Lucky foods to Eat on New Year’s Day

NEW YORK - Dec. 29, 2014 - PRLog -- The New Year is looked on with hope and optimism.  It’s a time of fresh starts and new dreams. So foods that have been considered lucky for centuries are usually served for brunch or dinner on New Year’s Day to promote health, wealth and good luck.

Not everyone has a traditional food for New Year’s, but menus served in your community usually offer foods that symbolize good fortune. At your own family’s dinner table you may find anything from pork to fish, grapes, or even tamales, depending on where you are. There is a good reason people have adopted these winter foods for a New Year’s feast or as traditions. Some of it is due to what was “available” in the winter that kept a person healthy and strong, and other foods are relatively new on the scene, like black-eyed peas and collard greens.

The following foods are considered quite lucky to eat on New Year’s Day.

Pork and Fish: Many cultures, including the Chinese and Germans, believe that a hog has positive attributes and the ability to ward off evil. One theory is that a hog cannot look backwards without turning around, so naturally this is a forward-looking animal with a goal to move onward and never look back.  Fish is usually eaten in Italy or other Mediterranean and Eastern European cultures. Herring is the preferred choice and is considered lucky because of its scales, which represent coins or abundance. The Polish and other cultures believe that eating herring at the stroke of midnight will bring good luck.

Greens: Any kind of cabbage or collard, turnip greens, or anything green served is considered to bring about luck with money. If you want to get a raise at work, eat greens on New Year’s Day. Cabbage, which is turned into sauerkraut, is served with pork and is a favorite among the Pennsylvania Dutch and other German/American households. Cabbage rolls — or cabbage tamales as they are called in the southern states — are enjoyed as a lucky food. A cabbage leaf is rolled around shredded pork and served with a red sauce. This is actually a traditional tamale, which is food rolled in a leaf and was the festive food of the ancient Aztec.

Legumes: During the Civil War, when starving Confederate soldiers came across some black-eyed peas and collard greens they considered themselves quite fortunate. Although black-eyed peas and collard greens were grown for livestock and the slaves, any soldier finding a bag of peas felt he had found gold. Therefore, the tradition in the south is to eat a “mess” of collard greens and 365 black-eyed peas — one for each day of the year.  Throwing in a ham hock with a pot of black-eyed peas is usually how it’s prepared.  Lentils are also a lucky legume because they are shaped like coins. The theory is when the lentils are cooked in a soup or a stew, they swell up, thus representing an increase in wealth throughout the year.

Fruit: In 1909 Spanish winemakers found themselves with a surplus of grapes, so they devised a clever way to sell them. They established the grape-eating tradition on New Year’s Eve. Grapes were available everywhere at the pubs, and the object was to eat one grape for each stroke of the clock until midnight. If a grape was sweet, that month would be a good one, if the grapes were sour, the month would be bad. Today, Spaniards and others in Latin America hold grape-eating contests and other clever events to celebrate the New Year.  Another popular fruit is the pomegranate. Available usually in the winter months, this sweet fruit is filled with seeds, which represents wealth and abundance. Or, if you want great health for the rest of the year then eat a pomegranate as it is known to ward off all sorts of illnesses. Or eat the fruit to promote fertility.

Cakes and pastries: A donut or pastry that is shaped in a circle is the traditional baked item for New Year’s Day. The round shape is symbolic of things coming full circle, of the old year ending and a New Year beginning. In some cultures like Mexico or Greece it is traditional to bake a round cake with a coin inside it for luck.

With most of the world enjoying winter foods, Australians celebrate their New Year’s with a bit of “Shrimp on the Barbie,” barbecued pork ribs, or a trip to the beach. Family events and fun is what makes these folks enjoy all the luck their summer sun can bring.  So no matter what your tradition is for New Year’s Day (or if you wish to create a tradition), these foods, including barbecued shrimp, are a great idea to end the holiday season and look forward to a lucky New Year!