LUCKY BLACK-EYED PEAS

After a night of confetti, horns, champagne and much hoopla, a bowl of ordinary black-eyed peas is a welcome sight on New Year's Day.

It's the good-luck vegetable that graces most Southern tables on this first day of the year. When it's cooked with hog jowl and served with rice, it's called hoppin John.

Hoppin John and other beans-and-rice dishes share the legend of New Year's Day good luck. Black-eyed peas, also called cowpeas, came from Africa with the slaves and black and white Southerners by the thousands welcome the arrival of every new year with hearty bowls of hoppin John, said John Egerton, author of Southern Food.

Here is a typical recipe for hoppin John, from Southern Food.

Hoppin John

Begin with 2 cups (1 pound) of dried black-eyed peas. Soak in cold water overnight, then rinse well and set aside. Boil about 1/4 pound of seasoning meat (salt pork or ham hock) in a large pot with 1 quart or more of water for about 1 hour, then add the peas to the pot, reduce heat to simmer and cook covered for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until tender. Saute 1 cup of finely chopped onions in 2 tablespoons of bacon grease for about 3 minutes and add to the peas.

In a separate large pan, cook 2 cups of raw rice in 4 cups of water. Combine the cooked rice and the beans and simmer together for about 30 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and hotter spices of your choosing, add a small amount of hot water if necessary to assure moistness, and serve steaming hot in bowls. The recipe should serve 10 to 12 people.