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re: Why are Red Beans and White Beans So Popular in South LA
Posted on 4/17/21 at 2:02 pm to CHEDBALLZ
Posted on 4/17/21 at 2:02 pm to CHEDBALLZ
rice and beans provide a nearly complete protein without the need for meat. That combination is a staple of diets everywhere rice is grown (south LA for example). In addition, both rice and beans are dry staples which if kept dry and away from vermin will store indefinitely which is especially important in a humid climate (south LA for example). Finally as noted above, both rice and beans are inexpensive and easy ways to feed families that live off the land (south LA for example) and pair well with other proteins dried/smoked for long storage (south LA for example)
1
Posted on 4/17/21 at 3:54 pm to CHEDBALLZ
IDK enough about the history and it wouldn't matter anyway, but there's a lot of flavor in a $1.13 box of Tony Chachere's red beans and rice mix + pound of smoke sausage. Amazing flavor:price ratio.
Posted on 4/17/21 at 3:59 pm to cgrand
I’m sensing a recurring theme here.
Posted on 4/17/21 at 4:33 pm to cajunangelle
quote:
This is also what I heard! The women could watch their stories in between doing the washing of clothes
That was my Aunt Judy's routine for sure. She and my uncle had my grandma living with them and she owned one of those roll around old fashioned ringer washers.
It was a round white porcelain coated thing with an open top that you rolled into position by the kitchen sink, filled with water and your soap and toss the clothes in.
After they washed and rinsed you ran the clothes through a 2 roller wringer that squeezed the water out and you'd better be damn careful to not let your fingers get caught by those rollers.
In between cycles they'd sit in the living room watching those daily Soap Operas that progressed at glacially slow speed with their story lines.
After the clothes were wrung out, off to the yard to hang them on clothes lines to dry. There is nothing like air dried linen for beds. You can't get that feel or aroma from a dryer. I remember the metal pants crease stretchers that went in the legs of jeans and khaki pants that put the crease in the legs as the pants dried.
Posted on 4/17/21 at 5:07 pm to CHEDBALLZ
Real La food is pretty damn cheap to make.
Posted on 4/17/21 at 9:47 pm to gumbo2176
quote:
ringer washers.
That's what we had until the early 60s.
I don't care if they're red/white/black/lentils, pintos/etc, legumes are awesome, nutritional, & cheap with or w/o meat.
Posted on 4/17/21 at 10:53 pm to mingoswamp
quote:
I don't care if they're red/white/black/lentils, pintos/etc, legumes are awesome, nutritional, & cheap with or w/o meat.
Rouses has a 10 Bean Soup Mix you can pick up in the section with all the dried beans and I've cooked that many times and love it. Just be aware the seasoning packet that comes with it is chock full of salt and it using the whole packet, the finished product can be a bit on the salty side.
The first time I made it years ago I used salt pork aka pickle meat as seasoning and it was WAY too salty. I used chunks of shank ham the next time and not all the seasoning packet and it came out great.
Posted on 4/18/21 at 9:03 am to gumbo2176
I always assumed beans came from the Mariners, NOLA was obviously a major port town and therefore a lot of the food influence came from the immigrants and people off the boats. Beans are very easy to transport by ship.
Posted on 4/18/21 at 3:17 pm to gumbo2176
Posted on 4/18/21 at 4:25 pm to cajunangelle
quote:
15 Bean Soup with Ham and Sausage Recipe
Bookmarked for later and I will cook this as it sounds pretty damn good.
Posted on 4/18/21 at 5:27 pm to CHEDBALLZ
My red beans are soaking now for supper tomorrow.
Posted on 4/19/21 at 8:03 am to CHEDBALLZ
Because they are delicious
Posted on 4/19/21 at 2:38 pm to CHEDBALLZ
The story I read in Louisiana history is that the original French settlers in Louisiana were not farmers. They had minimal skills on surviving in the Louisiana climate and couldn’t grow enough to support the local population. African slaves brought beans and rice with them which were easy to produce and grow.
There’s a reason every culture in the world has a bean and rice recipe. They grow anywhere and are calorie dense with ample amounts of protein. They can also be dried and cooked with boiling water, making it easy to carry for long distances.
There’s a reason every culture in the world has a bean and rice recipe. They grow anywhere and are calorie dense with ample amounts of protein. They can also be dried and cooked with boiling water, making it easy to carry for long distances.
Posted on 4/19/21 at 11:27 pm to The Goon
I spend more time making the stock (pressure cooker), than I do cooking the beans.
We do red, black, then white (canola) beans, as a routine.
Good food!
We do red, black, then white (canola) beans, as a routine.
Good food!
Posted on 4/20/21 at 6:23 am to gumbo2176
quote:
The conventional story goes something like this.
Monday was generally "wash day" for many families back in the old days and that was an all day chore before the advent of washing machines.
Women would put on a pot of beans to cook because they generally were less hands on once you got all the stuff in the pot and it started cooking. They only needing an occasional stir to keep from sticking to the bottom of the pot and that allowed the ladies of the house to do their chores relatively undisturbed.
This is what mom always told us and why we always had beans on Mondays. Love me some red or white beans.
Posted on 4/20/21 at 1:03 pm to gumbo2176
Posted on 4/20/21 at 1:12 pm to NolaLovingClemsonFan
quote:
This is what mom always told us and why we always had beans on Mondays.
I don't understand how this would be a reason why red beans is so popular in Louisiana though. Do you think that people in other areas of the country didn't wash their clothes?
Sounds apocryphal to me.
Posted on 4/20/21 at 1:20 pm to Mo Jeaux
yes, other people washed their clothes. In NOLA and surrounding they washed clothes every Monday and made RBnR. even if some didn't wash they made RBnR from the ham from Sunday after Church. I am not understanding what you are misunderstanding? 
Posted on 4/20/21 at 1:45 pm to cajunangelle
quote:
yes, other people washed their clothes. In NOLA and surrounding they washed clothes every Monday and made RBnR. even if some didn't wash they made RBnR from the ham from Sunday after Church. I am not understanding what you are misunderstanding?
I don't think I'm misunderstanding anything. I think others are misunderstanding this story as being the genesis of why Red Beans and Rice are so popular in Louisiana. Poeple go to church and wash their clothes in other areas of the country. Why is the dish not popular in all or even some of these other areas.
My point is that it's a nice story, but hardly a "reason" why the dish is so popular in Louisiana.
Posted on 4/20/21 at 4:45 pm to gumbo2176
quote:
The conventional story goes something like this.
Monday was generally "wash day" for many families back in the old days and that was an all day chore before the advent of washing machines.
Women would put on a pot of beans to cook because they generally were less hands on once you got all the stuff in the pot and it started cooking. They only needing an occasional stir to keep from sticking to the bottom of the pot and that allowed the ladies of the house to do their chores relatively undisturbed.
That is likely true, but does not explain why red/white beans are more popular in S. LA than the rest of the USA. Pretty sure they did laundry in other places.
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