Afro-Mexican Cuisine: Black Eyed Peas in Guanajuato
Published May 25, 2009 by Rachel Laudan
In the market in Silao, Mexico, the very geographic center of Mexico, ten miles south of the the city of Guanajuato in the State of Guanajuato, the semilleros (seed shops) sell black eyed peas (Vigna unguicalata) along with all the usual Mexican beans. They call them veronicas.
You can see them in the sack at the back. When you ask the vendors how they cook them, they indicate that they “guisar” them, that is they put them in stews as they would habas or garbanzos. They do not eat them alone and simply boiled as they would the huge variety of Mexican beans. This makes sense because all three are Old World not New World legumes. It’s a boon to me because my husband loves black-eyed peas and I can nip down and get a supply from time to time.
But this leaves the bigger puzzle. To see black eyed peas in Mexico is, to put it mildly, odd. You simply don’t run across blackeyed peas in markets in Central Mexico.
But the hypothesis that I have to consider is that these are a legacy of the African heritage in Guanajuato. As I’m sure all readers know, blackeyed peas have been closely associated with African cooking.
And in the sixteenth century–yes, that early–Guanajuato had a substantial African population that was described as hailing being Angolan, Congan, Biafran, Biafaran, Baran and Araran, that is from the River Niger basin and Angola. They were mainly slaves though cross-marriage, particularly with indigenous, began almost immediately.
Guanajuato in the sixteenth century was an immigrant community with no large settled indigenous community. Apart from Africans, it consisted of Spaniards, particularly Basques and Castellanos, migrant indigenous particularly nahuas, michoacanos, otomis, and chichimecas, Portuguese (possibly crypto jews), and French.
According to a document that appears to date from the 1580s, in the mining area of Guanajuato there were 400 Spanish, 500 horses, 800 slaves (presumably African) and 800 mules.
Silao was where the runaway slaves took refuge, seeking out broken country to the south of the town.
If there’s anything to this, it suggests that looking for traces of African foods in Mexico is going to be a case of looking for tiny little clues.
Filed under Food History, Globalization Then and Now, Just Good Eating, Mexican Cuisine
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in greek cooking, black-eyed beans (we dont call them peas) are used a lot – we have them about once a month as a main meal (stewed in tomato sauce)
“If there’s anything to this, it suggests that looking for traces of African foods in Mexico is going to be a case of looking for tiny little clues.”
What about cooking foods in banana leaves? I recall there was a discussion on Book of Rai about making little parcels/packets of food wrapped in banana leaves. This technique was found in West Africa and the Carribean.
My mother-in-law. from Sonora and Sinaloa, called them yorimunis which I believe is a local indigenous word. She really liked them cooked them often.
Thanks so much for that information, Maria. I have to try this as a variant for my husband. I don’t have the impression they are used much in Spanish cooking but I may be wrong.
Well, tamales in the hot wet regions are certainly cooked in banana leaves. So perhaps a nice overlap there with the indigenous tradition. I’ll keep my eyes open.
Interesting Alan. The northwest coast area. How did she cook them? I also had a note from someone reminding me that there was a second African, or rather African American migration to Mexico following Reconstruction, escaping conditions in the south.
Anyway when I get back to Guanajuato (and my library) I have to check to see if I have any cookbooks with yorimunis. It’s a new word to me.
Eating black eyed peas is pretty widespread in Spain now and they were obviously consumed a lot throughout Europe before the new world beans became eastablised. “The Bean Eater” by Annibale Carracci shows an example of this.
The bean that would scream “Africa” to me is the Pigeon Pea or gunga/congo/etc.
She cooked the black eyed peas in a beef broth with bones and beef, plenty of onions with a little tomato and fresh cilantro sprinkled when served.
I believe yorimuni is a yaqui word. They are not common in Sinaloa but in Sonora they are common. Here is a link I found for a recipe for yorimuni tamales
http://www.sonora.gob.mx/portal/Runscript.asp?p=ASP\pg383.asp
I see the link didn’t work. If it still doesn’t work google yorimunis and it comes up
http://www.sonora.gob.mx/portal/Runscript.asp?p=ASP\pg383.asp
I can buy black-eyed peas in La Paz, Bolivia but they are completely absent from the Yungas region, which is the center of African settlement in Bolivia
[...] Black-eyed peas in Afro-Mexican cuisine with Rachel Laudan. [...]
Yes, that’s true. I have never come across pigeon peas in Mexico. And the fact that in the US they have become, rightly or wrongly, associated with African Americans prompted me to think there might be a similar connection in Mexico. May be not. But it is funny that they are not generally eaten (see following comment on Alan Hicks).
Ah ha, sounds great. And I was interested by the reference to the tamales.
But here’s a question. Dodging references to the hip hop group called the Blackeyed Peas, I found this comment on Wikipedia.
“The black-eyed pea, also called black-eyed bean, is a subspecies of the cowpea, grown around the world for its medium-sized edible bean. The bean mutates easily, giving rise to a number of varieties. The common commercial one is called the California Blackeye; it is pale-colored with a prominent black spot. The currently accepted botanical name is Vigna unguiculata subsp. unguiculata, although previously it was classified in the genus Phaseolus. Vigna unguiculata subsp. dekindtiana is the wild relative and Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis is the related asparagus bean. Other beans of somewhat similar appearance, such as the “frijol ojo de cabra” (“goat’s eye bean”) of Northern Mexico, are sometimes incorrectly called “black-eyed peas” and vice versa.”
So I wonder if these could be the pulses your mother in law uses.
Thanks Alan. Googling is the way to go.
Welcome to the blog and thanks for the comment, Brooke. I wonder where the La Paz black-eyed peas come from? Do you have any links to or comments on Afro-Bolivian food? There seems a good bit of interest in the topic of African food in Latin America, so little written about except for Brazil.
[...] Read the rest right here! [...]
I found this post by coincidence… I hope you don’t mind my interjection.
I think the Africa theory is off base in this region of Mexico. Both of my parents are from the highlands of Jalisco where Black Eye Peas are also consumed… but for various reasons.
The deeply rooted historical reason is that many “Spanish” families that settled the area in the 18th century are really Portugese from ancient Lusitania as well as Extremadura. You will find a proliferation of last names such as Reynoso & Fonseca etc., By the 18th century.. Black Eyed Peas would have very much been part of their culinary traditions in Iberia.
A more recent clue comes from my own family oral history. Prior to the Green Revolution in Mexico during the 1960’s… the typical Mexican rural family ate a much greater variety of beans… usually planting about 5 varieties of which Frijol Carita a Vulgaris which looks like Black Eyed Peas was a prominent bean in the area. However as Green Revolution farming took root the Mexican Pinto proved to be the highest yield / lowest cost bean and consumption became a little more monoculture.
Nonetheless.. most families still longingly idolize & occassional splurge for the special beans of the past… Flor de Mayo, Bayo, Pinquitos etc., As Mexican migrants from Jalisco first made their way to the Southeast U.S. in the 1980’s they encountered the Black Eye Pea, found that it was relatively cheap and started using it as Frijol Carita. Now with NAFTA, Mexico has been flooded with cheap, subsidized US beans and my guess is that the Black Eye Pea is considered a cheap substitute for Frijol Carita or in Guanajuato lingo.. Veronicas (on occassion also referred to as Judias)
In respnse to eatnopales,you should do even more research and you will realize who the spanish and the portugese had riding along with them (Africans).also i know that like every other part of the globe blacks are looked down on and around both verecruiz and costa chica there are afro mexicans who sadly lost their identity and are ashamed of the beautiful color of their skin.peace.
Eric wEst you are talking to a man who proudly promotes the celebration of Mexico’s 3ra Raiz / 3rd Root. In fact.. see this video I posted on You Tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUlYCsEO2UY
Yes… Mexico has its Black African roots… but historically there has not been a significant cultural presence in the Central Highlands. The recent Mexican Genome project has confirmed this.. and has done a great job of tracking African genes in Mexico for example… you will find a good proportion of African genes in Uruapan, Michoacan and the coasts of Jalisco… and surprising to many even in Sinaloa.
However the highlands of Jalisco & the Bajio whether in Guanajuato or Queretaro… African genes have been notoriously absent.
What you WILL find in these areas is the proportion of “Spaniards” or “Criollos” who have Portugese last names and are likely of Crypto-Jewish ancestry is higher than in other parts of Mexico… and that is why I think Black Eye peas are more likely attributable to Portugese. Note, Black Eye Peas are interestingly sometimes referred to as Judias as well.
Hi Eat Nopales, It is still going to take me a while to get to these, issues that really fascinate me. But thanks for all the informed and provocative questions.
Just about any country in the west has it’s African influence. Mexico has one of the least African influence. I am Mexican and many white people probably have more black than I, if I have any. Black peas? big deal.
if you knew your history you would have that ignorant comment mexico wasn’t exempt from black people.and they’re still,not even you.when the americas was invaded there was no such thing as pure spanish or portugese.black people ruled over southern europe over 800 years.all this talk about jews and this and that type of spainard is psycho talk and folks living a lie.honey save yourself look up black-mexican google it please.blackeyed peas as well as coffee and hot peppers,chickens,beef,and so many other crops and spices came from no other than the Mother Land.now chew on that my dear.
Dear Sheala, since you are dearing me, civility prompts me to post your comment. It also means that I suggest that if you want to have your comment considered, you are also civil. OK?