S.C. Encyclopedia | Hoppin’ John is a pilaf made with beans and rice. The recipe came directly to America from West Africa and is typical of the one-pot cooking of the South Carolina Lowcountry. As the recipe moved inland, it became the traditional dish for good luck on New Year’s Day throughout the South.

The first written appearance of the recipe in English was in Sarah Rutledge’s The Carolina Housewife, or House and Home, by a Lady of Charleston, published anonymously in 1847. Though most often made with black-eyed peas, the original Charleston version called for “One pound of bacon, one pint of red peas, one pint of rice.” Red peas are cowpeas, or dried field peas, which are, as are black-eyed peas, more akin to beans.