Red Beans and Rice

Nearly every Creole kitchen without airs offers red beans and rice, but it’s not the type of dish restaurants get famous for (the late, great Buster Holmes cafe notwithstanding). Traditionally a Monday lunch made using Sunday’s leftover beans, it transcends its innate humility. When made right, each bean, saturated with the savor of pork, delivers silky richness that belies its leguminous virtue; the sausage that is de rigueur as a companion to rice and beans is deeply smoky and vividly spiced, its vibrancy balanced by the avoirdupois of rice. Red beans and rice is so soulfully satisfying that it has come to serve as an emblem of proletarian brio, virtue, and warmth in New Orleans. When musician Louis Armstrong wrote a letter, his complimentary close was “Red beans and ricely yours.”