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Hoppin-john-bowl
Srjenkins [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons
Forget champagne—in the Southern United States, Hoppin’ John is standard New Year’s fare. This simple, delicious dish of peas, pork and rice has graced holiday tables since the 1800s. Although it’s believed to bring luck and peace in the coming year to anyone who eats it, Hoppin’ John’s history is anything but peaceful. What’s the story behind this New Year’s tradition?
The first recipes for Hoppin’ John appear in cookbooks that date back to the 1840s, although the mixture of dried peas, rice and pork was made by Southern slaves long before then. It seems to have originated in the Low Country of South Carolina, an area where plantation owners searched long and hard for a crop that would flourish in the hot, muggy weather. Rice grew well in the river deltas, so it was a natural choice, but the white farmers had no real experience with cultivating rice on a large scale. Enter the slave trade and enslaved West Africans who had grown rice for generations.
NEW YEAR’S HOPPIN’ JOHN
Start to finish: 1 hour
Servings: 10
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
2 jalapenos, stemmed and deseeded, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 smoked turkey thighs, skin removed
1 pound black-eyed peas, soaked overnight and rinsed
1 quart low-sodium chicken stock
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
1 teaspoon salt
Salt, black pepper and cayenne to taste
1 cup green onion, chopped
4 cups freshly steamed white rice
Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in large soup pot or Dutch oven. Add the onion, celery, bell pepper, jalapenos and garlic, and cook until opaque and lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add the turkey thighs, peas, chicken stock, bay leaf, thyme and a teaspoon of salt. Simmer for 40 minutes, or until peas are creamy and tender. If liquid evaporates, add more stock or water. Adjust seasonings, and garnish with green onions. Serve hot over rice.
http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/hoppin-john-a-new-years-tradition
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