When you want to make Hoppin' John for the New Year's Day meal, wait until New Year's Eve after the last of the kids leaves to go shopping, and every can and package of black-eyed peas are nowhere to be found, just change the eye color and move along!
The ingredients in Hoppin’ John have symbolic importance, and eating this dish on New Year’s Day portends good fortune in the new year:
- black-eyed peas represent coins
- collard greens represent greenbacks (dollars), or cash
- corn bread represents gold
- pork—especially ham hocks—recall the cheap cuts of meat provided to enslaved people
- tomatoes, if included, represent health
Any leftovers can be enjoyed on later days, but after New Year’s Day the name of the dish changes to Skippin’ Jenny. Stretching the dish into leftovers demonstrates a sense of frugality and promises even greater prosperity in the new year!
Here's to starting 2024 with beans, beans, they're good for your heart...
I was too much of a Yankee living in the south, this never passed into our traditions.
ReplyDeleteI totally forgot to eat some black-eyed peas on New Years Day.
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