legumestarchy · green · earthy · mild · beany

Cowpea

Shelled fresh and green rather than dried, this is the everyday bean of the Northeast — softer and quicker to cook than its dried self ever is.

on its own

0.0sour

1.0sweet

2.0savoury

0.0bitter

1.0umami

order · canon first

1 of these 9 are wild — theory says yes, nobody has cooked them. why →

9 pairings for Cowpea.

classic

Simmered together it is baião de dois in miniature, the base of half the region's plates.

classic

Squeaky cheese stirred through the pot is what the classic dish is actually named for.

common

Simmered in coconut milk it turns from a plain bean into a properly Northeastern stew.

common

Rendered fat and smoke against a bean mild enough to take on whatever cooks with it.

common

A sofrito base keeps a very mild fresh bean from tasting like plain starch.

uncommon

Heat against a bean with almost no character of its own until it is seasoned.

uncommon

Warm earthy spice does for cowpea what it does for every other pale legume on the plate.

rare

A Northeastern seafood habit: a handful of dried shrimp turns the pot savoury without meat.

wild

Ground peanut thickens the pot the way West African cooking treats the same bean, an ocean away.