Soup Beans - Service

Service

While soup beans might be served with any meal, they were typically the main course in a meatless supper. Traditionally, soup beans would be served with other home grown vegetables and homemade breads:

• Corn Bread — Prior to the availability of milled flour, thin, crispy fried yellow cornbread cakes called hoecakes or baked cornbread are sometimes served with a soup-bean supper. Often the beans are served atop a bed of crumbled cornbread, or cornbread may be crumbled into a bowl of beans, almost like adding crackers to chili.
• Potatoes — Irish white potatoes were typically served, especially during the winter months, boiled, mashed or fried (boiled then pan fried). In lowland areas, sweet potatoes are commonly served.
• Greens — Most commonly collard or creasy greens. Slow cooked with smoked pork or bacon grease.
• Ramps/Onions — Strong native onions called ramps were often served raw. They were often cut up onto the beans as seasonings other than salt and local herbs were not available for a long time. Ramps were replaced by cultivated onions.

Modern additions:

Modern supermarkets and processed foods have led to two additions to soup bean suppers which are not traditional.

• Salmon Cakes: The availability of canned salmon led to salmon cakes being included with soup beans. The tastes are complimentary and salmon, like any purchased meat, would be considered a luxury and not cooked in large quantities.
• Macaroni and Cheese — Cheese and pasta have no background in mountain cultures. Supermarkets made processed cheese and pasta available, as well as boxed dinners. Macaroni and cheese was inexpensive and easy to add to a soup bean meal. Macaroni was often served with canned tomatoes in a dish called macaroni and tomatoes and often "macaroni and cheese " in mountain homes meant the inclusion of tomatoes.