Black-eyed Peas, Soul Food, and a New Year!

Ahhh, the aroma of the house on a new years day.  If you don't have that now, do you remember growing up and smelling rich fragrances coming from the kitchen that have been simmering all morning or all night long.  Those black-eyed peas for good luck, cabbage for money, and all the rest of the Soul Food fixens!

On twitter this morning, there have been about two posts PER SECOND in reference to black-eyed peas as a New Year tradition.  Of these tweets, 1 of 3 have included cabbage and some sort of pork meat and corn-bread; some using vegan alternatives or turkey replacements.  The race, ethnicity, and nationality of these people contributing to the coversation about this tradition span beyond all color lines, economic brackets, age, size, and gender.

This is why I love Soul Food.  It is the original cuisine of Americans.  Even people who come here from other countries will assimilate and learn to eat Soul Food because it is a wonderful cuisine... a world cuisine that us American's contribute to the wonderful array of foods served across the planet.

With so much negativity and controversy around Soul Food, including the last blog post I wrote called, "Soul Food is NOT an Epidemic", it is a wonder that more people don't open up their eyes and realize how special of a culture we have here in America.  This is a culture that spans beyond all color lines.

If Soul Food is such a bad thing, then why are so many people talking about it on Twitter and cooking it for New Years day?  This is just a reminder to me that Soul Food is not going anywhere!  People LOVE it and will continue to eat it as they did for thousands of years in the past.  While Soul Food is being reinvented, people are opening restaurants with an edge, and food trucks ARE the new trend, original soul food still thrives and is at it's best... seen specifically on New Years Day, with families and friends across the world!

Take a moment to learn the history of Soul Food and why we eat Black-eyed peas on New Years day.  Happy New Year friends!  May 2012 be prosperous and may you be blessed always!

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