I’ve never known for sure what the “proper” name for these members of the legume family is. In the Casada family we variously called them field peas, crowder peas, and clay peas, and they go by other names such as zip peas, purple hulls, and pink eyes. They come in literally dozens of varieties but all share a couple of things in common—they produce prolifically and are delicious to eat. We normally shell and freeze 30 quarts or so, and our standard approach is to blanch them, put them in freezer bags, and finish the cooking when they are ready to be eaten. I am partial to cooking them with streaked meat (anyone who grew up in the mountains will tell you that pork will dress up and improve the taste of most anything), but if you feel compelled to yield to the dictates of the weight and cholesterol Nazis just use a bit of low sodium bouillon. Cook in a sauce pan until done and, if you happen to be a fan of chowchow as I am, top them with it. Otherwise, just enjoy them with cornbread and the rest of your victuals.
NOTE: Crowder peas are widely used as a menu item for New Year’s Day. Supposedly their brown color represents pennies.
JC
—”Celebrating Southern Appalachian Food – Recipes & Stories from Mountain Kitchens” written by Jim Casada and Tipper Pressley
A few years back Jim shared some crowder peas with us. He sent enough for us to eat and plant. We really liked them and they grew well for us too.
This summer we didn’t manage to plant any, but hope to next year.
In the last couple of years we’ve become plum foolish over crowder, pink eye and purple hull peas. If we had the room I’d love to grow as many peas as we do green beans.
Granny and Pap called the peas Jim shared with us field peas. They really liked to eat them, but never grew them that I can remember.
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Last night’s video: Cleaning Out a Summer’s Worth of Weeds, News Bees, and Fairytales.
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We always just called them crowders. My grandma always let them dry on the vine and then we shelled them. My dad did the same. Boy, if I had a penny for every bowl I shelled I would be a millionaire today! As far as beans on New Years Day it was always and I do mean always be blackeyed peas, cornbread and greens which would be a mix of collard greens, turnip greens, and mustard greens. The blackeyed peas would always be put in the bean pot to soak in the afternoon of New Years Eve and then the next morning dad and me today would put a ham hock, chopped onion and a little dried red pepper flakes and salt and black pepper in the crowders and the greens. Of course there would be 2 skillets of cornbread. Whenever crowders or greens were cooked we would always make 3 times more than needed so the leftovers would go in the freezer, that is after we finally got a freezer. It made for a fast supper. One of my sisters hated blackeyed peas. Dad was convinced that something terrible would happen to her if she didn’t eat blackeye peas and greens on New Years Day so he would all but force her to just eat 1 bean and her greens. I guess to keep from sitting at the table until the next morning she would finally eat that one bean. Dad was happy then and sister would surely live another year.
Now as far as the cornbread goes….NEVER put sugar in it. I remember the first time I ever went north. It was the first time I ever met my husband’s family. Yes, I did marry a Yankee but my family forgave me. Well, I guess my husband’s sister thought she was honoring me because she made beans and cornbread one night for supper. It was all I could do to choke them down and manage to smile. You guessed it, she put sugar in the cornbread and those beans! She called them Boston Baked Beans. I couldn’t believe that someone would actually ruin good beans by putting sugar and catsup in them. To me that would be no different than putting chow chow all over home made peach ice cream!
True crowder peas are blount on the ends because they are “crowded” in the shell.
Purple hull peas are my ABSOLUTE favorite thing from the garden! I have eaten them my whole life and have fond memories of shelling peas every summer with my siblings on my grandparents back porch. We grow them and put up as many as we can for winter. So glad you and Matt have become plum foolish about them!!!
Purple hulls were always my family’s favorite type of pea. Their flavor is unique and brings back sweet family memories. I miss eating them at grandma’s with all the family.
Field peas + Field corn= Field of dreams!!
Great minds think alike. Mother and I put up 19 bags of Crowder peas last week. They will be so good this winter.
I remember sitting and shelling Purple Hull peas with my granny. Fun times shelling and visiting
I can’t recall ever eating Crowder peas, but my mom use to cook up Black Eyed Peas when I was very young. I don’t think my dad cared much for them so she cooked mostly Pinto Beans and some times Navy or Butter beans too. My husband will only eat Pinto Beans, pork and beans or kidney beans in chili I make. I wanted to try the 7 bean soup, but after he looked at all the different beans in the bag, he said you can eat them, but I’m not. So, I’ve never made it. It does look good, but I won’t make a pot of it for myself. I don’t think I could eat it all and I don’t like to waste.
Try freezing left over bean soup. Then you can have it on hand when you’d like it yourself. If you really like them the freezer always comes in handy. You deserve it. God bless.
When I was growing up in rural Mississippi, my Dad raised purple hull and field peas and later in life found some crowder peas. I don’t have space or energy for a garden, but I have found some crowder peas at a couple of grocery stores that are as good as any I have ever eaten. They are Bush labeled and we cut up some onion and add a small amount of olive oil and cook on the stove top for 20-30 additional minutes. If you have some bacon grease left from breakfast, add a tablespoon for added flavor.
“Bush black eye peas with bacon” as we buy are equally good to go with that cornbread!
Not all stores that sell Bush labels carry these two favorites but we find them at a couple of local stores.
I don’t know if the two Glenda’s are the same, but I want to say I too am proud of Katie for taking the path she chose and not the other one. Tipper and Matt are in for one of the greatest joys of their life. If it is a boy hopefully he will not turn out like Matt and me, mother destroyed a whole forest by breaking switches off the trees to use on me. I looked on the southern exposure website and they do list the seeds I mentioned at a better price but one was out of stock.
I have a question for Tipper, on one of her videos she mentioned a friendly bee, I have just came in from bush hogging and none of the yellow bees I saw appeared very friendly to me. In fact I have never had a bee come up and hug my neck, they all wanted to inflict pain on me-sorta reminds me of the women I have met in my life. What is a friendly bee, is it one that does not sting me? I don’t know how to put a yellow smiley face at the end of this.
Randy- 🙂 It was a new bee. Matt has bees hug his neck all the time 🙂
Use that streaked meat. Your innards need the lubrication to function properly.
When I cook our black eye peas, any vegetables, I fry bacon in iron bean pot. When bacon is done add the peas to pot. Cook till tender. May add a little extra salt if needed. Always have some corn bread.
Our family have always loved any kind of peas. On New Year’s Day, we have black eye peas. I love peas and butter beans mixed together. Prayers for all! Take care and God bless ❣️
Crowder peas, blackeye peas, any field pea with cornbread and sweet tea – let me emphasize the SWEET- is a meal from Heaven. If you have Okra to go with this – no better eating to be had!!!!
Agree 100 percent, Lenora! Just had some great garden okra last night.
Be well,
Theresa
We really love purple hull peas, we raised a really nice crop of them this year and I froze them. Nothing much better than peas, cornbread, onions, okra, tomatoes and fried chicken, fit for a king (queen).
Please give us an update on Granny. Blessings and prayers for all of you, also all of the people that enjoy this blog.
Purple hulls were considered a different pea than a crowder when I was growing up. We had crowder peas and they were delicious but I can’t remember what specific name they were. I’ve tried several but none are like the ones we had as children.
Call me what you want to but I don’t like field peas by any name. I helped grow peas as a child but I wouldn’t eat them. Everyone at the table seemed to enjoy them except me. After many years of pea abstinence I finally tried them again! Guess what! I still didn’t like peas!
I do like sweet peas but only from a can. Ain’t that weird? Well, that’s me. But, a little research revealed that what most people in the South call peas are really beans. Pisum Sativum or sweet peas are true peas. Black-eyed peas and it’s cultivars came from tropical climates while sweet peas, sugar snap peas or snow peas came from Northern Europe and Asia. That’s why you plant your sweet peas in late winter and early spring. They were born in cooler weather and still like it there.
So now that some peas are really beans, I can say that I don’t like all beans.
My favorite recipe for sweet peas isn’t in a cookbook that I know of but it’s easy to remember,
Open a can of peas and pour off all the water,
move peas to a deep microwave safe bowl such as a cereal bowl,
add a chunk** of hot pepper cheese (made with ‘Merican not pepper jack, jack cheese no flavor),
microwave for one minute or until the peas are hot and the cheese is melty.
Secure a spoon and stir enough to coat all the peas with cheese. Find a comfortable place to eat and Chow Down!
**A chunk depends on how hot the cheese is and how much you love cheese. My advice is to keep it just below the amount that will block all your arteries simultaneously. It doesn’t have to be hot cheese at all but I find it preferrable because you can eat it slowly without it ever getting cold (if it gets too cold though, the cheese might seize up on you necessitating that you get up and walk all the way to the microwave again).
“…but if you feel compelled to yield to the dictates of the weight and cholesterol Nazis just use a bit of low sodium bouillon.”
Ha! Consider me as having yielded to such doctrine! To lower my risk of stroke and heart disease, I no longer add salty, fatty, porky goodness to my fresh or dried peas and beans. I now eat those legumes naked. That is, the peas and beans are naked, not I. Well, that is not strictly true, about the beans, I mean. I do add warm Mexican spices to each pot of dried peas/beans as they cook. Then, at the table, I top the peas/beans with a tiny bit of cheese and a lot of the world’s spiciest salsa. Served with whole grain bread and fresh fruit, the meal is delicious! Still… I miss the pork.
I love peas. I’m about the only one, well if I fix them a couple others will rat some but they don’t love em like I do. Same with soupbeans. We don’t grow em here. I just never grew peas well we do yhe garden beds and I just have all the space taken up. Tell Granny hey and our prayers and thoughts are with her.
I love any type of bean and field peas are absolutely wonderful. Add some hot buttered cornbread and you’ve got a meal.
We’ve always called them field peas or cow peas. We love them. We put them up same as Jim described. I’ve had a real problem in the last few years with the curculio that pokes a hole in the pod and lays it’s eggs. I have to spray malathion or permithin when they start blooming every 5 days til harvest. I haven’t found any natural insecticide that will control them.
I think I may have eaten Crowder peas that my Grannie cooked once. I like almost any kind of beans or peas. Anything that comes out of the garden is pretty good if you ask me. Someone mentioned Dukes mayo in their response today; I was shocked to find it in our Kansas grocery store and I bought some after hearing you talk about how good it was. That’s the best darn mayo I’ve ever tasted. I could eat the whole jar with a spoon!!
I want to wish Katie, her child and the rest of you all the very best. I’ve wanted to tell you for some time now what impressive young women your girls are in just about every way I can think of. You and Matt have done an amazing job raising them and like most people who live close to the earth, they have wisdom a lot of people never find and a large measure of love and compassion! They’re very courageous and they support each other when it really counts! It’s been a hard year for your family and nothing in the world can heal your heart like a newborn baby! Blessings to you all!
Call ‘em whatever you want..gimme a big bowl full with some cornbread, onions and hot peppers!!!!
Don, I agree 100% maybe som chow chow!
I think the crowder peas are lovely, but to say I’ve seen or eaten them, I just don’t know. I do know deer will MUG ya for English peas as they eat them all! I like peas well enough! Chow chow and cornbread rounds out any hillbilly cuisine, doesn’t it? I love chow chow and cornbread too. Who knew it’s spelled victuals as opposed to vittles? I learn new things every day! Please pray for me as I’ve been sick as a dog since Friday with digestive issues. Prayers for you all in our Lord Jesus and His healing restoration! Amen!
I had peas (purple hull) and cornbread last night. Almost my whole family loves beans and peas. Practically the whole “Hee Haw” gang tops their mixture of crumbled cornbread and the peas with a dob of mayonnaise. Everyone has a preference, but my family has always been partial to KRAFT brand. Of course, Hellman’s, BAMA, Duke’s, or store brands will suffice. I also have been fortunate in my life to have loving women who can make the best relishes and chow-chows to accent this meal (and others) too. I think I could eat dried beans, cornbread, and hot relish almost every night. LOL
PS: Sometimes I like hot pepper-sauce on my beans, greens, or cabbage in lieu of relish.
I have developed a taste for sriracha lately. I like sriracha ketchup on pinto beans and smeared on cornbread like a lot of people do butter. I fix fried cabbage with sriracha sauce stirred in at the end.
I mentioned a pone of “good” cornbread in my first comment, “good” cornbread is not sweet and is made from true cornmeal (white lily) for my wife. Sweet “Yankee” so called cornbread made from Jiffy Mix is not “good” cornbread to a southerner. That stuff is more like cake. I was craving for some of my late wife’s cornbread and milk last night for my supper. I think she could make the best cornbread I ever ate, she did not use a recipe. She never learned to make homemade biscuits. I make do with the frozen Mary B’s or Phillsbury. She tried but never caught on, onetime I gave one of her biscuits to my ole hound dog and he thought I was mad at him!
We also ate the same meal along some type of meat Sheryl Paul mentioned on New Years Day and a lot of other times throughout the year. If you will replace the collards with turnip greens, I will hurt myself eating a meal like that that and will finish it up by eating a small bowl of cornbread and milk for dessert. I will eat collards but I don’t really like them, I reckon that might have something to do with me never having any green folding money. I would tell my wife to take care of the folding money ( she liked collards) and I willtake care of the change.
My daddy said he ate so much collard greens when he was a boy that they tied coal oil rags around his ankles to keep the cutworms off.
We love our crowder peas and I still grow the colossus and Hercules. I save seeds. I think you can still buy them in my area which is Rutherford county, NC . I think they were developed at Clemson ……I may be wrong. I added a Mexican spin last year. I split a piece of cornbread, spoon a nice helping of peas then top with pico de gallo, cheese and sour cream. Really good ….comfort food when the cold winter wind is whistling around the house.
Blessings on everyone,
Freida Pearce
I have never eaten or planted those kinds of peas, but I am sure they are as delicious as you say. I have always only eaten green peas. My husbands Italian grandmother used to cook green peas and when they were tender she would crack a couple eggs (or more if it was a large pot). They looked like scrambled eggs and peas when finished. She would also add a little olive oil or butter and salt and pepper. This is how he has always loved his peas.
Love all the types of legumes. enjoyed this very much.
Loved your video. Matt is too funny with his ‘popsicle’ tap. Bless Katie for her decision to have your first Grand. And, Bless you hearts if it is a boy…I can just imagine Matt’s teaching him to do some of the stuff Matt did. Just listening to some of the shenanigans that his parents put up with. I laughed at all of them and some more than others. He must have been a real handful. Can’t wait to find out if it is a boy or girl. Praying for the Doctor’s hand that are handling Granny’s health Looking forward for the videos to share about the sights and sounds of your mountain. I love having soft sounds falling asleep. Makes for a restful night. God Bless
while I grew up in FL I have a great grandparents on both sides that influenced the meals and cooking of my parents. They were from the Mecklenburg area. peas were a staple in my house cooked exactly as you described. We always had blackeye peas, collards and cornbread for New Years dinner. I don’t have them as often now, but still Lowe crowders.
I’m not sure if I’ve ever had them, but they look kind of like lentils, which I enjoy made with bacon or other kinds of fat pork. Love to Granny and her wonderful family.
remember those that died this day, pray for the suffering families ❤️
I have heard crowder peas called everyone of the names you mentioned. Like you nothing better than a pot of Mississippi purple hull peas cooked with a streak of lean or just plain fatback and a pone of hot cornbread. Some varieties my family liked in the past but can no longer find were Hercules, Colossius, and the old time Large seed Red Ripper. Not only are crowder peas good to eat but they are good for the land, it is said they put nitrogen back in the land. Around here the deer like them as much as I do!
I have been reading the book “Curing The Crosseyed Mule” and grinning like a mule eating briars. I read this in the book and thought about Tipper and her comments about cornmeal and Appalachian accents. A northern lady was asking a lady from Tennessee for her recipe for making cornbread but the lady would not give it to her and would only tell her this “with your accent you wouldn’t like it anyway”!
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange lists “Big Red Ripper” in their catalogue. They also carry other southern varieties I haven’t been able to find anywhere else. https://www.southernexposure.com/categories/southern-peas-cowpeas/
I have saw some listings for the large old times red rippers. I also saw some for the two other varieties-something like 25-50 seed for $5 or more plus shipping. I have heard a local man that sells loose seed in bulk gave seed of these varieties to someone to plant just for the seed to sell next year. The red rippers are not that expensive.