{{Short description|Jamaican soup}} {{Infobox prepared food | name = Red peas soup | image = Jamaican red peas soup.jpg | image_size = 250px | caption = ''Jamaican red peas soup made with kidney beans, cow peas, Jerusalem peas and pig tail'' | alternate_name = | country = Jamaica | region = | creator = | course = Soup | type = | served = | main_ingredient = Kidney beans, cured meats, coconut milk, herbs, scotch bonnet and ground provisions | variations = }} '''Red peas soup''' is a hearty Jamaican soup, made with kidney beans (known locally as ''red peas''), cured meats, coconut milk, root vegetables, dumplings, herbs and spices like Scotch bonnet, pimento, scallion etc.<ref name=":rps">{{cite web|title= Grace Ham Bone Red Peas Soup|url=https://gracefoods.com/recipe-a-z/recipe/4943-grace-ham-bone-red-peas-soup|website= Grace Foods |date=11 March 2014 |access-date= January 9, 2025 }}</ref><ref name="rps nestle">{{cite web|title= Red Peas Soup|url=https://www.nestlerecipescaribbean.com/recipes/red-peas-soup-2 |website=Nestle Recipes| access-date=2025-01-09}}</ref> It is the soup version of Jamaican stew peas, and is similar to other red bean soups made in the Americas. The dish is served as an appetizer or main course. Like stew peas, red peas soup is rich in protein as the main ingredients are legumes (beans/peas) and meats.<ref>{{cite news|date=2009-01-15 |title=Inflation busters - Enrich your meal with peas and beans|url=http://mobile.jamaicagleaner.com/20090115/cook/cook2.php|newspaper= Jamaica Gleaner|access-date= January 9, 2025 }}</ref> ==History== Red peas soup originated in Jamaica, and it is one of many Creole dishes created from a fusion of cooking techniques and ingredients, contributed by various ethnic groups who have inhabited the island.
One of the main ingredients of red peas soup, kidney beans, originated in Peru around 8,000 B.C.,<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1108973109 | volume=109 | title=Mesoamerican origin of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is revealed by sequence data | year=2012 | journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | pages=E788–E796 | issue=14 | pmid=22393017 | pmc=3325731 | doi-access=free | last1=Bitocchi | first1=Elena | last2=Nanni | first2=Laura | last3=Bellucci | first3=Elisa | last4=Rossi | first4=Monica | last5=Giardini | first5=Alessandro | last6=Zeuli | first6=Pierluigi Spagnoletti | last7=Logozzo | first7=Giuseppina | last8=Stougaard | first8=Jens | last9=McClean | first9=Phillip | last10=Attene | first10=Giovanna | last11=Papa | first11=Roberto}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.camelliabrand.com/about-the-bean/about-red-kidney-beans/#:~:text=Red%20kidney%20beans%20are%20thought,the%20Indians%20of%20the%20Americas.| title=The Red Kidney Bean Story| date=28 August 2012|access-date=2024-12-10}}</ref> and cultivars were spread throughout the Americas by Indigenous Amerindians,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pearman |first1=Georgina |title=The Cultural History of Plants |date=2005 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-92746-3 |editor1-last=Prance |editor1-first=Ghillean |pages=143–144 |editor2-last=Nesbitt |editor2-first=Mark}}</ref> the Arawaks/Taínos— then later the Spanish and Portuguese, who introduced them to other regions through the Columbian Exchange.<ref name=":colex"/><ref>{{cite web |title= Dark Red Kidney Beans |url=https://www.andesharvest.com/dark-red-kidney-beans}}</ref> Other staple crops which are key ingredients, like peppers (specifically Scotch bonnet),<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-08-16 |title= Jamaica: The Scotch bonnet's journey from the Orinoco River Valley to the jerk pit by Bill Esparza |url=https://explorepartsunknown.com/jamaica/the-scotch-bonnets-journey-from-the-orinoco-river-valley-to-the-jerk-pit/|access-date=2024-11-15|language=en}}</ref> corn and sweet potato, were taken to Jamaica in canoes from Mesoamerica and South America.<ref name=":ed flora">{{Cite journal|date=2023-10-11 |title= Edible flora in pre-Columbian Caribbean coprolites: Expected and unexpected data|pmc= 10566737|language=en|last1= Reynoso-García|first1= J.|last2= Santiago-Rodriguez|first2= T. M.|last3= Narganes-Storde|first3= Y.|last4= Cano|first4= R. J.|last5= Toranzos|first5= G. A.|journal= PLOS ONE|volume= 18|issue= 10|article-number= e0292077|doi= 10.1371/journal.pone.0292077|doi-access= free|pmid= 37819893|bibcode= 2023PLoSO..1892077R}}</ref><ref name="sanderson">{{cite book |last1=Pearman |first1=Georgina |title=The Cultural History of Plants |date=2005 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-92746-3 |editor1-last=Prance |editor1-first=Ghillean |pages=143–144 |editor2-last=Nesbitt |editor2-first=Mark}}</ref> The Taínos also cultivated chayote (cho cho), coco, pumpkin, yam (yampi or cush-cush yam), arrowroot, potato, cassava and pimento.<ref name=":ed flora"/><ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-10-05|title= Smithsonian: Who Were the Taíno, the Original Inhabitants of Columbus' Island Colonies?|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/who-were-taino-original-inhabitants-columbus-island-73824867/|access-date=2024-11-17}}</ref> They are believed to have kept a stock pot in which meat, fish and vegetables were collected for soup<ref name=":ja55">{{cite web|title= Culinary Heritage:Our Rich Food Heritage |url=https://jamaica55.gov.jm/culinary/culinary-heritage/|website=Jamaica55.gov.jm|date=7 June 2017 }}</ref>— thus, influencing Jamaica's soups.
The Spaniards, the first Europeans to colonize Jamaica in the 15th century, introduced pigs, cattle and other livestock to the island.<ref name=":colex">{{cite web |last=Crosby |first=Alfred W.|title=The Columbian Exchange: Plants, Animals, and Disease between the Old and New Worlds |publisher=National Humanities Center |date=December 2001 |url=https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nattrans/ntecoindian/essays/columbianb.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor-last=Francis |editor-first=John Michael |editor1-link=J. Michael Francis |encyclopedia=Iberia and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History: a Multidisciplinary Encyclopedia |title=Columbian Exchange—Livestock |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OMNoS-g1h8cC&pg=PA303 |year=2006 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-85109-421-9 |pages=303–308}}</ref><ref name=":ja55" /> They also introduced carrot, garlic, thyme and other vegetables and herbs to the region, as well as, cured meats like pickled pigtail, salted pork and salted beef. Consequently, many Jamaican dishes which include peas/beans, cured meats, stews (like ''stew peas'') and soups like ''peas soups'' were influenced by them.<ref name=":ja55" /> The Africans who arrived during slavery and indentureship also added their own influence to this and other colonial era dishes, including the use of gungo peas, dasheen and yam. Chinese indentured labourers influenced the use of scallion, which was introduced to the island by the indentured East Indians.<ref name=":ja55"/>
==Preparation==
Jamaican red peas soup is prepared using kidney beans (red peas) and other similar cultivars like ''round red'', ''Jerusalem peas'' or ''cow peas''.<ref name=":rps"/><ref name="rps nestle"/> The recipe includes coconut milk and meats, especially salted meats such as pork and beef.<ref name=":rps"/><ref name="rps nestle"/> Pig tail or ham bone is often included,<ref name=":rps"/><ref name="rps nestle"/> and sometimes chicken is used instead of pork or beef. Additional ingredients include onion, garlic, thyme, scallion, scotch bonnet, other herbs and spices, soup mix, flour dumplings (including slender dumplings called ''spinners'') and ground provisions— such as yam, Irish potato, sweet potato, chayote (cho cho), coco, carrot, corn and pumpkin.<ref name=":rps"/><ref name="rps nestle"/> Sometimes, the soup is made with green breadfruit<ref name=":rps"/> or chicken foot, and it may be cooked in a pressure cooker. A meatless version referred to as ''ital red peas soup'', is made by Jamaican Rastafarians. The dish is served hot and the consistency is thick.<ref name="rps nestle"/> It is eaten as an appetizer or a complete meal, on any occasion. Red peas soup is considered to be a nutritious Jamaican staple, which is sold in restaurants or as a street food.<ref>{{cite news|date=2021-02-21|title= Street Eatz: Mama Bev's Soup Shop: Food from the Heart|url=https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/food/20170223/street-eatz-mama-bevs-soup-shop-food-heart|newspaper= Jamaica Gleaner|access-date= January 9, 2025 }}</ref>
==Variations and similar dishes== In Jamaica, ''gungo peas soup'' is a variation made with pigeon peas (called ''gungo peas'') and the same ingredients.<ref>{{cite news|date=2025-01-09 |title= Ham Bone Gungo Peas Soup|url=https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2025/01/09/ham-bone-gungo-peas-soup/| newspaper= Jamaica Observer|access-date= January 9, 2025 }}</ref> It is a popular soup made with leftover ham bone from Christmas.<ref>{{cite news|date=2016-12-22 |title=Festive Leftover Recipes|url=https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/food/20161229/festive-leftover-recipes|newspaper= Jamaica Gleaner|access-date= January 9, 2025 }}</ref> Sometimes, gourmet versions of red peas soup appear on the menus of local restaurants as "''cream of red peas soup''".
Similar soups are prepared throughout the Americas, which are called ''red bean soup'', ''sopa de habichuelas'', ''sopa de frijoles'' ("soup of red beans" in Spanish), or ''sancocho de habichuelas'', ''caldo de habichuelas'' ("bean broth"), '' Mexican frijoles charros'', ''black bean soup'', ''Antillean black bean soup'' and others. Also, there are soup dishes with beans and meats from Spain and Portugal, that bear similarities to Jamaican red peas soup and regional variations, like ''Spanish black bean soup'' and ''Portuguese bean soup''.
==See also== {{portal|Food|Jamaica}} * List of Jamaican dishes * Jamaican cuisine * Stew peas * Hong dou tang * Jamaican pepperpot soup
==References== <references />
Category:Jamaican soups Category:Jamaican cuisine Category:Caribbean cuisine Category:Kidney bean dishes Category:Bean soups Category:Foods containing coconut