New Year's Food Traditions

I wrote the following for my January 2011 newsletter, but thought it was appropriate for today.

Like most holidays, New Year's Eve/Day has a number of traditions associated with it.  And like many traditions, food has a starring role.  Interestingly, cultures around the world see many of the same foods as lucky while heading into the New Year.  Here are just a few.

Grapes:  In 1909, grape growers in Spain started a tradition in order to get rid of a surplus of grapes.  At the stroke of midnight on Dec. 31, it's customary to eat 12 grapes--one for each stroke of the clock and month of the year.  If your 5th grape is a little sour, for example, then maybe your month of May won't be so great.  The custom spread to Portugal and to Spanish and Portuguese colonies and continues today.  It's said to be especially lucky if you can eat all 12 grapes before the clock is done chiming.

Legumes:  Beans, peas and lentils are considered lucky at the New Year all over the world because of their resemblance to coins.  In Italy, Germany, Brazil, Japan and many other countries, eating things such as Lentil or Split Pea Soup or Sausage and Green Lentils at midnight brings good luck.  In Southern US, Hoppin' John, a dish made with black-eyed peas, is eaten.  Most believe that eating 1 pea for each day of the year brings the most luck.

Fish:  Since the Middle Ages, cod has been a traditional New Year's dish--probably because it was easily salted and preserved for eating during the winter.  The Danes eat boiled cod; Italians, baccala (dried salt cod); Poles and Germans eat herring and carp at midnight.  The typical Swedish New Year's feast is a smorgasbord of fish dishes.  In Japan, lucky fish dishes include herring roe (for fertility), shrimp (for long life) and dried sardines (for a good harvest--dried sardines were once used as fertilizer in rice fields).

Pork:  The meat most associated with New Year luck is pork.  Cultures around the world see the pig as representing progress--since the animal moves forward as it roots for food.  The rich, fatty meat also is symbolic of wealth and prosperity in some cultures.  Cuba, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Austria, Sweden, Germany and Italy all have traditions of eating some sort of pork for the New Year.  Of course, we of Pennsylvania Dutch persuasion know all about eating pork and sauerkraut for luck on New Year's Day.

Greens:  Greens are considered a sign of financial fortune in the New Year--simply because the leaves look like paper money when folded up.  Again, many cultures eat greens for luck--kale with sugar and cinnamon for the Danes; collards in the Southern US; sauerkraut for the Germans (and PA Dutch).  Many believe that the more greens you eat, the bigger your fortune will be in the coming year.

Cakes/Baked Goods:  Like most celebrations, baked goods are a part of the New Year's festivities all over the globe.  Donuts, pastries, special breads and cakes--too many to mention--hold special meaning for the coming year.  Many traditions hide trinkets, coins or whole nuts in a part of the treat.  Whoever gets the piece with the prize in it gets the most luck.

Of course, there are some foods that you shouldn't eat at New Year's.  Stay away from lobster, which swim backward and chicken, which move backward as they scratch for food.  (Sort of the "anti-pigs" in New Year's superstition beliefs.)  In fact, avoid any winged fowl because your good luck could fly away.

Whatever foods you eat for your New Year celebration, I hope it's tasty!  Have a fun and safe holiday.  And I wish you a healthy, happy and delicious 2012.  Enjoy!

Friday the 13th

Are you superstitious?  Today's your day, then!  I thought it might be fun on this "unlucky" day to find some food-related superstitions.  Then you can decide what to eat (or not eat) for dinner.

• It's unlucky to spill salt.  And if you do, you're supposed to throw some overy your shoulder to keep from getting bad luck.  Some people even distinguish which shoulder to throw it over.   
• Some folks eat boiled eggs out of the shell.  You should always push your spoon through the bottom of the empty shell to let the devil out.  (I don't think it does anything for your cholesterol levels, though.) 
• In the same vein, an old superstition tells you to crush the shells of an egg.  If you don't, a witch would gather the shells and make a boat out of them, which she could use to sail to sea and cause storms. 
• In Yorkshire, England, it was believed that bread would not rise if there was a corpse in the vicinity.  (If there's a dead body hanging around, I don't think you should be making bread.  You have other concerns.)
• If you cross cutlery on your plate, you can expect a quarrel.  (Esepcially if you didn't eat everything.)
• If you leave a white tablecloth on a table overnight, you can expect a death.  (Especially if you spilled wine on it.)
• In China, white is the color of death, so eating items like eggs, white cheese, etc can be a sign of bad luck.
• In Japan, it's important to eat every last grain of rice from a meal, so you won't go hungry in the future.
• There is a superstition that if you find a hole in a loaf of bread that you cut, it meant that someone is going to die soon.  The hole represents a coffin.  (What is it with bread and dead people?)
• Garlic is a powerful item for the superstitious.  Of course, you know it wards off vampires.  But it also is supposed to prevent the effects of the "evil eye" in Greece.
• We've all tried to split the wishbone from a chicken or turkey.  Traditionally, you let the bone dry, then two people pull on it with their pinkies.  The one who ends up with the bigger piece gets the good luck.

May your day be free of witches in egg shell boats, bread with holes, white food and crossed cutlery.