Alternative names Carolina Peas and Rice Region or state The Carolinas | Course Meal Place of origin Southern United States | |
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Main ingredients black-eyed peas (or field peas) and rice, chopped onion, sliced bacon Variations substitute ham hock, fatback, or country sausage for the conventional bacon, or smoked turkey parts as a pork alternative. Similar Black‑eyed pea, Marrow‑stem Kale, Rice and peas, Succotash, Cowpea | ||
Hoppin john recipe black eyed peas rice and collard greens i heart recipes
Hoppin' John, also known as Carolina Peas and Rice is a peas and rice dish served in the Southern United States. It is made with black-eyed peas (or red cowpeas such as iron and clay peas in the Southeast US) and rice, chopped onion, sliced bacon, and seasoned with salt. Some people substitute ham hock, fatback, or country sausage for conventional bacon; additionally, a popular and healthy modern alternative to pork is the use of smoked turkey parts. A few use green peppers or vinegar and spices. Smaller than black-eyed peas, field peas are used in the Low Country of South Carolina and Georgia; black-eyed peas are the norm elsewhere.
Contents
- Hoppin john recipe black eyed peas rice and collard greens i heart recipes
- How to make hoppin john
- Etymology
- History
- Variants
- References
In the southern United States, eating Hoppin' John on New Year's Day is thought to bring a prosperous year filled with luck. The peas are symbolic of pennies or coins, and a coin is sometimes added to the pot or left under the dinner bowls. Collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, chard, kale, cabbage, and similar leafy green vegetables served along with this dish are supposed to further add to the wealth, since they are the color of American currency. Another traditional food, cornbread, can also be served to represent wealth, being the color of gold. On the day after New Year's Day, leftover "Hoppin' John" is called "Skippin' Jenny," and further demonstrates one's frugality, bringing a hope for an even better chance of prosperity in the New Year.
How to make hoppin john
Etymology
The Oxford English Dictionary's first reference to the dish is from Frederick Law Olmsted's 19th century travelogue, A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States (1861). However, a recipe for "Hopping John" in The Carolina Housewife by Sarah Rutledge, which was published in 1847, is also cited as the earliest reference. An even earlier source is Recollections of a Southern Matron, which mentions "Hopping John" (defined, in a note, as "bacon and rice") as early as 1838. The origins of the name are uncertain; one possibility is that the name is a corruption of the Haitian Creole term for black-eyed peas: pois pigeons (pronounced: [pwapiˈʒɔ̃]), or "pigeon peas" in English.
History
Hoppin' John was originally a Low Country food before spreading to the entire population of the South. Hoppin' John may have evolved from rice and bean mixtures that were the subsistence of enslaved West Africans en route to the Americas. Hoppin' John has been further traced to similar foods in West Africa, in particular the Senegalese dish thiebou niebe.
One tradition common in the U.S. is that each person at the meal should leave three peas on their plate to ensure that the New Year will be filled with luck, fortune and romance. Another tradition holds that counting the number of peas in a serving predicts the amount of luck (or wealth) that the diner will have in the coming year. On Sapelo Island in the community of Hog Hammock, Geechee red peas are used instead of black-eyed peas. Sea Island red peas are similar.
The chef Sean Brock claims that traditional Hoppin' John was made with the once-thought-extinct Carolina gold rice and Sea Island red peas. However, there are currently a number of Carolina gold rice growers who offer the product for sale in limited distribution.
Variants
Other bean and rice dishes are seen throughout the American South and the Caribbean, and are often associated with African culinary influence in the Americas. Regional variants include the Guyanese dish "cook-up rice", which uses black-eyed peas and coconut milk; "Hoppin' Juan," which substitutes Cuban black beans for black-eyed peas; the Peruvian tacu-tacu; and the Brazilian dish feijoada, which also uses black beans instead of black-eyed peas.