World Peas

Monday, December 22, 2008

A bag of dried black eyed peas from Margerum’s has been languising in my cupboard since August.  By chance, I decided to haul them out and make something.  But what?  Googling for “black eyed peas” reveals millions of recipes for the same thing: peas with ham hocks, with and without collard greens. 

Black eyed peas are very much a part of the New Years Eve tradition for millions of people.  Eating black eyed peas on New Years Day is supposed to guarantee luck in the coming year.  My own family New Years Day tradition does not include black eyed peas (we’re more porkette, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes people).  That said, I wanted to make something with black eyed peas and maybe ham, but something that isn’t the standard New Years tradition type of recipe.

It took some research, but I finally came up with some options.

Stewed Black Eyed Peas with Ham
Curried pumpkin and black eyed peas
Pickled black eyed peas
Creamy Black Eyed Pea Soup
Black eyed pea hummus
Beans with pancetta and caramelized onions
Pork Belly with Tomatillo, Black Eyed Peas and Shiitake Mushrooms
Mushroom and black eyed peas ragout

In the end, I ended up going with a curry: Black eyed pea curry.  Everything was local except the ginger and spices were locally grown.  And it was good (more on that later)!