all that junk inside your trunk, a few months down the road?

[Lonestar]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Black Eyed Peas are mostly a Southern thing. I remember I never heard of this "tradition" until I moved to Atlanta.

I did!

Of course, both my parents are from Texas, so...

[SlowwHand]

It's not a "tradition", it's a tradition. Just because you hadn't heard of it doesn't make it any less a tradition, nor in any way less real.
I hate to break the news to you, but thing exist that are outside your personal experience. They don't become legitimate, dependent on your education.

Have a bad year and wishing for better luck next year? Try eating some black-eyed peas. Black-eyed peas on New Year's Day are a southern tradition. There seems to be little agreement on how this custom began, though, or why a food as humble as black-eyed peas might be considered lucky.

In some places, black-eyed peas are called "cowpeas" because they were once only used as fodder for the cattle. Some believe the custom of eating black-eyed peas for luck started during the Civil War when southern troops under siege had to exist on what was available and considered peas lucky because they prevented starvation.

Others believe the custom was started by poor folks who learned to "make do" with whatever food they had available. Some of the creative recipes born out of necessity and poverty were quite delicious and these "soul foods" became a part of southern culture. Due to scarcity of food in winter, it was considered lucky to have a plentiful supply of peas at the beginning of the New Year.

It may be that the association of luck with black-eyed peas is much older than American history, however, and goes back to times of the past. The first visitor of the New Year in some cultures was thought to determine the luck of a household for the following year. A gentleman considered lucky was invited to accompany "lady luck" and welcomed with a kiss and a bowl of black-eyed pea soup.

It is sometimes alleged that what is done on the first day of a new year will be continued for the entire year. Believing this, it becomes important to eat lucky foods to ensure a good year. In addition to the peas, southerners may eat cooked greens or cabbage, which represents money or prosperity, and cornbread which represents gold. Black-eyed peas, however, are always fundamental.

In the winter, black-eyed peas are usually found as dried peas that must be soaked overnight in water before cooking. Usually the peas are slow simmered or cooked in a crock-pot on low heat until done. Black-eyed peas are usually seasoned with salt-pork, jowl, or even the hambone from a country ham. Southerners have learned not to be wasteful, especially with food. Rice, another lucky food, is added in some regions, along with sausage and tomatoes to make a dish called "Hoppin' John."

Black-eyed peas have a distinctive flavor that not everyone appreciates. Some people will not eat them at all, saying that eating black-eyed peas is just a superstition and they don't believe they bring good luck. Probably most people eat the peas now less out of superstition than because it has become a custom ingrained in southern culture.

Outside of the southern states, people sometimes don't even know what black-eyed peas are. However, they are easy to recognize because each pea has a black spot or "eye" where it detached from the peapod. Southerners eat black-eyed peas year long and just consider them "good eatin."

My southern mama always made black-eyed peas. I hated them, but choked down a bite or two for luck on New Year's -- just in case. I swore I would never eat another black-eyed pea when I became an adult, lucky or not. However, I have learned to cook frozen black-eyed peas, which taste much fresher and less starchy than the dried ones, and now I almost like them.

Whatever other foods are eaten, black-eyed peas are a comfort food that has become a necessity in the south for welcoming in the New Year. It is often believed that you should eat 365 peas on New Year's Day to ensure luck for each day of the coming year.

So, here's wishing you joy and prosperity for the coming year. May you have good health, good fortune, and may your home be as filled with luck as a pot full of black-eyed peas.

[Imran Siddiqui]

It's not a "tradition", it's a tradition.

Yes it is . It's only in the South, so therefore it isn't real.

[SlowwHand]

I can see the education isn't complete.
Read what I post, and it will cut down on redundancy.

It may be that the association of luck with black-eyed peas is much older than American history, however, and goes back to times of the past. The first visitor of the New Year in some cultures was thought to determine the luck of a household for the following year. A gentleman considered lucky was invited to accompany "lady luck" and welcomed with a kiss and a bowl of black-eyed pea soup.

[Imran Siddiqui]

It's only in the South, so therefore it isn't real.

[SlowwHand]

Ok, you have crossed the line from ignorant to stupid.
Congratulations.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Ok, you have crossed the line from ignorant to stupid.

So I'm in your world now?