Jan 1, 2017
New Year's superstitions and traditions abound, but one that seems to cross cultures and continents is that of Black-eyed Peas being a lucky food and a New Year's Day must.
According to Wikipedia, in the Southern United States, eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day is thought to bring prosperity in the new year.
There are several legends as to the origin of this custom.
In the Southern United States, the peas are typically cooked with a pork product for flavoring (such as bacon, ham bones, fatback, or hog jowl), diced onion, and served with a hot chili sauce or a pepper-flavored vinegar.
The traditional meal also includes collard, turnip, or mustard greens, and ham. The peas, since they swell when cooked, symbolize prosperity; the greens symbolize money; the pork, because pigs root forward when foraging, represents positive motion. Cornbread also often accompanies this meal. The cornbread represents gold.
Two popular explanations for the South’s association with peas and good luck dates back to the Civil War. The first is associated with Gen. William T. Sherman’s Union Army's March to the Sea, during which they pillaged the food supplies of the Confederates. Stories say peas and salted pork were said to be left untouched because of the belief that they were animal food and not fit for human consumption. Southerners considered themselves lucky to be left with some supplies to help them survive the winter, and black-eyed peas evolved into a representation of good luck. In other traditions, it was a symbol of emancipation for African-Americans who had previously been enslaved before the civil war who became free officially on New Years Day.
Other traditions point to Sephardic and Ashkenazi southerners - who were prominent slaveholders in Southern cities and plantations. The "good luck" traditions of eating black-eyed peas at Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, are recorded in the Babylonian Talmud(compiled circa 500 CE), Horayot 12A: "Abaye [d. 339 CE] said, now that you have established that good-luck symbols avail, you should make it a habit to see qara (bottle gourd), rubiya (black-eyed peas, Arabic lubiya), kartei (leeks), silka (either beets or spinach), and tamrei (dates) on your table on the New Year" (Horayot 12A). However, the custom may have resulted from an early mistranslation of theAramaic word rubiya (fenugreek).
A parallel text in Kritot 5B states one should eat these symbols of good luck. The accepted custom (Shulhan Aruh Orah Hayim 583:1, 16th century, the standard code of Jewish law and practice) is to eat the symbols. This custom is followed by Sephardi and Israeli Jews to this day.
New Year's Black-Eyed Peas
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 3 hrs
10 servings
307 cals
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry black-eyed peas
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 (32 ounce) cartons chicken broth
- 8 cups water
- 1 pound smoked ham hocks
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 5 pepperoncini peppers
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Place the black-eyed peas into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand 8 hours to overnight. Drain and rinse before using.
- In a large stock pot over medium heat, cook and stir onion and garlic in olive oil until onion becomes translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Pour in the chicken broth and 8 cups water, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer.
- Stir in soaked black-eyed peas, ham hocks, tomatoes, pepperoncini, bay leaf, garlic powder, thyme, and salt and pepper.
- Cover and simmer until peas are tender, ham meat is falling off the bones, and the broth is thickened, about 3 hours.
Image: New Year's Day in Alabama: black-eyed peas, ham hock, and pepper sauce - Wikipedia
Share this article with friends!
Tags:
#new#year's#superstition,##recipe,#black-eyed#peas,#new#year's#must,starzpsychics.com,#starz#advisors
