MY KITCHEN IN SPAIN: HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A bowl of good fortune for the New Year! Black-eyed peas with vegetables and a scattering of red pomegranate.

I’m cooking up a pot of black-eyed peas to celebrate the New Year. But, you say, it’s a few months before January 1, 2024. True, but Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, is right upon us, based on a lunar calendar, the first day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. This year Rosh Hashana begins at sundown next Friday, September 15.

In the American south, black-eyed peas, symbolizing good fortune and prosperity, are cooked for New Year’s. Amongst Sephardic Jews, black-eyed peas also are eaten to welcome the New Year for similar symbolic reasons.

Black-eyed peas are similar to, but not related to, familiar beans such as navy, cannellini, lima, pinto, black. Those beans are all New World legumes, whereas black-eyed peas/beans, native to the African continent, were known in Biblical times.

Black-eyed peas cook up soft and creamy without disintegrating to mush. They readily soak up flavors, so benefit from spices, herbs, lots of garlic, tangy accents from citrus or vinegar. And salt, they need plenty of salt, and olive oil.

In Spain, black-eyed peas are called alubia carilla, judía de careta or, in Catalan, fesolets.

My recipe here is similar to the Spanish potaje de carillas, but without the usual chorizo and pork belly! It’s completely vegan, in fact, so would be a perfect dish for Rosh Hashana or any meal. It can be served hot or cold, as a side dish with meat or as a vegetarian main.

Not collard greens as in the South, but chard, spinach or beet greens can be cooked with the beans. I’ve added a garnish of pomegranate seeds. The ruby-red arils of this autumnal fruit are also considered auspicious for the Rosh Hashana holiday.

Carrot "coins," rings of leek, chard leaves and black-eyed peas all have symbolic meanings for the New Year meal.

Serve the black-eyed peas as a vegetarian main dish or as a side dish alongside meat or chicken.

Black-eyed Peas

Potaje de Carillas

For this recipe, I started with dried black-eyed peas that need to be soaked overnight then cooked 60 to 90 minutes. If you can get fresh shelling black-eyed peas, you will need about 3 cups shelled. They do not need soaking and should cook in about 40 minutes. If using frozen peas, use about 6 cups cooked and frozen ones.

As with all legumes, it’s best to use soft water for soaking and cooking the peas. If you have especially hard water, add a pinch of baking soda to the soaking and cooking water or use low-mineral bottled water for cooking. Spanish cooks say you should asustar the beans—give them a "scare" while they cook—when they are partially cooked, add a half-cup of cold water to “shock” them. Supposedly, this keeps their skins from splitting.

Crush the whole spices, garlic and herbs in a mortar or substitute ground spices, if preferred.

The cooked black-eyed peas can be served cold as a salad. Add additional olive oil and vinegar to them and serve with salad greens.

Serves 6 to 8 as a vegetable side dish.

2 cups dried black-eyed peas (1 pound)

Water for soaking and cooking

3 carrots, peeled

1 leek, divided

1 stalk celery

1-2 bay leaves

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1/3 cup olive oil + additional to finish

1 cup chopped onions

½ teaspoon coarse salt

10 peppercorns

2 cloves

2 coriander seeds

1/8 teaspoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon oregano

4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

4 cups chopped leaves and stems of chard

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Pomegranate arils, to garnish (optional)

Eight hours (or more) before cooking: place the black-eyed peas in a bowl or pan and cover them with water. Leave them to soak. (Two cups dried beans will swell to almost six cups soaked.)

Drain the beans. Place them in a pan and add 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil and skim off the froth that rises to the top. Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook the beans 15 minutes.

Add the carrots, half of the leek, celery and 1 ½ teaspoons salt. Cover and cook the beans 30 minutes.

Crush spices in mortar.

While beans are cooking, heat the oil in a skillet and sauté the onions on medium heat until they are very soft but not browned, 6 to 8 minutes. If they start to brown, add a few drops of water and continue frying them. Slice the remaining half of the leek and add the slices to the onion.

Place the coarse salt in a mortar with the peppercorns, cloves, coriander, cumin and oregano. Crush the spices and herbs to powder. Add the garlic and continue crushing to make a paste. Remove the carrots from the pan of beans. Cut one carrot in half. Add half a carrot to the mortar mixture and mash it with the spices. (Reserve remaining carrots.) Dilute the paste with a spoonful of the bean cooking liquid.

Stir the paste from the mortar into the sautéed onions in the skillet. Fry them two minutes more. Stir the contents of the skillet into the beans along with the chopped chard. Add ½ cup of cold water and continue cooking the beans until they are very tender, about 20 minutes.

The peas and vegetables can be served soupy, with cooking liquid, or scooped out with a slotted spoon and served fairly dry. Be sure to drizzle extra virgin olive oil on top before serving.

Remove and discard the bay leaf, piece of cooked leek and celery. Slice the reserved cooked carrots and return them to the pan. Stir in the lemon juice. Allow the black-eyed peas to set 10 minutes before serving.

Serve the black-eyed peas in bowls with their liquid or, as a vegetable side dish, removed from the pan with a slotted spoon. Drizzle olive oil over the top. Garnish with pomegranate, if desired.