Well, it’s New Years Day again and I’ve just finished my yearly ritual of eating a big mess of fried ham and black-eyed peas in order to assure a year of good luck. When my parents were alive, I once asked my mother why this meal was supposed to bring good luck throughout the year. Her only reply was that both her parents and my father’s parents had always held true to the tradition and she wasn’t about to break it. Neither will I…but, why?
A wonderful lady, and regular reader of my column, may have provided me with the source of the tradition in an explanation through recent e-mails. She first wondered where my people came from and I replied that the Crownover genealogy had migrated westward from the Carolinas through Tennessee eventually settling in Arkansas. She replied that she had surmised that I was a “Southerner” as the tradition had started during the Civil War.
According to her, as those "damned Yankees” seized control of the various cities and plantations of the old south, they would commonly either steal or destroy everything they would deem as necessary for survival — including foodstuffs. As they “pilfered” peoples’ belongings, they chose not to destroy the cowpeas (commonly known today as black-eyed peas) for they thought they were only good for livestock feed. They also, many times, failed to find the “salt pork” that was usually buried under several inches of salt in crudely built wooden boxes located in barns or other outbuildings away from the main house.
Therefore, according to the expert, when special occasions such as New Years Day were to be celebrated after invasions by the “blue coats” the only edible food left was ham and black-eyed peas. The meal was considered “lucky” because it was, in many cases, all the southerners had left to consume and thus, they were “lucky” to have it.
If this story is true — and I have no reason to think it is not — I will continue to carry on the tradition throughout my lifetime as a tribute to my ancestors. Plus, I really love the meal as well.
This explanation also got me to thinking about other cultures. Maybe invaders of France thought they were destroying everything edible, but never dreamed that people would eat snails, so they left them for the remaining Frenchmen to develop into a delicacy. If I’d been in the invading army, I’d surely have left them alone.
It’s quite possible that, as an invader of Russia, I would most certainly have left the fish eggs intact. If they can eat them, they deserve to survive. Invaders of China would never suspect that the people there readily eat slugs and revel in the deliciousness of a small, slimy creature most of the rest of the world considers repulsive. They certainly wouldn’t have destroyed them as a potential source of food.
Hmmm, Louisiana is a southern state. I wonder if the Union army even considered the survivors would develop crawfish into a food supply.
If any group ever invades California (I personally don’t know why anyone would), I’ll bet they leave the broccoli standing because no one in their right mind would ever think that people could eat that stuff.
And, lastly, if we here in the Ozarks are ever invaded by a marauding party they most certainly won’t think to destroy our polk greens and kill our possums, so we should be just fine when they leave.
Jerry Crownover farms in Lawrence County. He is a former professor of Agriculture Education at Missouri State University, and is an author and professional speaker. To contact Jerry, go to www.ozarksfn.com and click on 'Contact Us.'
