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For generations across the South, black-eyed peas have traditionally been served on New Year’s Day.
Black-eyed peas are associated with a “mystical and mythical power to bring good luck” in the year ahead, according to Southern food writer John Egerton in his book “Southern Food: At Home, On the Road, In History.”
For years, Cracker Barrel served as a reliable last stop for displaced Southerners trying to uphold a New Year’s Day tradition. If black-eyed peas weren’t simmering at home, they could be ordered alongside cornbread and country sides.
Now, that option has quietly disappeared.
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Cracker Barrel once routinely served a traditional New Year’s Day fare at its restaurants, touting complimentary black-eyed peas for customers in social media promotions — but that seemingly stopped a few years ago.
“We’re operating during our usual hours and serving our standard menu on New Year’s,” Cracker Barrel told Fox News Digital.
Black-eyed peas, a traditional New Year’s Day menu staple in the South, have all but disappeared from Cracker Barrel (not pictured) and other restaurants. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
When asked specifically about the black-eyed peas, Cracker Barrel did not respond.
“Black-eyed peas in the South [are] a super-huge traditional food for New Year’s Day,” said celebrity chef Jason Smith, a judge on the Food Network’s “Best Baker in America” and the winner of “Food Network Star,” season 13.
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The meaning of the meal stretches back to Civil War times, the Kentucky-born chef said.
When Union troops raided Southern food supplies, they often overlooked black-eyed peas, supposedly considering them animal feed. That made them a staple food for Southerners during a time of scarcity and a symbol of good fortune, according to Elevating Kitchen.
The dish also endured because it was accessible.
Cracker Barrel told Fox News Digital it’s serving a standard menu on New Year’s Day. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
“Another reason was black-eyed peas [were] cheap to buy and could feed a huge family,” Smith told Fox News Digital.
Alongside collard greens, associated with money, and cornbread, symbolizing gold, black-eyed peas became a cornerstone of the Southern New Year’s table.
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That ritual extended beyond home kitchens to restaurant tables, including Tennessee-based Cracker Barrel.
Sarah Moore, Cracker Barrel’s chief marketing officer, told Fox News Digital last year that menu decisions reflect a balance between regional tradition and national footprint.
Sarah Moore, Cracker Barrel’s chief marketing officer, told Fox News Digital in May that the company wants to balance its national footprint with a “localized regional strategy.” (Fox News Digital)
“I think there are two strategies here,” Moore said in May. “I think, first and foremost, what we will focus on as we continue to evolve the menu is a localized regional strategy as well. We operate in 44 states. I think we have a great opportunity to bring more localized flavors and regionality into our menu.”
At the same time, Moore emphasized the brand’s identity, which faced public scrutiny last year amid its abandoned logo change and restaurant redesign.
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“But the other side of it is that destination menu — [the] country comforts and classics that we’re known for,” she said. “So, we will continue to look and evolve as to how we bring those country classics in and keep all the classics that everybody loves about Cracker Barrel on the menu.”
Moore acknowledged the emotional pull of the traditional New Year’s meal.
Cracker Barrel returned to its old logo after facing public backlash. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I actually do make it every single year,” she said. “I am married to a man from Kentucky.”
Moore added, “It is something we will continue to look at as we build out our pipeline.”
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Rachel Love, a Tennessee mother and self-proclaimed Cracker Barrel lover who championed its classic look and criticized its failed makeover, told Fox News Digital that black-eyed peas were a New Year’s Day staple at her dinner table.
“My mom would have a pot of black-eyed peas simmering on the stove for good luck in the year ahead,” Love said. “She’d scoop up a spoonful, hold it out and say, ‘Here, try it. You don’t want to start the year off with bad luck.'”
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Love also recalled her late grandmother’s routine.
“During the years [that] black-eyed peas were offered as a side, she would get hers from Cracker Barrel, ordering the Country Vegetable Plate,” Love said.
Diners are shown eating inside a Cracker Barrel restaurant. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Smith said he still turns to restaurants to serve them when circumstances require it, acknowledging that mom-and-pop eateries in the South are among the last to do so.
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“There’s not too many restaurants that today partake in this age-old tradition any longer, but they should,” he said.