The smell of my great aunt’s black-eyed peas simmering on the stove with ham hock and fatback is a forever childhood memory.
A childhood memory from my Southern upbringing as well...I never tried to make Hoppin John until I had moved out to the West. I couldn’t find ham hocks anywhere except for these sad little pig knuckles they would sell in the grocery store around this time of year. One year I went through all the trouble of making the dish and only got a tablespoon of meat out of the 2 hocks they had sold me! So when I learned that my local hipster butcher was buying whole organic hogs and making sausage this past summer, I asked him if he would smoke a couple of hocks for me. He called me when they were done and I almost choked at the price, but it was so worth it. They were beautiful and added such a yummy flavor.