Fried Bean Cakes

Secondary meals such as Sunday night suppers and light lunches are often meatless, though never vegetarian. Southerners treasure pork fat for its flavor and its ability to fry up a crisp crust. These bean cakes have counterparts throughout African cooking; they become distinctly southern, however, when the beans are simmered with sidemeat and the cakes fried in lard. Sometimes the cakes are seasoned like pork sausage with sage and red pepper flakes, cooked for breakfast, and called “pea