Tradition says that eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day will bring you good luck. This is something that comes from the American South, and I know that other cultures also have their good luck traditions.
In Scotland, the first person who enters your house on New Years should be tall, dark and handsome. Red-heads are considered bad luck. Noisemakers and fireworks are believed to drive away the evil spirits. In Italy, lentils, which looked like old Italian currency, are eaten to bring riches.
But Hoppin' John, with its black-eyed peas, rice and pork, is the dish of choice around my house. I took the easy way out yesterday when I made it with canned black-eyed peas and rice in a pouch. I had two parties within a few hours, so didn't have time to simmer the beans for hours.
Here's the recipe: Saute a diced onion and green pepper until the onions are translucent. Cook about six pieces of bacon or some pork sausage, using the same pan. Add black-eyed peas, rice and simmer for 10 minutes. If you want, add some Tabasco or other seasoning. I saw a Hoppin' John salad which also looked interesting.
Happy New Year!
5 comments:
Thanks for the recipe. My mom often makes Hoppin' John on New Year's Day.
I like hoppin' john and it seems easier to bring good luck that way then by making sure the first person entering your house on New Year's Day is tall, dark, and handsome. Happy New Year, Fairfax!
Strange, as Americanized as my Italian, Irish and German ancestors became, my family never got into the Hoppin' John thing. All the while growing up our New Year's morning tradition was church (well my sister and I went; my parents just dropped us off). Then we got older and stopped going on the holy days of obligation, and just ate all the hors d'oeuvre that we made for the ball drop the night before. Pigs in a blanket and little quiches were the normal New Year's breakfast for me growing up.
Damn! That looks really, really good! I missed new Year's, but how about a week and a few days after...create your own luck and all that. Hoppin' tasty!
You write very well.
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