I didn't know any of this, although having lived in the vicinity I've had all sorts of "peas", all of which were...

I didn't know any of this, although having lived in the vicinity I've had all sorts of "peas", all of which were quite tasty, and that smoky bacon/ham thing is delicious. For example, I like it in the "gravy" on shrimp and grits. Didn't really think about, though, as something hard to find.

Lastly, you can get it lots of places, now, but the first time I bought Carolina Gold rice was when I visited a former plantation outside Charleston. I honestly can't tell you that I found it all that different when I cooked with it, but it was tasty. P.S. Wow. Is that industry a nasty bit of history. The tour docents are surprisingly direct about it.

So anyway, it'd be kind of cool to try to find all these ingredients and use the cooking method mentioned and see if it tastes very different. It probably does.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/12/southern-hoppin-john-new-years-tradition.html
http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/12/southern-hoppin-john-new-years-tradition.html