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So WHY EAT Hog Jowl, Black-Eye Peas, Collard Greens and Cornbread on New Year's Day
Jan 1, 2014
| Yosemitest
Posted on 01/01/2014 8:41:27 PM PST by Yosemitest
My brother's wife wanted to know the history behind the southern tradition of the New Year's Day meal, and that started a search.
I thought I'd share it with you.
First, let me show you What hog jowl is, is, by J.A. Bolton Storyteller
I hope your family will be enjoying the traditional meal of collards, black-eyed peas, hog jowl and cornbread for New Years Day.
I thought in todays column I would try to explain some of the folklore and customs behind the delicious meal we observe here in the south on New Years.
I probably need to explain what a hog jowl is.
Some of our Yankee friends have never heard of this cut of pork.
Its the cheek of the hog.
It tastes and cooks similar to thick cut bacon.
Its a tough cut that is typically smoked and cured.
Hog jowl is used to season beans and peas or fried like bacon.
Hogs and pigs have long been a symbol of wealth and gluttony.
Its why we say someone is being a pig when they take more than their share.
Some people believe that
the more pork you eat for New Years,the better your luck will be in the coming year.
So WHY hog jowl?The short answer is that we eat cured pork because its winter time.
Hog jowl is a cured meat which stores well over long periods and its always been cheap.
Plus it goes well with black-eyed peas and collard greens.
Most southerners will tell you that the humble black-eye dates back to the Civil War.Black-eye peas were considered as animal feed (pea vine hay).
When General Shermans Union troops came through, it was said thatwhat they couldnt use they burnt.
Lucky for the south the Union Army didnt know much about the black-eye peas,and thats what southern people lived off of for the winter.
Peas became a symbol of coppers or pennies.
My folks said that for every pea you ate, it would bring you a penny.
Folks say you should eat exactly 365 peas on New Yearsifn you want enough to make it through the coming year.
If you ate more it would meanyou would lose one for as many days.
I reckon it all goes back to making a pig of yourself.
Want to get rich this year?
Here in the south, collard greens and cornbread bring in the big bucks.Collards are a late crop and are mostly grown here in the south.
Heard the saying boil them cabbage down ?
The same goes for collards since its part of the cabbage family.
The traditional way to cook collardsis to strip the leaves from the stem of the collard leaves,
wash several times,
cut up and place them in a big pot with bits of hog jowl or a ham hock.
When tender, remove from the pot and drain off the pot licker.
Ill tell you more about the pot licker in another story.
For the best cornbread,use a cup of self rising cornmeal,
half cup of flour,
a pinch of sugar and salt,
one egg,
half cup of milk nd a handful of pork cracklins.
Mix all the ingredients together.
Grease an old cast iron frying pan and place it in an oven at 400 degrees.
Cook for about 20 minutes but turn over after 10 minutes.
It should come out golden brown on both sides.
I know the doctor is going to say that eating this way will run up your blood pressure and cholesterol numbers, but what the heck.
You need to start off enjoying the New Year.
Dont forget thatpork is for luck,peas for pennies,collard greens for dollars
Hope you have a happy and prosperous new year
and dont forget to live, ... love ... and laugh.
Now for a recipe from Black-Eyed Peas and Hog Jowl - New Year's Day Tradition .
This is not culinary masterpiece. Having it once a year will be fine for most.
But, its tradition, fun to do, and it's for good luck. It can't hurt.
I served mine with some picked onions I made a year or so back.
Ingredients 1 small slab of Hog Jowl
1 15 ounce can Black-Eyed Peas
Salt
Freshly ground Black Pepper
Cut the hog jowl into thin bacon like strips.
In a large skillet, fry hog jowl over medium low to medium heat until desired doneness and crispness.
Place hog jowl on a platter lined with paper towel to drain.
During this time, heat black eyes peas in a sauce pan over medium heat until hot.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serves good luck for 365 days
I find hog howl in a whole piece.
But, I have read on other blogs where they have found it pre-sliced.
I have never found it that way.
If you slightly freeze your hog jowl, it will make slicing it a little easier about 20 minutes in your freezer.
You will get a good amount of fat renderings from the hog jowl and if you fry it too hot a lot of smoke.
Here's the Southern Style Collard Greens
But I disagree with their cooking time for good greens, because 45 minutes is just too short, and I recommend about 2 and one half to three hours cooking time, with a little splash of apple vinegar.
Click on the link to get it,
and if the greens taste too strong, just dump the water, rinse them, and add new water and cook a little longer.
You can find Southern-Style Cornbread here.
And you can get some stone ground whole corn meal here or here at Kymulga Grist Mill.
TOPICS: Education; Food; History; Reference
KEYWORDS: civilwar; collars; cornbread; happynewyear; jewishpractice; jowl; lubiya; ms; peas; rubiya; traditions; wtsherman
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To: Squantos
21
posted on
01/01/2014 9:55:21 PM PST
by
Yosemitest
(It's Simple ! Fight, ... or Die !)
To: Yosemitest
I made split pea soup with pepper bacon yesterday, and Manhattan clam chowder the day before.
Put up twelve cartons of soup yesterday: six (6) Manhattan Clam Chowder and six (6) Split Pea w/Pepper Bacon.
Had a New Years Day dinner of hot clam chowder with garlic bread, a glass of red wine, two kinds of cheeses, and a hand-full of toasted unsalted nuts. Since both soups are loaded with veggies I do not bother with a salad.
Happy New Years to everyone!
22
posted on
01/01/2014 9:55:42 PM PST
by
SatinDoll
(A NATURAL BORN CITIZEN IS BORN IN THE USA OF USA CITIZEN PARENTS)
To: Yosemitest
BTTT
I reside in historic Vicksburg, MS!
23
posted on
01/01/2014 9:59:44 PM PST
by
onyx
(Please Support Free Republic - Donate Monthly! If you want on Sarah Palin's Ping List, Let Me know!)
To: Squantos
24
posted on
01/01/2014 10:01:24 PM PST
by
Yosemitest
(It's Simple ! Fight, ... or Die !)
To: Yosemitest
Cool links...love to read history. Grateful !!
Stay safe !!!
25
posted on
01/01/2014 10:05:04 PM PST
by
Squantos
( Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet ...)
To: Impala64ssa
First time I tried a "bagel with lox and cheese", was in Plattsburg NY.
An interesting sandwich, with a slice of fresh tomato.
But because I'm not much for semi-cooked cold fish, I didn't do it again.
26
posted on
01/01/2014 10:07:43 PM PST
by
Yosemitest
(It's Simple ! Fight, ... or Die !)
To: Yosemitest
Great article! That's what we had for our midday meal today with minor adjustments. Although I am a true Southerner, both by choice and by birth, I do not care for collards. I like almost all other "greens", but my mother rarely cooked collards so I did not grow up eating them. We also had them for both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, but my husband got them already cooked at the Piggly Wiggly because I have not ever cooked them myself. We had both cabbage and turnip greens today instead. We also did not have hog jowl, but we did have a delicious baked ham from Honey Baked Hams. I baked some corn bread, but my husband made some fried corn bread which is a particular favorite of my SIL. My 8-month old grandson ate his first traditional New Year's Day meal as did two 18 year old neighbor boys who happened to stop by just as dinner was ready. All three enjoyed it very much as did we all!!
27
posted on
01/01/2014 10:16:22 PM PST
by
srmorton
(Deut. 30 19: "..I have set before you life and death,....therefore, choose life..")
To: Squantos; Tony Snow; humblegunner; mylife; COB1; sockmonkey; uamadan; Brucifer
28
posted on
01/01/2014 10:16:36 PM PST
by
Liberty Valance
(Keep a simple manner for a happy life :o)
To: Liberty Valance
Perfect .....:o)
That’s a keeper .... Merry New Year Liberty !!
Stay safe !
29
posted on
01/01/2014 10:26:16 PM PST
by
Squantos
( Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet ...)
To: Hoodat
YES SIR!
My DW served corn bread, black eyed peas and collard greens for dinner tonight! Chunk ham had to substitute for hog jowl, though.
Southern Style!
Mighty tasty!
And, a great way to start off the new year.
30
posted on
01/01/2014 10:35:48 PM PST
by
Taxman
(So that the beautiful pressure does not diminish!)
To: Yosemitest
Very nearly the perfect meal.
31
posted on
01/01/2014 10:41:35 PM PST
by
count-your-change
(you don't have to be brilliant, not being stupid is enough)
To: srmorton
The trick to cooking collards is to have really good tasting clean water.
Collards are best torn from the leaf stalk or stem and remove all the large vein stems in the leaves.
Collards are very strong in taste.
Get a very large pot of water boiling with no salt or pepper, but just water.
After it comes to a rolling boil under a covered lid, then put your collards into the water and turn the boil down to a gradual boil after about 10 to 15 minutes.
This is where you want to keep your cooking temperature for about 2 hours.
Stir your collards about every 30 minutes.
After about 2 hours, add your chopped green onions and any meat you choose to season your collards with.
At 2 and one half hours cooking time, salt and pepper to taste, and I like to add a stick of real butter, but I cook a lot of greens when I do them (maybe three or four regular paper grocery bag bundles).
Also add a little apple cider vinegar to it, to taste, maybe a half a cup or a full cup.
At three hours, they should be done.
You can drain most of the liquid off, if you like, but I usually just use a serving fork to lift the collards out of the liquid onto each plate, or let each individual get what they want out of it.
Have fun, and remember that dark greens have the most micro-nutrients (
video 1,
video 2, and
video 3 )that your body needs to get energy into your cells, especially
if you're diabetic.
32
posted on
01/01/2014 10:46:37 PM PST
by
Yosemitest
(It's Simple ! Fight, ... or Die !)
To: srmorton
One other thing, at Piggly Wiggly, look for "BAMA Mayonnaise" and if they don't have it, ask for it.
SAUER'S Mayonnaise will do, but BAMA is best because it has a stronger vinegar taste.
Try it, and I think you'll love it.
33
posted on
01/01/2014 11:09:45 PM PST
by
Yosemitest
(It's Simple ! Fight, ... or Die !)
To: Yosemitest
Interesting. My mother, God rest her, would
insist I eat at least as many black-eyed peas to equal the number of my years, every New Years Day, and was remarkably free of any other such traditions. She rose out of grinding poverty in Texas, as did my father, and both observed the rite. I would just as adamantly refuse, since I detested the taste of all beans as a youngster. It led to an annual standoff, though by her persistence she ultimately prevailed until I reached a certain age where my father intervened on my side, and I afterward celebrated an empty triumph, and over the years forgot the thing.
Today, after a difficult year and relieved to be free of ever again living in a year numbered in any way with a 13, I renewed the tradition on my own, though at my advancing health more to honor her. A man should keep faith with his parents even when they're dead, and honoring our father in mother, in the commandments, comes also with a promise, "that it will go well with you in the land."
Searching back, I was surprised to discover the southern side of this tradition prevails from Texas, even in families of many generations dating back before the WTBS, to North Carolina, at least, where leaving the Union would not have occurred (and nearly didn't) had the latter not found itself surrounded by separated States after having first rejected secession.
Someone here speculated the black-eyed pea symbolized the "evil eye" tradition, though I did not believe that. It is not a tradition common in the South, among the Whites, anyway, and especially among those families who, in North Carolina, still remember the oral tradition praising the former slaves who, at legal risk, fed their White neighbors, sometimes with Freeman benefits. This is not the case in Texas, where the Freeman Bureau's brief influence was not as widespread, though many hundreds of thousands of poor Whites did migrated there during, so-called, "Reconstruction."
There are those who believe that federal policy never ended, though resistance to it did cease at the admonition of Nathan Bedford Forrest. Those same people say the policy just went nationwide, to those places in particular where the Klan, for example, enjoyed its greatest membership, at its peak and afterward; places including Indiana, Illinois, etc.
An interesting tradition, indeed. Regardless of your own celebration for the New Year, to my fellow Americans, God grant you joy!
34
posted on
01/02/2014 1:04:44 AM PST
by
Prospero
(Si Deus trucido mihi, ego etiam fides Deus.)
To: Prospero
Be sure to read comments #21, #24, and #32.
35
posted on
01/02/2014 1:11:59 AM PST
by
Yosemitest
(It's Simple ! Fight, ... or Die !)
To: Yosemitest
Pork chops, black-eyed peas, cabbage, and cornbread here in North Central Louisiana.
Because that’s what Mrs. abb’s mother taught her to cook, as did her mother before her.
36
posted on
01/02/2014 1:16:48 AM PST
by
abb
To: Prospero
"symbolized the "evil eye" tradition"
Check out
.
"... What is the origin of this eating tradition, and why?
Apparently during the Civil War it was quite common for Union troops to burn Confederate crops,but Union soldiers viewed the black-eyed pea as livestock feed and not an edible vegetable, so - legend has it - they spared the "cow pea".
Southerners were so overjoyed to find the peas still in the field.
Hungry and hard-pressed by the perils of war, they turned to the pea as a primary staple of sustenance.
The tradition states that those who eat black-eyes, an inexpensive and modest food, show their humility
and thus bring good fortune to themselves for the entire year.
The tradition, however, may have started long before Texas became populated by the white man.
Even as far back as ancient Egypt, these special little peas were considered to be a symbol of good luck and fortune.
Ancient Asiatic, African, and European cultures ate black-eyed peas to protect them from the Evil Eye as well. ..."
The
BLACK BEAN EPISODE is where I had always heard that the
Evil Eye association with beans or peas came from.
37
posted on
01/02/2014 1:25:17 AM PST
by
Yosemitest
(It's Simple ! Fight, ... or Die !)
To: Yosemitest
38
posted on
01/02/2014 1:30:26 AM PST
by
JoeProBono
(SOME IMAGES MAY BE DISTURBING VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED;-{)
To: abb
BBQ ribs, blackeyed peas, spinach, and cornbread for us here in NC. I could not find any fresh or frozen greens other than spinach at the local stores, guess I waited too late to shop.
39
posted on
01/02/2014 1:34:35 AM PST
by
kalee
To: Jane Long
Why eat them? Because they are good! Hog Jowls are the most tender meat I have ever eatten. Its like the question, Why do blacks like fried chicken and watermellon? Answer: because they are good!
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