A field pea with a distinctive pink 'eye' and a purple hull, beloved across the Deep South for a sweet, delicate flavor and tender texture. A first cousin to the black-eyed pea.
The summer ritual of shelling purple hull peas on the porch is one of the most enduring Black Southern foodways — a communal, multigenerational act that put up the cheapest, most nutritious protein for the whole year. Freezing or canning the shelled peas was food security a family controlled.
Pink-eye purple hull peas, like all cowpeas, are folate powerhouses — critical for women of childbearing age given the elevated maternal-health risks Black women face. The fiber supports cholesterol and blood sugar control, the iron helps counter anemia common in Black women, and the potassium works against sodium-sensitive hypertension. A complete protein when eaten with rice or cornbread.
Fresh-shelled peas cook fast — 30-45 minutes in seasoned water; dried peas need a soak and about an hour. A smoked turkey wing or ham hock seasons the pot likker; serve over rice or with cornbread to mop the broth.
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