The Black-Eyed Pea

The New Years’ ingredient promising prosperity

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One of the American South’s greatest underdog stories is that of the black-eyed pea. 

The lowly bean’s (it is a bean, actually, not a pea) origins in the New World were violent ones. Packed onto the massive ships traveling the Middle Passage as a meager means to sustain the hundreds of captives aboard—the cheap, hardy, and nutritious black-eyed pea made its way from West Africa to the Americas. 

On the grounds of the Southern plantations, in the shadows of the more opulent sugarcane and cotton, black-eyed peas grew tangled along the borders of the fields to control weeds, enrich the soil, and feed cattle. They also grew in the gardens of the enslaved Africans—a token, a taste, of a home they’d likely never see again. 

According to legend, when the Civil War came and the Union troops raided the barons’ storied crops, they ignored the black-eyed peas. They say the starving Southerners left behind survived on this former fodder of the livestock. 

In truth, at that point black-eyed peas had already started to make their way into the culinary tapestry of the larger South, onto the tables of poor white people and plantation owners alike. The enslaved Africans knew the value of this bean: its versatility, durability, proliferation, and flavor. They recreated traditional West African dishes using the ingredients available to them here in the hostile American South. And like the enduring genius of the Blues, what they created—a dish once called “poor man’s meat”—seeped into the culture subtly, but with such mythic prominence as to become one of its defining features. It is the meal we Southerners elect as our first of the year, one steeped in hope and mysticism. Today, black-eyed peas are a symbol of wealth. 

"When you’re cooking it, you generally serve it in a big pot. The tradition is an opportunity to stop the daily routine and spend time with people you care about.” —Vince Hayward

“Black-eyed peas are a physical representation of coins,” said Vince Hayward, the CEO and fourth generation owner of L.H. Hayward and Company, which packages Camellia Brand beans. “And it is interesting because they were really seen as peasant food, something people who don’t have means eat. Now, it’s kind of flipped the switch. It can be an elevated dish. And today, across class lines, it’s like you’re not a real Southerner if you’re not participating in the New Year’s Day tradition.” 

This tradition of eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day takes on a handful of different forms but is universally believed to ensure good fortune for the coming year. The bean’s powers, according to local lore, come from a few symbolic properties: its prolificacy (representing fertility), its ability to swell when cooked (an increase in fortune), and its historical resemblance to coins. Some traditions mandate that to acquire the promised fortune of the new year, one must eat at least 365 peas. Others include adding a penny or dime to the pot just before serving; whoever receives the coin in their peas is ensured the best luck for the new year.

Hayward, who said that he looks forward to the January 1 meal as enthusiastically as he does Thanksgiving, cooks it in the crock pot. “Generally, I’ll use some type of smoked meat, ham hock, or something like that. And a lot of onions and garlic, and that’s it. The bean itself has so much earthy, meaty flavor to it—it really doesn’t need a whole lot of extra seasoning. It’s got its own intrinsic flavor.” 

He prepares his New Years’ black-eyed peas as many in these parts do, with greens and cornbread—complementary symbols of paper money and gold, respectively. “It’s tremendous comfort food,” said Hayward. “And when you’re cooking it, you generally serve it in a big pot. The tradition is an opportunity to stop the daily routine and spend time with people you care about.” 

The joy in gathering around food is a universal experience, shared especially poignantly in the South. There’s a connectivity, Hayward explained, in eating this meal all together on this day, in reaching for good fortune at the outset of a new year.

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