Tradition has it that black domestics in New Orleans served red beans and rice on Mondays which had historically been laundry day. Large pots of beans seasoned with scraps of meats from the Sunday meal along with herbs and spices to taste sat slow cooking for hours at the back of the stove while women completed the labor intensive job of cleaning laundry by hand before the advent of the washing machine and indoor plumbing. In addition, entrepreneurs seeing a market for them sold red beans and rice as street vendors on and the around the bustling docks of the crescent city. Today rice and beans are on the menu of white table cloth and more humble New Orleans restaurants.
