I went to my sister's house for a game night New Year's Eve party. She had all sorts of goodies like salad and boneless chicken wings and a rich raspberry chocolate cake with inch thick cocoa frosting covering it. She also made a black-eyed pea dish with cornbread. Why the trouble? Black-eyed peas and cornbread did not really go with the rest of the fare. My brother-in-law informed me that this dish was for after the New Year began. Well after a night of drinking, I am not sure that I would be in the mood for black-eyed peas and cornbread. In actuality, I was not able to stay and ring in the New Year, but I do remember eating black-eyed peas pretty much every year as a kid and well into adulthood.
Often my family would eat a New Year's Eve dinner which contained many of the same elements that southerners eat with some variation. There would be a ham or a pork loin roast, a salad, a potato dish, bread and the watered down bowl of canned black-eyed peas. Looking back, we really did not give these lucky gems the respect they deserved. Canned? If black-eyed peas were supposed to provide us luck then why not make them the center point of the meal? Later, my mother would make variations of black-eyed peas. I can remember one year when she put them in a pressure cooker and left them on high heat while she went out. I was in charge of them. I had no idea that they were left on high heat. While playing with my baby, I heard a huge pop and loud hiss followed by a scream from my baby. I scurry into the kitchen and find black-eyed peas on the ceiling, puddled around the stove and floor. I didn't feel very lucky that I had to clean them up.
I have also adopted this tradition over the years only to discover that neither my son nor husband liked black-eyed peas. One year, I actually thought I bought fresh black-eyed peas without the pod, but they were really a somewhat moistened mystery legume painted with the black eye. I warmed them instead of cooked them and they were really hard and gross. That also did not feel very lucky. It was that year that I decided that this tradition was stupid especially since I did not know why black-eyed peas invoked good luck.
After some minor research, I discovered that this little legume was probably cultivated in West Africa. It is an efficient crop as it is virtually pest free and can withstand warm temperatures with little water. Being that it is a legume, it has a great nutritional value and adds nitrogen to the soil. Its reputation as a good luck food has its roots in the Jewish New Year Rosh Hashana dating from 500 CE. This explains why so many of us Americans eat this. It is not just a southern food since so many Americans have Judeo/Christian roots. However, American tradition did start in the south during the Civil War, but by accident. Black-eyed peas were one of the foods not destroyed by enemies because they considered these legumes as animal food. I guess these troops were lucky that they had this humble legume to keep them alive. Later, and contrary to Jewish tradition, black-eyed peas were served up with pork and greens.
The luck part is associated with the swelling of the bean, meaning prosperity. That's it? I think I will just continue eating my beans and rice since both legume and grain swell. As I eat, I hope that I will have an abundance of black-eyed peas in the pod since that is how I enjoy them most, flavored with a little bacon of course. Here is to a prosperous New Year!
No comments:
Post a Comment