Pinto Beans and Politicking

Nothing tastes more like home to me than a steaming bowl of pinto beans and hot cornbread slathered with melted butter. Born and raised in rural West Virginia, I spent many winter afternoons sharing this meal with my grandparents, Emery and Birdie Mae.

My grandmother Birdie Mae dished up pinto beans from an iron pot she kept simmering for hours on the gas stove. The only seasoning she added was a slab of bacon or ham hock with salt and pepper. It was my grandfather Emery’s favorite meal.

Between bites of beans, Emery liked to talk about local and national candidates coming up for election. As soon as he started to speak, Birdie would shake her head with annoyance. “There he goes politicking again,” she’d say, wiping her hands off with a dish cloth and fleeing the kitchen.

Emery preferred lots of diced onion and crumbled cornbread in his bowl of beans. But pinto beans also taste delicious when garnished with sweet, tangy Southern Chow Chow Relish prepared from finely chopped green tomatoes, peppers and onions.

As a native West Virginian, pinto beans and cornbread are part of my Appalachian heritage. But no matter where you call home, a good bowl of pinto beans is a hearty meal that’s guaranteed to warm you up—body and soul.

Pinto Beans

How to prepare: Start with a 1-pound package of dried pinto beans. Dried beans must be soaked before they are cooked. Soak overnight, or use the quick-soak method. Overnight soak: Rinse beans well and cover with an inch of cold water. Soak beans overnight at room temperature. Quick-soak method: Rinse beans well, put in a saucepan, and cover with an inch of water. Bring to a boil, simmer for 2 minutes, then cover and let stand at least 1 hour.

How to cook: Cover and simmer beans in water used for soaking. Check periodically, cooking until tender. Add water as needed. Season with a ham bone, a couple of minced garlic cloves or chopped onion, and salt and pepper to taste.

Cornbread

1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup self-rising corn meal
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup shortening or vegetable oil
dash salt

Sift flour and add salt; stir in corn meal. Add eggs, milk and shortening or oil. Beat with electric beater until just smooth, about 1 minute. Do not overbeat. Pour into greased iron skillet and bake in hot oven at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Patricia Porter, Salt Rock, WV

A Civil Food Conflict

When I was growing up, my family (like most) always had a succession of memorable meals from November to January each year. This heavy dinner season (in the South dinner means the afternoon meal) of course started with Thanksgiving—a holiday that doesn't differ too much by region when it comes to the traditional menu. Then our Decembers would bring with them numerous get-togethers, from casserole-laden potlucks to finger-food festivities, culminating in our family's unique interpretation of Christmas Day dinner: Lexington, NC-style pulled pork barbecue sandwiches.

January 1 always capped off the months of indulgence with a final formal meal. One that, for us, was mostly Southern in tradition ... but with a tiny bit of Northern influence. (You see, my grandfather was from Pennsylvania. And while he ended up living most of his life in North Carolina and fully embraced Southern life and culture, he did introduce the rest of us to what we referred to as "Yankee foods.")

Our menu for that day always included the following:

Pork Roast

Mashed Potatoes

Squash Casserole*

Asparagus Casserole*

Black-eyed Peas

Sauerkraut

Green Beans

Rolls

Sweet Tea

*Note that all holiday meals in my family, whether it's Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's or Easter, always involve at least one casserole.

A Southern eye will detect a few problems with my list. First of all, the black-eyed peas are served as is, not in Hoppin' John. Well, don't worry; we began adopting that dish in recent years. And, regardless, the presence of the legume in general helps ensure wealth (in the form of coins, but still).

Secondly, um ... sauerkraut. Yes, this is clearly a Yankee food—and one that was not embraced by my brother and me. Thirdly, you'll notice the absence of any type of greens. This is because the sauerkraut filled the role of that food, which traditionally means money, or cash, for the new year. In later years, we did start adding collard greens to our meal; yet, somehow, none of us ever achieved double the wealth (at least not yet). Finally, you'll see that we had rolls instead of cornbread. I'm honestly not sure how cornbread factors into good luck for the new year. And, frankly, I love cornbread but rolls are just fine too.

So there you go. That's my family's history of New Year's Day meals. Very "New South," wouldn't you say? Quite progressive of us to incorporate such an alien dish as sauerkraut, I think. Of course pork equals progress, according to tradition, so maybe that's what fueled our acceptance of Northern cuisine.

If you're interested in trying some traditional Southern New Year's dishes, Southern Living has a great line-up here. And Epicurious has an interesting article on the meanings behind various New Year's food traditions.

But whether you go traditional Southern, Northern or some hybrid of the two, we wish you a very happy, prosperous and delicious New Year!

Y'all Come on In

Welcome to Savor South. This is a blog designed to celebrate Southern food culture (y'all know what we're talking about here ... or you will if you keep stopping by!). If you're a Southern foodie. Or just a foodie. Or just Southern. You're going to like our blog. Honestly, we promise. Here we'll talk about all of the things that make life worth living—tomato sandwiches, fried okra, buttermilk biscuits and such. And we'll investigate the fascinating people and unusual histories behind some our favorite culinary traditions. We'll also chronicle our own modest foodie adventures in our homeland. So come on in, sip a sweet tea and join us in savoring the South.