Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 163, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1917 — COWPEAS ARE REALLY BEANS [ARTICLE]

COWPEAS ARE REALLY BEANS

Practically Unknown In North, Thap Make Very Nourishing Food, Say Government Experts. Cowpeas or Southern field peas, which, despite their name, are really a kind 6f bean, are like other dry beans, comparable with meat In the kind of nourishment contained In them, and can. In the opinion of specialists of the United States department of agriculture, well be used more extensively as human food. They are commonly used In the South, where they are extensively grown, but are practically unknown In the North and Northwest, where other, often more expensive, beans are consumed In large quantities. There are many varieties of cowpeas, of which the white and black-eye sorts are considered particularly desirable for the table. In palatablllty, digestibility and nutritive value they compare favorably with other beans, while their delicate and pleasant flavor leads many to consider them equal, If not superior, to the latter. Cowpeas are used on the table In three forms—ln the pod, shelled green and shelled dry—corresponding, respectively, to string beans, shelled green beans and dried beans, and calling for much the same methods of preparation for the table. The dry cowpeas are by far the most common. Like dry navy or Lima beans, cow■peas may be boiled with a bit of fat meat or baked and served In place of lean meat or other food rich In nitrogen. Boiled and mashed through a colander, the beans form a foundation for numerous dishes. They may be creamed with milk and butter, like mashed potatoes; formed Into croquettes with bread crumbs and fried or baked; made Into a loaf with bread crumbs, minced vegetables, milk and seasonings; or made Into soup. A delicious combination dish, called “Hopping John,” may be made as follows: Boil one quart of cowpeas and a scant pint of rice separately and mix together when done. The rice should* be seasoned after It Is cooked. Bacon or a beef bone boiled with the cowpeas adds a desirable flavor to the dish.