Texas Caviar

Photo: Eric Diesel

County fair season will soon be upon us. E.B. White created the most famous county fair -- including the most celebrated pig and the savviest spider -- in literature while at the movies, Technicolor musicals used the canning competition for plot points involving Marjorie Main's wine jelly in Meet Me in St. Louis and Fay Bainter's mincemeat in State Fair. The fact of the county fair as an important influence on early- and mid-twentieth century homemaking is evident in the homekeeping literature of those days. Any such -- for example, Blue Ribbon Recipes for County Fair Winners -- takes for granted that the reader intends to excel not just in making jam, jellies and relishes but blue-ribbon pies, cakes, breads, main dishes, sides and salads.

Though she was always industrious, my grandmother was a fairly laid back person every month of the year except August. During August, her industry increased (hard to believe that was possible) and a competitive quality peeked out of her personality. August was the month to get everything ready for entry at the fair, and she took that seriously. I don't believe my grandmother's pride in her talents as a homekeeper ever crossed the line into hubris, but I also have to acknowledge that she did take it personally if she didn't win at least one blue ribbon. She was known for her pickles and relishes and for her apple jelly. I remember being terrified of the huge pressure canner with its clamps and dials but she wrangled it as if it was nothing to do so. I remember her standing over the canner as the steam in the kitchen grew so intense that her hair curled in brown tendrils around her face. I remember marathon sessions of cutting soft, fragrant green beans, still warm from the vine, into bite-sized pieces for pressure canning. I remember stirring the golden stew of creamed corn before it was ladled into the jars.

It was a western kitchen, and along with the green beans and the corn my grandmother grew a variety of peppers, from simple garden bells to a fire scale of chilies. Unlike many home cooks of the era, my grandmother wasn't shy about using herbs and spices, and she had an affinity for peppers both as plants and as ingredients. She made a fierce pepper jelly that I still make and serve on cornbread during chili suppers, and she often served vibrant salsas tableside. And at least once a year, during August canning, she made Texas Caviar.

In the tradition of that time and place, there was a competition at the county fair for fresh dishes made from the grower's garden. The entries could include anything from a fresh relish to a composed salad, but the key was to showcase your own produce outside of the canning jar. The fundamental ingredient of Texas Caviar is black-eyed peas, which are tricky (though not impossible) to home-can. Most western homekeepers had both a brace of pea vines and a house-specialty version of this dish. Accordingly, it was not uncommon to see an entire county's worth of depression glass bowls crowding the competition table, many of them proudly spooned with a mound of its owner's Texas Caviar.

Some modern palates will interpret Texas Caviar as a salsa, but it is really a spicy bean salad. Black-eyed peas (cowpeas if you grew them yourself) take well to a one-two punch of vinegar and cilantro followed by a three-four knockout of onions and peppers. My grandmother would have insisted on using yellow or orange banana peppers for a bit of color along with the hot peppers, and that is reflected in the recipe below. Serve your Texas Caviar with any Tex-Mex fave such as tacos, chili or enchiladas, or pack it up as an offering for the last of the summer picnics. And, though no one wants to think about winter nights during this fair season, once you master the first step, you will be ready to make your pot of black-eyed peas for New Year's Eve.

TEXAS CAVIAR

Hungarian peppers are the elongated, waxy looking ones that are typically available in green, red, orange, yellow or striated varieties; they will typically be jumbled together when on display. If you cannot locate a ham hock, use two slices of good bacon.

1 pound fresh shelled or dried black-eyed peas
1 small ham hock
1/4 cup cold water
2 small yellow onions
2 yellow, red or orange Hungarian peppers
1 jalapeno or Serrano chile
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 cups cider vinegar
2 bay leaves
4 medium cloves garlic
1 bunch fresh cilantro
1-1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon ground oregano
2 teaspoons salt
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Pour the beans into a colander and pick through them, discarding any stones or any beans that evidence discoloration or soft spots. Rinse the beans and leave in the sink to drain.

2. Place a large stock pot on the stovetop. Place the ham hock into the pot. Add the water, 1 teaspoon salt, several grindings of freshly ground black pepper, bay leaves and brown sugar to the pot. Turn the burner to low.

3. Peel the onions and remove the root and stem ends. Place each onion on a clean cutting board reserved for fresh vegetables. Halve each onion from root to stem; halve each half. Cut each quarter into thin crescents. Cut across the crescents to form dice. Scrape half of the diced onion into the pot containing the ham hock, water and spices. Scrape the remaining half of the diced onion into a large mixing bowl.

4. Peel the garlic and remove the root end. Half each clove; remove and discard any sprouting from the center. Press each garlic half into the mixture in the pot.

5. Once the ham hock has released its fragrance, gently add the black-eyed peas to the pot. Use a silicon spatula to mix all of the ingredients in the pot together, keeping the ham hock centered in the pot. If the mixture is running dry, add another 1/4 cup water.

6. Cover the pot and cook the black-eyed peas until tender, approximately 1 hour. Check the pot at fifteen minute intervals to test for doneness, and to add more water if the mixture is running dry.

7. While the beans are cooking, rinse the cilantro under cool water and set aside to drain on a double layer of paper toweling.

8. For each Hungarian pepper, place the pepper on the cutting board. Cut each pepper in half from cap to bottom. Cut away and discard the stem; cut away and discard any white pith from inside each half. Rinse each half under warm water to remove the seeds (if saving seeds for planting, do this step over a fine mesh sieve to catch the seeds). Cut off the rounded top and bottom of each half; set aside for snacking. Working one halved pepper at a time, flatten each remaining pepper, skin side down, against the cutting board. Cut each flattened half into 1/8-inch strips and cut across the strips to form 1/8-inch squares. Scrape the cubed pepper into the bowl containing the onion.

9. For the chile pepper, put on a clean pair of food-safe rubber or latex gloves. Place the chile pepper on a clean cutting board. Cut away and discard the top and bottom of the pepper. Cut the pepper lengthwise into halves. Use the tip of the knife to remove the seeds and pith (if saving seeds for planting, do this step over a fine mesh sieve to catch the seeds. Flatten each pithed and seeded pepper half, skin side down, against the cutting board. Cut each flattened half into thin strips and cut across the strip to form dice. Scrape the diced chile pepper into the bowl containing the onion-pepper mixture.

10. Sprinkle the onion-pepper mixture with 1 teaspoon salt. Use a silicon spatula to combine the mixture. Set the salted onion-pepper mixture aside to cure while you make the dressing.

11. Measure out the vinegar. Add the cumin, mustard seeds, oregano and several grindings of fresh black pepper to the vinegar. Whisk the spices into the vinegar; set aside until time to assemble the dish.

12. Once the black-eyed peas are cooked to tenderness, gently remove the ham hock. It is okay if some of the meat from the hock remains in the pot. Gently transfer the peas to the colander to drain while cooling, approximately 10 minutes.

13. While the peas are draining and cooling, chop the leaf ends of the cleaned cilantro to equal approximately 2/3 cup packed loosely. It is okay if the measurement is not exact.

14. Once the peas are drained and cooled, use a silicon spatula to transfer them to the pepper-onion mixture, using the spatula to fold the mixture together as you go. Use the spatula to fold the chopped cilantro into the mixture.

15. Pour the dressing onto the mixture, using the spatula to get every bit of it. Use the spatula to fold the mixture together. The mixture should become very fragrant as you do so.

16. Cover the mixture and refrigerate 30 minutes. Stir lightly before serving.