Vigna unguiculata
Light beige, with a distinctive black “eye”, these beans were brought to Bahia by the Portuguese colonizers in the sixteenth century. Grown mainly in the North and Northeast regions, it is served as a side dish, used in salads, farofas (seasoned manioc flour), and to prepare Baião de dois (rice and black-eyed peas dish). Key ingredient in the preparation of Acarajé (black-eyed peas falafel- like fritter) and Abará (black-eyed peas mush cooked in banana leaves), traditional delicacies of Bahian cuisine.
