Wilmington chef shares history of traditional New Year’s Eve foods

WILMINGTON (WWAY) — When you think of traditional foods for the holidays, you probably think of cranberry sauce and turkey for Thanksgiving, or honey-roasted ham for Christmas.

But when it comes to New Year’s Eve, black-eyed peas, collared greens and cornbread are considered go-to dishes.

According to Keith Rhodes, head chef and owner of Catch Restaurant in Wilmington, the tradition goes back hundreds of years. He says these were the most common foods available for slaves to eat, and each one represents something different.

“When we think about folklore, it’s really about seeing it in your mind and I think that everyone can have a visual of those items as it relates to the folklore of peas and coins, greens and dollars, that yellow brick we call cornbread equating to gold and I think those things are very southern.”

Rhodes has always enjoyed making traditional meals for a number of holidays including Juneteenth and Kwanza. He says it’s important for chefs to both respect the culture the food they’re making comes from, while also putting their own twist on it.

“I love my job. I think that it’s part of the job of being a chef is not only to represent your vision and your ideology but also things that are important to you. And cultural cooking is very important to me.”

Another traditional food for new year’s eve is pork, because according to Rhodes, when pigs look for food they’re moving forward, and so the idea of eating pork is we are moving forward into the new year.