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Rice and peas

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For the Italian rice and pea risotto "risi e bisi", see Risotto § Italian regional variations.
Rice and peas
Basmati rice and peas
CourseSide dish
Region or stateCaribbean and coastal Latin America
Serving temperatureHot
Main ingredientsRice; beans

Rice and peas or peas and rice is a traditional rice dish in some Caribbean and Latin American countries. The type of peas used in this dish by some countries is traditionally pigeon peas, otherwise called gungo peas by Jamaicans.[1] Kidney beans (red peas) and other similar varieties are typically used in the Greater Antilles and coastal Latin America. Rice and peas recipes vary throughout the region, with each country having their own way(s) of making them and name(s)—with the two main ingredients being legumes (peas / beans) and rice, combined with herbs and spices.

History

[edit]

Rice and peas is a Creole dish that originated in the Caribbean, which includes a mixture of ingredients, cooking techniques and spices influenced by various ethnic groups that exist in the region.

Typical Jamaican meal—fried chicken and oxtail, with a side of rice and (gungo) peas.

The Spanish, the first European arrivals to the Americas, contributed many peas / bean dishes, as well as, rice dishes. They also introduced Asian rice to the Caribbean and Latin America.[2] Kidney beans are thought to have originated in Peru around 8,000 B.C,[3] and cultivars were dispersed throughout the Americas by indigenous Amerindian tribes by 500 BC,[4] then later the Spanish and Portuguese, who introduced them to other parts of the world.[5] The Africans who arrived during slavery and indentureship also added their own influences to the dish. Along with the Spanish, Portuguese,[2] French,[6] English,[2] Dutch[7] and East Indians,[8] they also contributed to the introduction and cultivation of rice in the region.[2] Pigeon peas (also called Congo or Angola peas),[1] which originated in India and were domesticated there 3500 years ago,[9][1] were also introduced by the Spanish and Portuguese, from Africa.[9][10] Throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, they are referred to as gandule, guandules or guandu (Spanish and Portuguese),[11] gungo (Jamaican Patois)[12] and pwa kongo or pwa di bwa (French Creole)[13][14]— which were possibly derived from Bantu dialects, ngungu[15] or wandu[16] (Kongo) and oanda (Angolan Kimbundu).

The name "rice and peas" was originally used by Jamaicans to identify the dish. In 1961, Frederic G. Cassidy made note that the dish had been referred to as Jamaica's coat of arms.[17] The recipe is said to have spread throughout Central America, by enslaved and free Africans and Creoles who migrated to the area with British settlers— as well as, merchants and labourers, from Jamaica, between the mid-17th and 19th centuries.[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]

Variations

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Caribbean

[edit]

Jamaica

Jamaican Christmas side dish—rice and (Jerusalem) peas. This native cultivar of peas is tiny, but it gives the rice a rich colour and flavour.

Rice and peas from Jamaica is one of the most popular variations from the region. It is typically eaten as a side dish, often accompanied with meats or seafood. Jamaican rice and peas which has been introduced to other parts of the world, by the diaspora, is eaten in other countries outside of the Caribbean. In Jamaica, the dish is especially prepared on Sundays for dinner. Kidney beans and other similar cultivars are normally used to prepare the dish, however pigeon peas (also gungo peas) and Jerusalem peas (Phaseolus trinervius) are traditionally cooked during Christmas.[29] Other ingredients include scotch bonnet and pimento which are native to the island, long-grain rice, coconut milk, scallion, garlic, salt and pepper to taste and thyme.[30] Sometimes, cured meat like corned pork or beef is added to rice and peas.[31]

Cuba

Moros y cristianos served with pork, in Cuba.

Moros y cristianos (also called Moros) which means "Moors and Christians", and congri are Cuban variations. Both side dishes resemble and taste similar to Jamaican rice and peas, however some of the ingredients are different. Moros is usually made with black beans, while congri is made with red beans— which represent the Islamic Moors, and the rice representing Christian Spaniards.[32] The dish commemorates the Reconquista, and represents how both groups came to live together in the Iberian Peninsula, after a long period of battle.[32] Other ingredients include onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomato, bay leaf, cumin, oregano and salt.[33] Sometimes, bacon or pork is added.

Typical Belizean meal— stew chicken with rice and beans.

Belize

Belizean rice and beans is the national dish of Belize.[34] Its origins can be traced back to the ancient Mayans,[35] who cultivated beans. Over time, influences from other ethnic groups who arrived in the country helped to develop the dish. The recipe originated from the Creole (Kriol)[18] population i.e. British settlers who arrived with African slaves from Jamaica (Baymen),[19] to cut logwood, in the late 1700s and 1800s—later intermingling with mestizos and indigenous peoples.[20] It is typically made with kidney beans, and served as a side dish. Other ingredients include garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, long-grain rice, paprika, onion and coconut milk. Salt beef, pigtail or bacon may be added. The dish is very similar to rice and peas from the Greater Antilles and Central American variations. The first Sunday in September is celebrated as National Rice and Beans Day in Belize.[35]

Haitian diri ak pwa rouj (rice and red peas).

Haiti

Diri ak pwa (also known as diri kole) is "rice and peas" in Haitian Kreyol. It is considered to be part of Haiti's national dish along with griot.[36][37] It is typically made with red beans, black beans or pinto beans.[38] The version with pigeon peas is called diri kole ak pwa kongo. Both variations resemble Jamaican rice and peas. However, ingredients include epis (green seasoning) and/or parsley, thyme, scallion, onion, shallot, cloves, garlic, salt, black pepper, bell pepper, long-grain rice, oil / butter and piment bouc (Bahamian goat pepper) which is sometimes substituted with habanero or scotch bonnet.[39] Sometimes, coconut milk is added.[38]

Dominican Christmas side dish— Moro de guandules (rice and pigeon peas).

Dominican Republic

Moro de guandules or moro de guandules con coco is a Dominican variation which may include coconut milk. It is eaten as a side dish, and is made with pigeon peas. The dish is similar to Jamaican rice and peas (with gungo peas), and it is also a traditional Dominican Christmas food.[40] Other versions of the dish resemble Puerto Rican arroz con gandules, and ingredients include garlic, cubanelle, onion, cilantro, long-grain rice, celery, thyme, salt, oregano, sazon and/or tomato paste.[41][42]

Puerto Rico's national dish— Arroz con gandules (rice and pigeon peas).

Puerto Rico

Arroz con gandules is Puerto Rico's national dish which is typically served with roasted pork.[43] It is similar to the Dominican variation, and is also served during Christmas and special occasions.[44] It is made with rice, pigeon peas, sofrito and/or sazon, annatto oil, bell peppers, cubanelle, cilantro, onion, garlic, aji dulce, recao (culantro), oregano, bay leaf and tomato paste.[43] Salt pork, ham, bacon, salchichón (salami) or chorizo may be added. Another Puerto Rican rice and peas dish is arroz junto, which consists of similar ingredients.[45]

The Bahamas & Anguilla

The dish is known as peas n' rice, from which the Bahamian folk song "Mamma don't want no Peas n' Rice and Coconut Oil" is named. The main components of this dish are rice, pigeon peas, onion, sweet pepper, thyme, browning, tomato paste, salt, pepper and celery. Sometimes, bacon is added. The texture of peas n' rice is different from rice and peas, but more similar to the American Hoppin' John.[46] Peas and rice is the national dish of Anguilla, which is also made with pigeon peas[36]— but is more similar in texture to Jamaican rice and peas (with gungo).

Lesser Antilles

Peas and rice (also peas n' rice), pigeon peas and rice or rice and beans is made in other Caribbean islands like Barbados,[47] St Kitts,[48] Grenada,[49] St Lucia[50] and Trinidad.[51] Some of these variations have adopted Jamaica's rice and peas recipes over time, and pigeon peas are typically used. Another variation is a traditional Creole dish of the Lesser Antilles called pelau [52]— made in Guadeloupe,[52] Dominica,[52] St Vincent,[52] St Lucia,[52] Trinidad,[53] Grenada[49] and the Virgin Islands. Pigeon peas or cowpeas are typically used, and meat is included.

Dutch Caribbean dish— Karni stoba (meat stew) served with arros moro (rice and beans), at Plasa Bieu, Curacao.

Netherlands Antilles (Leeward Antilles)

Antilliaanse arros moro (Antillean rice and beans) is typically made with kidney beans, and is eaten as a side dish in the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.[54]

Latin America

[edit]
Nicaraguan meal with gallo pinto.

Nicaragua & Costa Rica

Gallo pinto which means "spotted rooster" in Spanish,[55] is a Central American variation made mainly in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. It is the national dish of both countries,[55][56] and is typically made with black or red beans in Costa Rica, while in Nicaragua red beans are used.[56] In both countries, the dish may be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner.[55]

The historical origins of gallo pinto can be traced back to Afro-Caribbean people,[55][56][22] specifically Jamaicans.[21] In the 1800s, Jewish Jamaicans, most notably the Lindo brothers[57] who were merchants and planters, migrated to Costa Rica and established businesses in agriculture (coffee, sugar, rice, banana and other produce).[58][59][60] According to the book Mamita Yunai by Carlos Luis Fallas, Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans worked together on banana plantations, on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica where gallo pinto was a staple dish[56]— introduced by emancipated African slaves from Jamaica, who worked on the banana plantations too.[21] As such, Nicaraguans took the Caribbean recipe back to Nicaragua, while Costa Ricans brought the recipe to the Central Valley and made it a traditional meal there.[56] Further, the Jamaican Jews who arrived in the 19th century, integrated with the local population and settled in Cartago, San Jose and Puerto Limon.[61] Many Afro-Jamaicans also went to Costa Rica to work in the construction of the Atlantic Railroad and port[22]— thus, they brought their culture and culinary practices with them,[62] including rice and peas. It is also believed that Afro-Jamaicans[24] and Creole-Jamaicans who settled in coastal Nicaragua (Mosquito Coast) during the mid-17th, 18th and 19th centuries[23] contributed the dish to coastal Central America.[55]

Panama

Gallo pinto,[63] also called arroz con frijoles rojos[64] (rice and red beans) is also a Panamanian dish. It is typically made with kidney or pinto beans and includes pigtail. Another variation is arroz con guandú,[65][66] which is made with pigeon peas, and is similar to Jamaican rice and (gungo) peas—typically eaten at family celebrations and on holidays,[65] such as Christmas.[66] Both dishes are especially popular on Panama's Caribbean coast, in the provinces of Colón and Bocas del Toro.[67] The recipes were adopted from Afro-Antillean people, specifically Jamaicans,[25][26] who migrated to Panama in waves, between the mid-1840s and 1940s, to work on banana plantations in Central America, as well as, to build the Panama Railway and Panama Canal.[67][26] Jews from Jamaica[68] and Curacao, also migrated to Panama during the mid-19th century—most of whom engaged in commerce, owning factories.[69][68] Many of those who migrated stayed and integrated, thus influenced the country's cuisine, music and dialect.[25][70]

Casamiento— rice and beans eaten in Honduras and El Salvador

Honduras & El Salvador

Casamiento which means "marriage", describes the combination of rice and red beans as one dish.[71][72] It is a typical dish eaten on the second Friday of Lent,[73] and generally eaten as a side dish especially along the Caribbean coast and Bay Islands region of Honduras. In El Salvador, casamiento is usually eaten as a traditional breakfast.[72] The dish's roots can be traced to the Anglo-Antilleans, who migrated to the area with English settlers, during the 18th and 19th centuries.[74] As was the case with Nicaragua, under British occupation, several contingents of Afro-Antillean[74] and Creole people,[27] mainly from Jamaica, Belize and the Cayman Islands arrived on the islands and along La Mosquitia— to work in agriculture (mainly banana production), and later to build railroads and ports.[75][74][28][76]

The origins of casamiento in El Salvador is unclear, but it is likely that the recipe may have spread from neighbouring Central American countries. Slaves from Belize fled to El Salvador, after slavery was abolished in 1825, eventually integrating with locals.[77][78] However, though El Salvador did not experience Afro-Antillean migration like other parts of the region, elements of Afro-Caribbean culture were still adopted.[78] Casamiento is considered to be a fusion of ingredients (beans and rice) from the indigenous Mesoamericans and Spanish respectively, with African influences in the preparation of the dish.[72]

See also

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References

[edit]
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  2. ^ a b c d West, Jean M."Rice and Slavery". Archived from the original on January 1, 2007. Retrieved December 10, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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  73. ^ "Casamiento". Retrieved 2024-12-14.
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  78. ^ a b "William, Kent C. Afromestizo(2001). The African Heritage of Central Mexico. El Salvador". Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
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