Red Beans and Rice
Here is another store from my cash of WPA food sources from the Library of Congress archives in Washington DC. This story is from a Louisiana folder related to the Great Depression era America Eats Project marked “Notes, Reports, and Essays.” I produce the content in a paraphrased format when necessary to make them legible and indirect quotes as often as possible. This is part of our series Rice and Beans and Peas and Rice
Red Beans and Rice
In New Orleans home cooks mastered the art of creating economical dishes for weekday meals. Among them red beans and rice which is to New Orleans what baked beans are to Boston. To do it right the cook would soak red beans in water until the skin of the bean shriveled. Then they cooked the beans for several hours until thick and creamy in a deep cast-iron pot with chopped onions, garlic, a slice of pork of some kind, a tablespoon of lard, and salt and pepper. The beans are always served with rice boiled in steam until each grain sits proudly separate. At one time one could purchase the necessary ingredients to make this for as little as five cents.
