By Minnie Apolis
An assortment of foods generally are included in the New
Year's menu in the folk belief that they will improve one's fortunes
in the coming year. And in precarious times such as ours, that
practice may increase, with folks figuring that they need all the
extra luck they can get.
The list of good-luck foods generally fall into two or
three groups.
The first is that the food resembles paper money. All
salad greens fall into this group, as well as greens that are
normally cooked, like collards, kale, and cabbage.
A second group of foods resemble coins, or at least is a
semicircular shape. Ideally you will have carrots that are cut into
coins on your plate, but many other foods are acceptable or
traditional representatives of money. The Italians traditionally eat
a midnight dinner of lentils and sausage, called Cotechino con
Lenticchie. The sausage is cut into chubby discs which are served
on top of a bed of cooked coin-shaped lentils.
Reportedly lentils
have been eaten for luck since Roman times. Lentils are also
considered good luck in Hungary, where they are preferred in a soup.
Other foods are assumed to suggest coins, although
frankly I think they are stretching a point. Those foods include
black-eyed peas or the similar crowder peas, which are cooked up with
rice in a dish called Hoppin' John.
And to really stretch that point (of a resemblance to
coins) you may eat any round fruit – oranges, in particular – or
round breads like bagels and doughnuts. Remember the novel Joy
Luck Club? The women always included money-attracting oranges at
their luncheons. Spaniards and Portuguese eat a dozen grapes at the
stroke of midnight. I'm sure I could force myself to eat a dinner
of doughnuts.
Some foods are thought to resemble mineral wealth, as in
gold and silver. Silver is suggested by the scales of fish. Ideally
one has a whole fish on the platter, to symbolize a good year from
start to finish. So don't cut off the heads or tails before serving
it on New Year's Eve. Germans, Poles and Scandinavians all prefer to
eat pickled herring, instead. Eat it at the stroke of midnight.
Reportedly the Chinese word for fish sounds like the word for
abundance, another reason for eating it on New Year's. As for the
whole fish stipulation, that is a little difficult but I am sure that
little sardines will fill the bill.
Gold is represented by anything yellowish or even orange
– again, as in the orange fruit. Golden Delicious apples would be
good. Cornbread is a traditional favorite for year-end feasts, too,
exactly because of its golden color which suggests gold. You can
increase the luck by including whole kernel corn in the bread, which
represent nuggets of gold. Or cook up a batch of paella, whose rice
is traditionally enhanced by the addition of threads of saffron for a
golden color. Alternatively, you might elect to eat a curry dish
instead.
Still another group of foods symbolize long life or
health. Most notable among them are long, unbroken noodles, which
symbolize the lifespan. You might have Japanese soba noodles or some
Italian spaghetti on the menu. Do not, repeat do not, break the
noodles in the cooking process, to safeguard your health luck.
Eat pork. The Orientals view pigs as a very smart,
clever and therefore a sign that is usually successful in business,
plus they always move forward. You have many options to choose from
when it comes to pork products – sausages, bacon, a roast, ham, a
whole roast suckling pig -- or even anything in the shape of a pig,
such as cookies.
Many traditions have a coin or something representing a
coin baked into a cake. An almond often subs for the coin, and
whoever gets the piece with the almond can make a wish and expect it
to come true in the coming year.
Here's wishing all of you a happy, healthy and
prosperous new year in 2013!!
Links to some recipes below:
Paella: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-paella/
(Actually, Paella can be made using whatever meats you have in the
frig – any sausage, chicken or pork, scallops or other fish or
seafood, etc.)
Curried Chicken for 2:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/indian-chicken-curry-ii/
Hoppin' John: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/hoppin-john/
Jiffy Corn Casserole:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,188,153171-231207,00.html
Soba Noodles with Kale:
http://gastronomyblog.com/2012/03/31/healthy-soba-noodles-with-kale/
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