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| Ever wonder why southerners eat certain foods to ring in the new year? What are the traditional foods that make up a southern New Years menu and how they came to be? Well, you're in the right place! |
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I don't know about 'round the rest of the country, but no respectable southerner would dare allow the New Year to pass without eatin' a big ole mess o' black-eyed peas and either collard greens or cabbage. And I mean that even people who don't particularly like either one of those dishes - such as The Cajun himself - make sure that they at least have a bite of both of 'em I guarantee - though to be honest, it is best to ensure that you get at least 365 peas in your body on New Year's Day just to account for the whole year. That would be where eatin' a "big mess" of 'em would come in! If you'd rather, I also have a good ole southern fried cabbage, and a corned beef and cabbage hash that's pretty darned good too!
When you get to the bottom of the post, be sure to click over to the link for party foods, hangover helpers, brunch items and much, much more to help you ring in the new year, southern style! Happy New Year y'all!!
I love any kind of greens, and collard greens with ham hocks are a pretty traditional green for New Years, though I don't remember eating a lot of greens much growin' up myself. Could be that my Mama just wasn't particularly fond of greens, but I adore them, so these days I'm more likely to have both on New Years Day.
Anyway ... this meal for the new year pretty much must include some kinda pig too - fatback, or ham hocks, or bacon or some ham chunks and a big ole ham bone leftover from Christmas dinner,or more often, a combination of several. Pork has always been king in The South and a big part of our lives. If you owned a pig, that one pig could feed your family for pretty much the entire new year and believe you me, we southerners used every single inch of that pig.
For New Years, pork represents health and wealth, and continued prosperity. Some say also that a pig also represents progress - since pigs pretty much can't just look backward without completely turning around, so a pig represents forward progress. Some folks just do ribs, a roast, or pork chops or even pulled pork, but you can bet that Down South, pig is gonna show up in some form.
I also know that in most other areas of the south they like to eat black-eyed peas in the form of a dish called Hoppin' John. Well, down here, we pretty much just call that Black-eyed Pea Jambalaya.
Gotta say, that's some pretty good Hoppin' John there for sure, but I still like my black-eyed peas spooned over hot, steaming rice the most I think.
Want a delicious way to get both your black-eyed peas and greens? Try this Greens and Black-eyed Pea Soup!
The tradition of black-eyed peas for southerners is believed to have originated back during Civil War times when Sherman's soldiers raided southern homes, taking virtually all of the food and burning the crops, but mostly ignoring the fields of black-eyed peas, because they thought them to be food for the livestock and of no value otherwise. As one of the few food sources left to sustain the people and the southern soldiers, those black-eyed peas came to represent good fortune. Makes sense to me!
The black-eyed peas represent coins - in fact, used to be that a dime would be hidden in the pot for somebody to find that was said to bring them much luck with money. I wouldn't advise that these days though. Cabbage, or some other green substitute such as turnip greens or collards, represents paper money. Cornbread, almost always served alongside, represents gold.
This combination of foods when eaten all together represents financial prosperity, good luck and good health in the coming new year for those who consume them on New Years Day, so we pretty much just make a meal of the combo for the whole day - just for insurance, ya know!
In the United States, ball dropping is always a part of the festivities counting down toward the last seconds of the new year. If you live in the south, that's liable to be a moon pie drop. Of course there are fireworks, sometimes parades and certainly champagne is a favorite for toasting.
In Spain there is a tradition to consume 12 grapes at midnight, the sweetness of each grape to indicate what each month of the new year will bring to you. I like this! Just toss the grapes into the glass when you pass out the bubbly (or sparkling cider for the kids and non-drinkers) and at midnight everybody toasts to the new year and then eats the grapes, one on each stroke of the clock. This tradition has been picked up in the United States especially around Texas and the southwest.
What other traditions do you have for bringing in the new year?
Click right here for the full listing of New Year's Eve appetizers, party foods, New Year's Day Brunch items, including those ever handy hangover helpers, and of course, all the traditional New Year's Day goodies we all love.
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Mix eggs, milk, sugar, salt and vanilla. Pour over bread.
