I recently started working at a place, that even though is down south, is managed with alot of northerners..and For the first time in 16 years I realized a tradition we practice as a family isn't really one that everyone participates in. I know that this is an odd question but one that several of us at work got to talking about...Is it a southern thing only or does everyone eat black eyed peas on New Years day?

Not in Iowa!

See, here everyone, I mean everyone.. has blackeyed peas on New Years day. Today in the breakroom everyone had their 'leftovers' to eat for lunch when one of the manager came in and made some comment about 'southern food'. I swear that is the first time I realized that not everyone eats blackeyed peas. Too weird that each region has their own ways... what do you normally eat on New Years day?

Not every region knows what "Black Eyed" Peas (or Purple Hull, or Crowder) Peas are....and that is because the climate in certain areas is not conducive to Pea growing.

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Southern only I suspect and I forgot to buy any this year. Love them, but other family members are not quite as happy with them, so I'm out of practice.

ummm...because if the climate in a certain area is not conducive to growing a specific item, the people in that area are therefore not familiar with the item? we can't grow pineapple here in the NorthEast, but we do know what they are.....

my guess would be that the southern tradition of black-eyed peas on New Years Day has a bit more to do with the ethnic makeup and/or history of the region...

I'm familiar with two stories as to the tradition of black-eyed peas on New Years:

Coins and Bills: There is a Southern saying that dictates eating habits in the Southern United States' New Year's: "Eat poor on New Year's, eat fat the rest of the year." A traditional Southern New Year's meal includes ham, corn bread, black-eyed peas and collard greens. Both black-eyed peas and collard greens are considered especially lucky additions to the dinner table. Black-eyed peas are thought to bring wealth because they look like little coins, in addition to the fact that they swell when cooked -- a sure sign of prosperity. Collard greens are considered lucky because they are green, like greenbacks -- money!

Civil War history: the origin of eating Black-eyed peas on New Years day started during the Civil War. The Northern soldiers raided the South's food supplies one New Year's Eve night and took all the food except for the dried black-eyed peas and the salted pork. On New Years day, all that the southern soldiers had to eat were the peas and pork to keep them alive, so it is concidered good luck to eat black-eyed peas on New Years because of this event.

cj/

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black eye peas, hog jawls and greens. thats what we always had. I kinda do a little different. I make pinto's cooked with a ham hock , slaw and cornbread and onions. yum yum.

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Collard greens and hoppin' john --YUMMY!!!!! (For luck and money)

Up here, in PA, they eat pork and sauerkraut

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We actually discussed this on the LGC board recently. I live up north where you'd be darn lucky to even find black eyed peas! Around here, it's pork and saurkaut for luck in the new year.

My mother was born and raised in NE PA and she ate Black eyed peas on New Years day along with pork and sauerkraut.
Her family were Pennsylvania Dutch (no southern roots to speak of)...so, I am not sure if it is just a Southern tradtion.
Personally, I can't stand Black eyed peas, they taste too strong to me, so I never carried on the tradition.

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Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, if you do criticize them, you're a mile away and have their shoes.

Okay, I don't know if I'm the only one who finds this a little strange, but WHY would it be considered good luck to eat something that the loosing side of a war ate? Wouldn't that be bad luck? They ate it and lost the war???

Just wondering
Becky

Oh, and no, here in Idaho we don't eat Black Eye Peas on New Years, or ever... We don't have a particular tradition for New Years Day, but usually have a big feast of pretty much anything (but the black eye peas) on New Years Eve.

hehehehe.. I know what you mean.

funny story.

I had a friend whos family was driving from Boston to Walt Disney world in Orlando (we only are 3.5 hours from there) so they stopped by our house on the way there and back. I had been eating grits one time when she called and I told her when she came down here I would make her some grits. Well they called when they were only 2 exits away and I told her I would put the grits on so they were hot when she got here. She said she wasn't that hungry so only make her one grit. I laughed so hard I peepeed my pants almost. heheheheh..

I never heard of black-eyed peas on New Years
but Pork and sauerkraut comes out of the oven right after the ball drops!
Dh hates sauerkraut but will eat a small slice only on New Years.
I think its a German thing. I may be wrong
My Mom said, it came from my Dad's mom who was German.

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I dunno - maybe it's a southern thing!

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

We do every year!!

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Vicki


TLJ Women united in Spirit!

Maybe it was good luck to have anything to eat at all (just thinking out loud here).

Another funny store about the civil war.

My now 13 year old son was studying the civil war last year in 6th grade. They were getting indepth with it and even had to pretend that they were a reporter on the 'front lines'. Son did really well, and decided to he wanted a civil war veteran to talk to.. before I could explain to him that I doubted any would still be around but we could call the local hospice and nursing homes to see if there were any around.. he turned to his dad and said, with pen and paper ready.. Dad what side did you fight for? (knowing dad's kin are northerns).. My husband was laughing so hard I thought he would fart.. ehheheheheheheh

ok i'm from the south but i don't make black eyed peas for new year's because no one likes them and no one here would eat them have heard of pork/sauerkraut but noone would eat that either. well, i would but i'm the only one in our household who would eat those things

now what about the southern tradition of hiding a bean in a cake? and you were supposed to have good luck all year if you got the piece with the bean in it or was it cornbread? there was most def, a bean hidden inside something

queenofc that's funny 'which side did you fight on' lol you know what, after i spent a few years in the south i actually, for awhile, thought the south had won the war

Just asked husband about the hidden bean and we are not sure about that one.. off to google it.

It is neat to learn about the sourkraut and pork.. now a ? Do you bake it or put it in a slowcooker? (can you tell I haven't ever cooked it??)

dh's mother is German and she always has pork and sauerkraut for Christmas. I had never heard of having black-eyed peas until two friends with relatives in the south told me about them.

Hmm, my mom always does the northern beans with ham and cornbread, fried potatoes and coleslaw.

I never heard of either of these traditions until I came here!

I know what you mean !! I'd heard of the collard greens and black eyed peas, but not the pork and sauerkraut. I love reading about what other families and what traditions they do. My have some german in me from my dad's side of the family, but could never do the sauerkraut tradition. I can't stand the taste of sauerkraut, but everyone else in my family loves it, lol.

We don't have the tradition of black eyed peas in Wisconsin. I did make a mean meat loaf that day though.

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Donna

Queenofcoupons wrote:


My now 13 year old son was studying the civil war last year in 6th grade. They were getting indepth with it and even had to pretend that they were a reporter on the 'front lines'. Son did really well, and decided to he wanted a civil war veteran to talk to.. before I could explain to him that I doubted any would still be around but we could call the local hospice and nursing homes to see if there were any around.. he turned to his dad and said, with pen and paper ready.. Dad what side did you fight for? (knowing dad's kin are northerns).. My husband was laughing so hard I thought he would fart.. ehheheheheheheh ----------------


Honey, maybe if you'd stop feeding him those black eyed peas, he wouldn't have gas problems when he laughs. Hee, hee.

I love your posts!!

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Donna

I have lived in the south since I got married and moved here when I was 18. I had not heard of eating black eyed peas for new years before we moved. We used to always eat pork and kraut. My family is Irish/Dutch and my husbands family is German.

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Not here in NY

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"Never loan your car to someone you have given birth too"

I grew up in Kansas and still live here. We ate black eyed peas and ham hocks (or ham bone) every year with cornbread. We never did the greens thing. We still eat it. We had it Tuesday. It's one meal that my entire family will eat. Even the dds had seconds! Yummm!

Lisa

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It's wanting what you've got"

ewwwww I grew up in Ark. collards, BEP, polk salad, lima beans all that... ick!

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queenofcoupons, you can boil it or put it in the slow cooker. At least that is how my dad does it. I won't eat kraut. I can't stand the smell, but do like pork, hot dogs or ham cooked in it.
Judy

I have been eating saurkraut and pork and black eyed peas for many years on New Years Day and I'm in the north. I don't know if the superstition works or not, but I won't quit eating them the first day of the year, just in case it does work. I usually fix potatoes to go with the kraut. Sometimes fried and sometimes mashed.



To queenofcoupons:

You can cook them either way. I rinse the saurkraut with cold water and squeeze the water out. I put it in a greased baking dish and top it with fresh brauts. I bake it until the top of the meat is golden brown. Turn the meat to other side and brown it again. It's done.

My friend (who is very German) puts it in the crockpot along with several more ingredients that she won't reveal and let's it cook on low for a number of hours. It's ready to eat by midnight. Her's is really good.

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Barb


My GOD Bless our Country and our Troops, and rid the World of terroists.

My mom and dad always had pork and sauerkraut on New Years Day. I don't like sauerkraut, but would eat the pork. Now I just make a ham for New Years Day. I grew up in PA and that was our tradition. I've heard of black-eyed peas and collard greens, just never had them.

I think it depends on what part of the country you live in and your nationality. My parents ate pickled herring (fish) on New Years Day. I lived in Wisconsin and my parents were German and Polish. They both were raised on farms.

People in Texas do. My mom was horrified that we didn't eat any.

I really wanted cabbage, but was at my mil's, and she doesn't cook (and doesn't really like people cooking at her house).

Mmmmmm.......pork and kraut. What a tasty combo! I'm a Midwesterner transplanted to the south. Every grocery store had black eyed peas and collard greens on sale just before New Year's. We don't eat it, but I know a lot of people who do.

MyCoupons is based in Pittsburgh and we eat pork and sauerkraut around here.

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Shauna

Funny. Your comment jogged an old old memory. My father who was of German heritage hated fish, except for canned tuna. But I have a vague recollection of him eating pickled herring at New Years. I also know that herring is big in Scandinavian countries all the time, so I am guessing also on New Year's.

Daddy also would cook pork and kraut but as a child, I wouldn't touch the stuff. But also having southern influences in my life, black eyed peas were on the table on New Years Day.

Conidered lucky because they had *something* to eat on New Years day...lot of starvation happened in that war..

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Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard

Here in Texas black eyed peas MUST be eaten on New Years Day for good luck - I HATE them, but I eat one bite to pacify my mom.

On the other hand - I had never heard of eating pork and sauerkraut on New Years - I'd like that much more!

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Mary

wow! I have never even heard of eating something for good luck on New Years!

Guess you learn something new everyday. Who would have thought. :-)

In the North, it is very rare anymore for someone to even make a good pot of beans (at least in my circle). The older women do, and I just recently learned from one of them how to make a good pot of Northern Beans.

Thanks for sharing this. I can't wait to ask my husband and his mom if they have ever heard of this.

We are in southern Indiana and people around here fix pork and cooked cabbage on New Year's Day. We are also in a very German community.

Someone mentioned a slice of sauerkraut?? Never heard it put that way. How do you slice sauerkraut?
Tradition, maybe. However, I'm not superstitious and don't believe that eating a certain food on a certain day will bring good or bad luck.
Any type of peas is not a Northern food same as okra isn't a northern food.

I never heard of this until we moved down south to Atlanta area from NJ ten years ago. We were at a party and my friend served them. She was shocked that we never heard of eating black eyed peas for good luck on New Years day! I don't really care for them, but needing all the luck that I can, I ate some. I usually make a pork roast and saurkraut on New Years day...I guess because my Mom always did...a tradition I guess. I've also noticed that people down here don't decorate for the holidays like we did up north...not as many people put up Christmas lights. And they definitely don't celebrate Halloween like us Yankees...my southern friend told me that some view it as satanic down here, but that's a whole other thread. I put up lots of decorations so they must think I'm a witch or devil I guess. Hee hee... ~Lisa

We are southern and my grandma always cooked fried hog jowls (kinda like thick bacon), turnip greens, and black eyed peas on New Year's Day. She always put a dime in the peas and if you got the dime, you would have money all year. In retrospect, I suppose we are lucky that one of us didn't swallow the dime and choke.

I have never heard of any food traditions on New Years Day and I have family from the south. We eat whatever we want. This year I was out shopping with my mom and we ate at a seafood restaurant

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Gosh, what fun would it be to put up Christmas lights when it's warm outside? Maybe that's why they don't put them up in the south! It has to be freezing out, and wind has to be whipping, and your snot has to freeze before you can really enjoy putting up lights.

Ah memories. I remember almost 30 years ago in our old neighborhood, the whole subdivision did luminaries on Christmas Eve. It was so cold that year that the candles would not stay lit. So every half hour or so, someone would bundle up and trudge out to try and relight the luminaries.

I live in north Georgia, but was born and raised in Michigan. Before we moved to GA (for DH's job), I had never heard of a 'black eyed pea', much less eaten them.

There are many things that are very different in the south than in the north.

Sarah........mom to Jason & Devin

I have never eaten a black eyed pea in my life.I just googled them and they look somewhat like a soybean.
Do they taste anything like a soybean?What do they taste like?

OMG, LOL! Spit soda on my screen.

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

Let me tell you, there was a big pot of black eyed peas eaten at our house on New Years day! I can make myself about sick on peas and cornbread with a little Karo drizzled on top. I love being from the South! I have to say that this is the first I've heard about pork and sauerkraut, though. Being of German descent, we eat that a lot when the weather is cold, but I've never know it to be a traditional New Years day food. Learn something new everyday!