New Orleans is a city steeped in ritual. There are different versions of the popular myth explaining how “red beans and rice”—a creamy stew of red kidney beans, herbs, and (traditionally) ham ladled over rice—became a staple Monday dish. One claims that after serving big Sunday meals with ham, New Orleanians would use the leftovers the following day to cook up hearty stews. Another supposes that because families did their laundry on Mondays, red beans would be left simmering on the stove, ready to eat by the end of a grueling day of chores. In bygone days, large wood fires were needed to do laundry, and it would have been efficient to cook a big pot of red beans and rice at the same time….
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