Hoppin' Cod, Casamance-Style [GF]

It's New Year's season again, folks, and to those who happen to hail from certain areas in America's south (or happened to come across a certain New York Times article that appeared last week), that means it's time for Hoppin' John.  This dish, whose base is that venerable legume known as the black-eyed pea or cowpea, is purported to be consumed on New Year's Day to bring good luck for the incipient year.  I say "purported," as I have yet to meet an actual American Southerner (and that's not for lack of inquiry) who engages in this practice, the majority of self-proclaimed Southerners I've asked so far have never even heard of the dish, though a few New Englanders, oddly enough, had — and called it Hoppin' Jack instead.  Be that as it may, the Great Library of Wikipedia assures me that it is verily the stuff of Southern tradition.  In fact, if you really want to get into the superstitions surrounding the dish, you ought to know that you're supposed to leave three black-eyed peas on your plate at the end of the meal to assure your good fortune.  And if you plant these magic beans in the yard, you'll wake up the next morning to find a huge beanstalk growing toward the heavens...

Back on the factual side of things, the dish apparently has its roots in West African cuisine (c.f. the link to the New York Times article above), so in order to make things a bit more interesting this year, my Hoppin' John got back to its roots: it acquired, among other things, codfish and a spice base influenced by certain Senegalese stews I've prepared in the past.  Despite the plethora of additional ingredients (your basic Hoppin' John is, in terms of complexity of preparation and required supplies, only a step above calling out for pizza), it's really not that much more involved, though it was pretty damn delicious. 

One could attempt a vegan version by leaving out the cod, but the fish is somewhat integral to the flavor, so the end product might not quite measure up.  However, since the vegan Hoppin' John recipe in the Sundays at Moosewood cookbook is pretty much unsurpassed, I'd recommend following their recipe rather than mine.

Ingredients

• 1 banana, peeled and diced
• ½ bunch cilantro, chopped
• Juice of 1½ limes
• 1 can (12 oz.) black-eyed peas, drained
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1 lb. cod fillets, torn into pieces
• 4 Tbsp. chunky peanut butter
• ½ of a fresh serrano pepper, minced
• ½ tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp. salt (or to taste)
• 1 Tbsp. dry ginger
• 2 Tbsp. peanut oil
• 2 Tbsp. gluten-free soy sauce
• ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
• 3 Tbsp. rice vinegar

Begin by frying the dry spices in the peanut oil (on low heat), and after a few minutes, turn the heat up to medium and add the cod.  Stir it in the spices and oil until it's coated, and after a few more minutes, add the black-eyed peas, soy sauce, lime juice, rice vinegar, and peas.  Once the peas are warm, stir in the peanut butter and simmer for 10-15 minutes on low to medium heat, stirring regularly.  Add the cilantro and banana bits and simmer for 5-10 more minutes.

I served this stew accompanied by heaping bowls of fresh poi, which went over quite well, though I imagine that it would go over equally well served over rice rather than adjacent to taro.  Perhaps dipping pieces of bread into it and eating it Moroccan-style, as one would a tagine, would do it justice too.  Experiment as you see fit; I imagine the efficacy of its good-luck charms won't be mitigated much by an inventive choice of accompanying grain or starch.