Red Pea Soup

A Spoonful of This Red Pea Soup Is Like a Big Hug from Jamaica

As one who has spent time chowing down on red beans and rice in the Crescent City, where they are a Monday dinner tradition (the story goes that the pot of peas was put on to cook while the Monday wash was done), I was delighted to find red beans also figured in what would become my favorite Jamaican soup: Red Pea Soup.

Kidney beans, also known as red beans in New Orleans and red peas in Jamaica, are one of the connectors of the African diaspora in the Caribbean. I wasn't aware of the links until my friend, Cuban culinary historian Maricel Presilla, informed me that Cuba has a line of bean demarcation. Many of us connect black beans with that country due to its notable black bean soup. However, there is a bean dividing line that splits the country. While black beans rule in the area near Havana, in the east of the country (Oriente) there is a tradition of red beans.

That red bean preference continues not only north to New Orleans, where they are a part of the city's favorite Monday evening fare, but east to Haiti in that country's version of red beans and rice, diri kolé ak pwa, and south to Jamaica, where they are an ingredient in one of the island's favorite soups: red pea soup.

I don't remember when I first tasted red pea soup, but as I have been going to Jamaica for more than half a century and even stayed there with a friend during Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, it's sure to have been a while ago. I suspect it was at one of the outdoor eating spots that were along the road crossing the Blue Mountains when going by road from Kingston to the North Coast. I do remember that it was love at first taste.

I was taken by the comforting heartiness of the soup and the satisfying meatiness of the beans. Despite the hot weather, the warmth of the broth was refreshing. As I journeyed over the island, I discovered many variations of the soup in spots ranging from hotel restaurants to friends' kitchens. Sometimes it was served with torpedo-shaped dumplings called spinners (that frankly I can do without—I find them overly doughy); other times it was spicy with Scotch Bonnet chile, but no matter the variants, my love for the soup seemed to maintain. Eventually, I tried my own hand at it, coming up with a version that skips the spinners and trades the more traditional beef and ham or pig tail for chicken. I know it's not the traditional version, but rather it's an homage to the soup that entranced me so many years ago.