 |
| New Year's Day Meal: Collard Greens, Ham, and Black-Eyed Peas |
As previously discussed on this blog there has been a problem erasing the role of African Americans in Southern traditions by simply referring to Black cultural traditions as being Southern. This commonly happens with African American cuisine, such as was the case with Soul Food being referred to as Southern comfort foods or cuisine. It is important to recognize, however, the role of African American cultural traditions in the greater American Southern identity, as well as the contributions of White Southerners in the shaping of some African American traditions. This is very much present in the African American New Year’s tradition of eating collard greens, pork, and black-eyed peas.
It is common among African American households to make and eat a dish made up of collard greens, pork (traditionally ham hocks), and black-eyed peas on New Years Day. The reason these foods are eaten is because of what two of the ingredients represent. Collard greens represent money, and black-eyed peas represent good luck and prosperity. Taken together, it is believed that the consumption of these foods will bring about financial security and good fortune to the consumers throughout the New Year. The inclusion of pork in the meal is often written off as a means of flavoring the other ingredients, but it, along with the meaning of the meal, demonstrates a merging of European and West African traditions.
When West Africans were kidnapped and enslaved in the Americas they brought with them their cultural ways, which they prohibited by force from practicing. It is very difficult, however, to fully stop anyone from continuing their culture completely since it is such an integral part of one’s identity and behaviors, leading to the result of enslaved Blacks continuing with their culture in often altered ways. These alterations were either forced upon enslaved Blacks or the outcome of intentional or unintentional cultural diffusion, according to food historian Adrian Miller.
This explains the creation of the New Year’s Day culinary tradition of consuming collard greens, pork, and black-eyed peas. Europeans would consume a leafy vegetable, such as kale or cabbage, on New Year’s Day as a means of bringing about good luck in the new year. Italians would consume lentils cooked with pork because lentils represented coins, thereby ensuring financial success in the new year. West Africans reportedly did not have any specific New Year’s Day traditions. They did, however, have beliefs tied to black-eyed peas, which they brought to the Americas in the 1600s. They believed the consumption of black-eyed peas prevented attacks from evil spirits, and it was commonplace to consume black-eyed peas on holidays. Enslaved Blacks observed European immigrants’ New Years traditions and adopted it as part of their own traditions, making some notable changes to accommodate the foods they had access to. These included collard greens (a substitution for kale or cabbage), pieces of pork that White slave owners did not want (e.g., pork feet), and their own black-eyed peas.
As time went on European immigrants to the US assimilated to American culture, abandoning their New Year’s Day meal traditions, but African Americans continued theirs. Today, many people will say that this meal is a traditional Southern (American) meal, but it is one that was born from the unification of distinct cultural traditions. Its abandonment by European immigrants and adoption and continuation among African Americans is an important aspect that should be acknowledged and remembered.
Works Cited
Foster, Alexandra. "Why We Eat Black-Eyed Peas and Collard Greens on New Year’s Day." Food Network 2 December 2023. Electronic.
Hagwood, Kayland. "Why people make black-eyed peas for New Year's." WCNC 31 December 2023. Electronic.
Stewart, Kayla. "Tracing the Origins of a Black American New Year’s Ritual." New York Times 24 December 2021. Electronic.
No comments:
Post a Comment