Arts: You?re Doing It Wrong, Black-Eyed Peas Edition

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Brow Beat You're Doing It Wrong: Black-Eyed Peas By L. V. Anderson Posted Wednesday, Jan 04, 2012, at 06:57 PM ET The best superstitions are gastronomic: It may not make any rational sense to believe that consuming a certain food item on a certain date has any bearing on the direction of the rest of your life—but if you do it right, the worst that can happen is that you'll have eaten something delicious. This is why many Americans make an annual effort to eat black-eyed peas on or around New Year's. The practice dates at least to the Civil War in the American South and appears to have both African and Jewish roots. According to some traditions, the peas' tendency to swell when cooked portends prosperity; according to others, the ovoid legumes resemble coins. (Neither of these explanations is particularly convincing—but then again, most explanations for superstitions are lacking in the persuasiveness department.) Many Southerners consume black-eyed peas in hoppin' john, a stew that combines them with rice and bacon or ham hocks. Texans may eat them in a salad known as Texas caviar, which contains bell peppers, red onions, celery, and sometimes corn in addition to black-eyed peas. These culinary traditions are noble and good (especially when served alongside cornbread)—but if you really want to maximize the luckiness of your black-eyed peas, you ought to combine them with another auspicious New Year's ingredient: cabbage, whose superficial resemblance to money is supposed to translate to real-world wealth (according to certain European traditions). A good black-eyed pea and cabbage soup can, like Paul Simon's ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate The Clues That Hint What Bachmann Will Do Next The Real Threat to Marriage Isn't Gay Marriage—It's Straight Civil Unions Is It Really Possible That Sesame Street Is Losing Money? What About All Those Elmo Toys?	Advertisement
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