Black-Eyed Peas: Everyone’s Favorite Multicultural New Year Food

You probably know that Hoppin’ John, made with black-eyed peas, rice, and pork, is a traditional New Year’s dish in the US South. But did you know that these little peas (actually beans from the cowpea family) are a traditional food for Rosh Hashanah too?

Families from Egypt, Syria, and other Sephardic traditions often serve black-eyed peas as part of a Rosh Hashanah seder consisting of seven symbolic foods, or simanim, each of which receives one of a series of blessing known as the Yehi Ratzones.

According to culinary historian Gil Marks, this tradition arose in the Middle Ages, out of a case of mistaken identity: the word for black-eyed pea in Arabic, lubiya (derived either from Luv, Libya, or the Greek lobos, pod), was confused with the Talmudic rubiya (which is actually fenugreek in Aramaic). Rubiya was included in the Talmud as one of the simanim on account of its similarity to yirbu, the Hebrew word for “multiply” or “increase,” making the food bearing this name a fitting symbol of fertility and prosperity in the coming year.

But even if Marks is right that black-eyed peas weren’t what the rabbis of the Talmud had in mind, they’re still eminently suitable for the Rosh Hashanah table. For one thing, in the Middle East fresh black-eyed peas are ready to harvest in the early fall, just in time for the holiday. For another, they’re a longtime staple, having been cultivated for more than five millennia eastern Africa, India, and southern China. (Depending on who you ask, these peas may be indigenous to either West Africa, Ethiopia, or East Asia.) Black-eyed peas were widely grown in Israel in Talmudic times, and they were already identified with Africa, where they were an essential crop: the Talmud refers to them as pol ha-mitzri (Egyptian bean).

Plus, there are plenty of other ways in which black-eyed peas can be seen as symbolizing abundance: for one, they expand when cooked in water; for another, a dish of black-eyed peas consists of many individual legumes. Some of these same symbolic meanings were also assigned to the black-eyed pea in various West African cultures, as culinary historian Michael Twitty discussed at Hazon Food Conference this year, and given the geographic proximity it seems likely that these beliefs have a shared origin.

The two black-eyed pea traditions, Jewish and West African, came together again in, of all places, the American south. Black-eyed peas were brought to America by enslaved people in the 17^th century, and, to a much lesser extent, by Sephardic Jews—many of whom moved to the South—in the 18^th century.

Although many African Americans cooked for Southern Jewish families, both during and after slavery—and heavily impacted the development of Southern Jewish cuisine, as Marcie Cohen Ferris discusses at length in Matzo Ball Gumbo: Culinary Tales of the Jewish South,  Jewish and African American black-eyed pea traditions seem not to have intersected much.

While Sephardic Jews kept eating their traditional black-eyed pea dishes, African Americans in the South began eating the beans on January 1, most commonly in the form of Hoppin’ John, as a symbol of their hope for a prosperous new year. Some say they represent coins, while others say it’s because they expand during cooking that they evoke abundance.

Interestingly, Southern food historian John Taylor asserts that the tradition of eating them on New Year’s Day “probably came from the Caribbean, where they prepare a similar dish called Moros y Cristianos (Moors and Christians),” which harkens back to the same difficult history and spirit of religious intolerance that threw the Sephardim out of Spain in the first place.

Eventually, Hoppin’ John became a hit with white Southerners too, and today many Southern Jews serve kosher variations (often replacing the pork with a smoked turkey leg, but sometimes omitting the meat altogether) on either secular New Year’s or even on Rosh Hashanah.

If that interests you, there are some awesome recipes to be found online. But today I’m sticking with Rosh Hashanah tradition with lubiya (or loubia), a classic Sephardic stew. With a base of black-eyed peas, onions, and tomatoes, the dish can be made with fresh (if you have access to them) or dried black-eyed peas, with or without meat (usually lamb or veal), and is usually served as a side dish. This pareve vegan variation would be a great side with a meat main, but it’s also a wonderful vegan or vegetarian entrée in its own right.

I’ve served lubiya as my main at Rosh Hashanah more than once, and the recipe below is cobbled together from several I’ve tried over the years—with extra influence from the version in Leah Koenig’s beautiful new Little Book of Jewish Feasts.

Lubiya: Black-Eyed Pea Stew for Rosh Hashanah

1 lb cooked black-eyed peas, either canned or from dried, drained (if cooking from dried, reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium onions, finely chopped

2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp paprika, hot or sweet

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp cayenne

4 large tomatoes, grated, or 1½ lbs. canned tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 cup black-eyed pea cooking liquid, vegetable broth, or water

Chopped fresh cilantro for serving, optional

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and carrots and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the cumin, paprika, ginger, and cayenne, and cook, stirring until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Stir in the grated tomato pulp and the tomato paste. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens slightly, about 10 minutes. Add the drained beans and the liquid; raise the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a simmer. Turn the heat to medium-low, partially covered, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Serve hot or warm. Refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days.

Sources: “At Rosh Hashanah, Black-Eyed Peas for Good Fortune,” the Forward (Devra Ferst, August 26, 2009); Little Book of Jewish Feasts (Leah Koenig, 2018); Encyclopedia of Jewish Food (Gil Marks, 2010)

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