By Loretta Gillespie
Did you eat your black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day? If you did, you have followed a long-held tradition that says you will have good luck as well as good fortune. Why risk it? They taste great, and cooked up with some hog jowl and collard greens, they form the basis for a wonderful, traditional Southern meal.
Black-eyed peas are a mainstay in the Southern diet at any time of the year, but they are a must have on New Year’s Day. These legumes are also considered good luck in many other cultures. Some say the hog, and therefore its meat, is considered lucky because it is a symbol of prosperity. The peas themselves swell when cooked, symbolizing growth of good fortune.
Cabbage, a wonderful, and economic side dish often served up with black-eyed peas and hog jowl, is another vegetable that is on the ‘good luck’ list of New Year’s Day specialties. The green color of the cabbage leaves is thought to indicate that it was a sign of wealth. In some regions of the country, rice is also on that list.
The first domestication of this good luck food was probably in West Africa, but is widely grown in many countries in Asia. It was first introduced in the Southern United States as early as the 17th century, most likely in Virginia.
Most cultivation of the black-eyed pea migrated to Florida and the Carolinas during the next century. The humble legume would eventually prove popular in Texas, as well. Throughout the entire Southern United States, it is still a widely used ingredient in many dishes.
One legend has it the practice of eating black-eyed peas for luck is generally thought to date back to the Civil War. First planted as food for livestock, black-eyed peas have been a staple in the Southern diet for over 300 years. They were also a staple food for slaves in the South.
Legend has it Sherman’s troops failed to notice the humble black-eyed pea, considering it, along with field corn, as food only fit for animals. They burned everything they couldn’t carry with them that was thought to be of any value. But, they failed to note the value of the black-eyed pea, leaving it for surviving Confederates, thus the luck…
George Washington Carver encouraged planters to use it as a cover crop because it adds nitrogen to the soil. It also has a high nutritional value, serving as an excellent source of calcium (211 mg per one-cup serving) and Vitamin A (1,305 IU), among other nutrients.
The good luck traditions of eating the black-eyed pea is also celebrated at Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and are recorded in the Babylonian Talmud, which was compiled in 500 CE. The first Sephardic Jews first arrived in Georgia in the 1730s, and have lived there continuously ever since. Non-Jews adopted this Jewish practice around the time of the Civil War.
Today, the tradition of eating these nutritious legumes on New Year’s Day has evolved into several variations, with many famous dishes known throughout various regions of the South.
Here in Alabama, the peas are typically cooked with a ham product, such as bacon, ham hocks, hog jowl, or a ham bone. Other ingredients may include onion, salt, pepper, and bay leaves.
Soaked overnight, then cooked on the stove slowly for several hours, the peas are traditionally served with boiled cabbage, turnip green, mustard greens or collard greens, and cornbread. Accompanied by a tall glass of ice-cold, sweet tea – another regional treat – this meal probably has not changed much since it’s Civil War beginnings.