The coming of the New Year brings with it hundreds of familiar traditions. Around the world, these traditions are as varied as the landscapes and people. In the southern United States, a traditional dish called “Hoppin’ John” is made for the New Year’s Day dinner.
Hoppin’ John consists mainly of blackeyed peas and rice. Beyond that, there are a few variations to the recipe. Some only add salt and pepper, while others add a variety of additional ingredients.
Many people believe that Hoppin’ John is a traditional New Year’s dish because of the fact that the blackeyed peas look like small coins. Others believe that Hoppin’ John is considered lucky due to the fact that the peas expand, signifying an increase in prosperity.
What ever the reason for Hoppin’ John’s popularity as a New Year’s dish in the Southern United States, the dish has been a traditional favorite for many decades. Unfortunately, the dish, with all of its traditional meanings of luck and prosperity, has rather dark beginnings.
Hoppin’ John is a dish that came out of the slave culture of the pre-Civil War South. The dish was either an African or Caribbean carry over from the native people that were transported to the Southern United States to become slaves. Beans and rice meals were a traditional meal from the their homelands and for them, such dishes as Hoppin’ John were a sweet reminder of home and family lost.
Despite Hoppin’ John’s rather bleak history, the dish is a favorite among Southern Blacks and Whites alike. Many Southern tables are laden with ham, collard greens, cornbread and Hoppin’ John on New Year’s Day. Each part of this meal is meant to wish the diner a little something different. Ham is for a year rich in happiness (due to its rich fat), collard greens is for money (being green like US money), cornbread is for golden opportunities (as it is gold in color) and Hoppin’ John is for luck and prosperity.
Below is the recipe for Traditional Hoppin’ John. But take a look online for dozens of variations of the recipe. This year, you might want to serve a bowl of Hoppin’ John to wish your friends and family luck and prosperity in the coming New Year.
Traditional Hoppin’ John
1 cup dried black-eyed peas or cowpeas
a small chunk of lean slab bacon, sliced thick, or a cracked ham or beef bone or a small chunk salt pork, sliced and simmered in ample water for 15 minutes to reduce the salt
1 onion, chopped
1 cup raw rice 2 teaspoons salt
1 hot red pepper, fresh or dried, seeded and diced, or Tabasco sauce to taste
Pick over the black-eyed peas carefully, removing any bits of rock and unsavory-looking peas. Rinse well and cover with 5 cups of water. Soak for four hours before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.
Strain out the beans and bring the water to a boil. Return the beans, with the bay leaf, if using, plus a teaspoon of the salt, and let them simmer for about 45 minutes. (If you are using a cracked pork or beef bone, add it now, also, and ignore all bacon/salt pork instructions, frying up the onion in a bit of melted fat or oil and adding it when you add the rice.) While the beans are cooking, prepare the bacon/salt pork by frying it until the pieces are crisp. Either reserve these until the end of cooking (to lend a touch of crispness) or put them into the beans when the rice is added. Fry the onion in the fat once the pork has been removed until it is translucent but not brown. Either way, reserve the fat.
At the end of 45 minutes, taste the beans for doneness; if they are soft but not mushy, they are just right. Eyeball the remaining liquid in the pot — there should be at least 21/2 cups. If not, add more water. Pour in the rice and mix in all the other seasonings including the second teaspoon of salt, the bacon/salt pork bits (unless holding them for the end), and all — or as much as you want of — the cooking fat. Stir the mixture well and bring the liquid up to a simmer. Let cook for another 20 minutes.Then turn off the heat and let the dish rest for 10 minutes. Taste. The beans should be just a little more tender, the rice perfectly cooked. Crumble over the reserved bacon or sprinkle over the crisp salt pork bits, if any, and serve. Pass around a platter of cornbread and a salad of fresh greens or a bowl of cooked ones.