Black-eyed Peas

So many foods today have a sometimes interesting and illustrious past, that we today have no clue about. Food in history has always had some kind of big impact, and has many times saved generations. Looking at the history of the black-eyed pea, I was surprised to find that George Washington Carver pushed for their propagation because of their two fold benefits: the positive effects they have on soil, and that they’re a good source of calcium, folate, iron, fiber, and potassium.

Although it’s a debate as to whether they originally came from Africa or Asia the belief that eating them on New Year’s Day brings good luck originates from the early centuries AD with the Babylonian Talmud, which is a compilation of rabbinical discussions outlining Jewish law. The accepted Jewish custom is to eat the food symbols of good luck, which is followed by the Sephardi and Israeli Jews to this day. In the United States, the first Sephardi Jews arrived in Georgia in the 1730s, and have stayed since. Their practice of eating black-eyed peas as a good luck symbol was taken in by non-Jews around the time of the Civil War.

So let Grandma Maud’s Bean meals become a part of your family’s traditions. Easy to prepare varieties of beans with the taste of something like a down home southern recipe.