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New Years, Black-Eyed Peas, & Ham Hocks


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One of the most romantic and fun trips I ever planned involed blowing through Memphis New Year's eve. It was the only evening of the week I didn't plan, and we just picked this dive.

It was great- country music and a friendly crowd. Happy Serendipity. Here's the food part-

Right before the new year, the staff hurriedly passed out little bowls of ham and beans. No one seemed surprised, but my man & I raised our eyebrows at each other and politely ate them.

Is this- not to sound juvenile- a thing?

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"Eat poor the first of the year, eat rich the rest." I have one from my folks that I don't where it's from. The first person to come through the door on New Year tosses a handful of change in before they step in. It stays there until you make some money and then you pick it up and pass it on to the poor. Anyone else EVER hear of that? All I can find out is "we've always done it".

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THe dish is called Hoppin' John. It's thought to have been derived from an old Caribbean or African recipe. It was then brought to the south by slaves.

My MIL cooks up a vat every Christmas and sends my wife and I home with a big Tupperware full of it every year to be eaten first thing New Year's Day (well for me after the asparin dissolved in gatorade and the whisky laced coffee hangover curatives).

If someone writes a book about restaurants and nobody reads it, will it produce a 10 page thread?

Joe W

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No one seemed surprised, but my man & I raised our eyebrows at each other and politely ate them.

Goodness... Where on earth are y'all from? Of course you have to eat black-eyed peas on New Years, or you'll have bad luck.

The hamhocks are totally incidental. They're just used to season up the "lucky" peas.

That's how all of us in the south were raised. Even when I was a kid and hated black-eyed peas, us young'uns had to eat at least one pea for luck. To this day, I can't get through New Year's without feeling like I have to eat at least one.

But you don't have to cook them. Down here in Texas, we have something called "Texas Caviar," which is a relish made with black-eyed peas. They're pickled, along with jalapenos, onions, etc., and served on crackers.

They work just as well.

:biggrin:

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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i thought hoppin' john was collards, black eyed peas and rice?

Nope. It's peas, some type of pork product, rice and onion. THen a variety of spices depending on where you are.

If someone writes a book about restaurants and nobody reads it, will it produce a 10 page thread?

Joe W

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There are multiple versions of hoppin john, but all of them have black eyed peas and rice in them. Mine has tomatoes, scallions, and cheese, too. I've never seen collards in hoppin john, but I always serve collards with my hoppin john on New Years Day -- the black eyed peas are for luck and the collards are for money!

Dean McCord

VarmintBites

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As others have noted, black eyed peas are a traditional "lucky" food in the South. They must work, because all three of the children in my family were conceived after my parents had eaten black eyed peas (which were not easy to get in the New England of my youth and were generally sent from Texas by my grandmother).

--

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There are multiple versions of hoppin john, but all of them have black eyed peas and rice in them. Mine has tomatoes, scallions, and cheese, too. I've never seen collards in hoppin john, but I always serve collards with my hoppin john on New Years Day -- the black eyed peas are for luck and the collards are for money!

ah okay - you're right. the greens are on the side. i jsut don't recall ever having hoppin john without the greens served for money.

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Goodness... Where on earth are y'all from? Of course you have to eat black-eyed peas on New Years, or you'll have bad luck.

Brooks Hamaker, aka "Mayhaw Man"

There's a train everyday, leaving either way...

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Goodness...  Where on earth are y'all from?  Of course you have to eat black-eyed peas on New Years, or you'll have bad luck.

Jaymes,

This board is filled with poor, deprived Northerners who know not the goodness of peas and rice. :sad:

I guess that explains that dreadful weather they have up there every single dang year.

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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You gotta eat black-eyed peas on New Year's Day if you want to prosper in the new year. The collards (or mustard or turnip) greens are just there to go with the peas or Hoppin' John -- pour vinegar over all. Cornbread should be served as well, with lots of butter. Everybody goes to everybody else's house to eat this stuff and share good wishes for the year.

We never did the throwing money thing, but it reminds me of the Thanksgiving tradition my mom's family had and that we kept every year if we weren't going to relatives' house for T-day dinner: Our Thanksgiving meal consisted of a simple onion soup, and afterwards we sat around the table while the annual checks for charity were made out.

Good memories,

Squeat

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Good luck foods that our family has to have on News Year's Day:

1. Black-eyed peas, for luck.

2. Greens, for money. Any kinds of greens will do---collards, spinach, cabbage, but I have this theory that the greener the better.

3. Ham (or some other pork product), for luck.

4. Rum, for luck.

Not a bad meal, depending on how you arrange things. The New Year's Eve party that I usually attend actually serves a post-midnight breakfast which includes (in addition to some breakfast items) the first three things on the list.

I've been making my kids eat at least a small amount of the first three on New Year's Day since they were very small.

Can you pee in the ocean?

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My wife had a co worker from Columbia who convinced her that if she would walk around the block in her underwear (purple only)on New Years Eve that she would be guaranteed a great trip during the coming year.

My wife, a seemingly unsupersticious and intelligent woman, did exactly as instructed (walking around New Orleans in your underwear is not considered to be that strange a thing to do at any time of year, so she was pretty safe :wink: ) and, in fact, ended up going on a swell little New York jaunt right after that.

Mrs. Mayhaw has not repeated this performance in the past few years, but I have always encouraged her to try it again :laugh:

Brooks Hamaker, aka "Mayhaw Man"

There's a train everyday, leaving either way...

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So, peas, optional ham and purple underwear, toss change around and that's it? On to the happily ever after?

Wow, I have been so deluded.

We just drink champagne and make fun of Dick Clark. I WILL be in Savannah for this new year's eve however, and so I'm very glad to have learned the customs. I can look like a native. (HA!)

Any suggestions as to where to be in Savannah for new years?

What's wrong with peanut butter and mustard? What else is a guy supposed to do when we are out of jelly?

-Dad

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Actually, I was raised in the south, but by well meaning, uncurious northerners. I've been short on cash too- thanks to my post and these awesome answers it will all turn around. My place for hoppin' john? What would be the perfect beer to put with it? Hmmmmm..

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Any suggestions as to where to be in Savannah for new years?

The beach at Tybee. Bring the one you love, a blanket and a bottle of champagne. And a bowl of black-eyed peas...

Good idea. That way, even if the black-eyed peas don't work, you'll still get lucky.

:biggrin:

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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One of my children does not like black-eyed peas. How that happened, I do not know.

He is so afraid of what will happen if he does not eat them on New Year's day, he carefully counts out 13 (one for each month) , and chokes them down.

It is always entertaining to watch.

I don't know about the purple underwear thing though. I will have to give that one some thought. :smile::shock:

If you can't act fit to eat like folks, you can just set here and eat in the kitchen - Calpurnia

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In Scotland, for Hogmany (New Years Eve) the first person through he door should be a handsome dark stranger bearing a lump of coal, shortbread, (or an oat bannock or black bun depending which region), salt, whisky and in some traditions a silver coin. Other traditions leave the silver soin outside until next day.

Some explain that the visitor should be dark, since a fair person might be a Viking marauder, nor should he be a doctor, a mimister or a gravedigger since they were also were of ill omen. The coal is for warmth, the food for sustenance and the silver coin for wealth for the year. Later whisky was substituted for the silver coin.

Tradition dictates that the First Footer can claim a kiss from every female in the house

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