Red beans and rice

dish characteristic of Louisiana Creole cuisine

Red beans and rice is an emblematic dish of Louisiana Creole cuisine traditionally made on Mondays with small red beans, vegetables, spices, and pork bones as left over from Sunday dinner, cooked together slowly in a pot and served over rice. Meats such as ham, sausage, and tasso ham are also frequently used in the dish. The dish is customary – ham was traditionally a Sunday meal and Monday was washday. A pot of beans could sit on the stove and simmer while the women were busy scrubbing clothes. The dish is a form of rice and beans, and is now fairly common throughout the Southeast. Similar dishes are cooked throughout Central America, parts of South America, and the Caribbean, and are dietary staples. Examples are gallo pinto, moros y cristianos, feijoada, casamiento, and arroz con habichuelas. A similar vegetarian dish rajma chawal is popular in North India.