Hoppin' John

Name: Hoppin' John
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 6
Cuisine: USA
Ingredients: 400 g dried black-eyed peas, soaked in cold water overnight, drained; 300 g long-grain white rice (Carolina Gold if available, or standard long-grain); 200 g smoked ham hock (or smoked bacon pieces or salt pork); 1 large onion, diced; 3 cloves garlic, minced; 2 bay leaves; 0.5 tsp dried thyme; 1 tsp smoked paprika; 0.5 tsp cayenne pepper; 1.5 litres water; 1 tsp salt (taste before adding, the smoked pork may provide enough); 2 tbsp neutral oil or lard; To serve: braised collard greens, hot sauce (Crystal or Tabasco), thinly sliced spring onions

The dish that carries the soul of Gullah Geechee culture: black-eyed peas simmered low and slow with smoked pork, onion and bay, then served over long-grain Carolina rice with pot likker and collard greens on New Year's Day for luck, health and prosperity

Origin: South Carolina Lowcountry, USA (Gullah Geechee tradition)

From the journey of Rice.

Hoppin' John is one of the most culturally loaded dishes in American cooking; it carries within it the entire history of West African enslaved people in the American South. The dish combines three West African staples; black-eyed peas (cowpeas, indigenous to West Africa), rice (Oryza glaberrima, brought from the 'Rice Coast' of West Africa), and the technique of cooking legumes long and slow with smoked pork; brought together in the coastal South Carolina Lowcountry by the Gullah Geechee people, the enslaved West Africans who were the true builders of the Carolina rice economy. The name's origin is debated (some trace it to the Haitian 'pois pigeons', others to a restaurant keeper named John who hopped on New Year's Day while cooking), but the dish's cultural roots are unambiguous. Eaten on New Year's Day across the American South, the black-eyed peas represent coins (prosperity), the collard greens represent paper money (wealth), and the rice represents... rice, the grain that built this entire culture. The pot likker; the deeply savoury cooking liquid from the peas; is as prized as the peas themselves.

Ingredients

Peas

400 g dried black-eyed peas, soaked in cold water overnight, drained

Rice

300 g long-grain white rice (Carolina Gold if available, or standard long-grain)

Pork

200 g smoked ham hock (or smoked bacon pieces or salt pork)

Aromatics

1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
0.5 tsp dried thyme

Spices

1 tsp smoked paprika
0.5 tsp cayenne pepper

Liquid

1.5 litres water

Seasoning

1 tsp salt (taste before adding, the smoked pork may provide enough)

Fat

2 tbsp neutral oil or lard

Accompaniments

To serve: braised collard greens, hot sauce (Crystal or Tabasco), thinly sliced spring onions

Method

In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil or lard over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened and golden, 8 minutes. Add the garlic and smoked paprika, stir for 1 minute.
Add the soaked, drained black-eyed peas, the smoked ham hock, bay leaves, thyme and cayenne. Pour in the water. Bring to a boil, skimming any foam that rises.
Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, partially covered, for 60–75 minutes until the black-eyed peas are completely tender. Remove the ham hock, pull off any meat and return the meat to the pot. Discard the bone.
Taste the pot likker and season carefully with salt (the ham hock provides significant salt; be cautious). The liquid should be deeply savoury, smoky and complex.
Add the washed rice directly to the pot with the peas and pot likker. The liquid level should cover the rice by about 2–3cm. Add water if needed. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to very low. Cover tightly and cook for 20 minutes.
Rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Stir gently from the bottom to mix the rice and peas together. Taste for seasoning.
Serve in deep bowls, ladling some of the remaining pot likker over each serving. Top with sliced spring onions and a few shakes of hot sauce. Serve collard greens alongside.

Notes

Carolina Gold rice (a long-grain heirloom variety that was the dominant rice of the antebellum South Carolina rice economy) has been revived by heritage grain producers in the Lowcountry and is now available online and from specialty food stores. It has a distinct floral, nutty character unlike any modern long-grain rice. If you can source it, use it for Hoppin' John; it is the historically accurate rice for this dish and one of America's greatest heritage crops. The Gullah Geechee people of the South Carolina Lowcountry preserved not only the rice-growing knowledge but the entire food culture that built the rice economy; their contribution to American cuisine is immeasurable and underacknowledged.

The Gastrographer

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control