Blackeyed Peas and New Years

[Tara Evans]

I am curious as to how many other people eat blackeyed peas for New Years, so it will bring them luck in the new year to follow.

[vnurse]

I don't know whether it does or doesn't bring good luck but I always cook 'em up! I love blackeyed peas ANY time of year!

[erosmystique]

Well, I love black-eye peas anytime and I always eat them for New Year's, but usually skip the green veggies.

em

[OldGrump]

Dang right! Not that I'm superstitious or anything like that...but why take the chance? Besides, they're good.

[DFW5Traveler]

It's a traditional thing for me, not really all that superstitious, but this past New Years I got to the store too late and there weren't any so I didn't eat any. The strangest thing happened, I lost my job...

I may start looking into this superstition thing!!!

[gman44]

I like black-eyed peas with jalapeno slices

[Guest062512]

Yup - that great New Years combination:

Black-eyed peas and champagne.

[Magnetron]

I will-

[RoDunn]

I had never heard of this. Perhaps I should give it a shot.

[guest040711-1]

We make Hopping John which is black eyed peas and cream cheese

[Pistol Man]

Tara, for an Irish Lass, you can't forget the cabbage so you'll have that green folding stuff all year long.

Of course, all this was probably started by a farmer (Irishman, of course) who had an abundant harvest of blackeyed peas and cabbage he wanted to sell in a hurry!!!!

[Guest020610]

Of course, and don't leave out the baked ham that's supposed to go with the BEP's!
Also, when and how did this southern tradition start?

[aRandyOne]

The citation in Wikipedia says:
"The "good luck" traditions of eating black eyed peas on New Year's Day are recorded in the Babylonian Talmud (compiled ~500 CE), Horayot 12A: "Abaye [d. 339 CE] said, now that you have established that good-luck symbols avail, you should make it a habit to see Qara (bottle gourd), Rubiya (black-eyed peas, Arabic Lubiya), Kartei (leeks), Silka (either beets or spinach), and Tamrei (dates) on your table on the New Year." A parallel text in Kritot 5B states that one should eat these symbols of good luck. The accepted custom (Shulhan Aruh Orah Hayim 583:1, 16th century, the standard code of Jewish law and practice) is to eat the symbols. This custom is followed by Sephardi and Israeli Jews to this day. In the United States, the first Sephardi Jews arrived in Georgia in the 1730s and have lived there continuously since. The Jewish practice was apparently adopted by non-Jews around the time of the Civil War.
These "good luck" traditions supposedly date back to the American Civil War. Union troops, especially in areas targeted by General William Tecumseh Sherman, typically stripped the countryside of all stored food, crops, and livestock, and destroy whatever they couldn't carry away. At that time, Northerners considered "field peas" and field corn suitable only for animal fodder, and didn't steal or destroy these humble foods."

[aRandyOne]

Oh yeah, I always eat them. Hasn't changed my luck too much. I'm afraid what my life would be like if I DIDN't eat them.

If I eat tacos on New Years Day with that get me a guaranteed year of p***y?

[Dharma]

Black Eyed Peas and Cabbage for silver money and green money in the new year. I won't say I'm superstitious but I will say I'd rather be safe than sorry