Recipes :: Celebrate New Year’s with some “Lucky” Foods

 

While living in Japan years ago, I remember that we ate rice bean cakes around the new years in the hopes of bringing good fortune for that coming year.  The osechi-ryori, a group of  symbolic dishes eaten during the first three days of the new year, includes  sweet black beans called kuro-mame.  I didn’t mind as those sweet bean cakes were some of my favorite treats to eat and I still daydream about them!  That and the yummy eel that was abundant in the city I lived in.  In many cultures around the world, January 1st offers an opportunity to increase your good fortune by eating a variety of foods that many consider to be lucky.  The six major categories of auspicious foods are grapes, greens, fish, pork, legumes, and cakes.  Yes, cakes!  This will be an easy sell for the kids to eat!  Here are some recipes to include auspicious foods that just might add some good fortune to the new year.  Enjoy!

 

 Image courtesy of Flickr

Fish

I love fish and am happy to learn that it is considered a lucky food to eat for the new year!  Mark Kurlansky, author of Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, says that cod has been a popular feast food since the Middle Ages.  In Japan, herring roe is consumed  for fertility, shrimp for long life, and dried sardines for a good harvest  (sardines were once used to fertilize rice fields). (Source: epicurious).

Here is  great recipe and video from the Food Network for Cod, Fennel and Dill:

 

 Image courtesy of Flickr

Pork

The idea behind eating pork is the belief that pigs symbolize progress as the animal pushes forward, rooting itself in the ground before moving.  Roast suckling pig is served on New Year’s in Cuba, Spain, Portugal, Hungary and Austria and pork is eaten in the United Sates as well as it signifies wealth and prosperity.

Check out this yummy Pork Chops Stuffed with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Spinach Recipe from Giada de Laurentiis.

 

 Image courtesy of Flickr

Legumes

Legumes are considered a lucky food because their small, seed-like appearance resemble coins that swell when cooked and thus are eaten with hopes of financial rewards over the coming year.  In Italy, they eat  cotechino con lenticchie or sausages and green lentils, just after  midnight—a particularly propitious meal because pork has its own lucky  associations.

Check out this yummy recipe from Epicurious: Sausage and Lentils with Fennel

 Image courtesy of Flickr

Cooked Greens

You are always told to eat more greens – well, they just might help bring in some good fortune if you eat them on New Year’s!  Cooked greens include cabbage, collards, kale, and chard and are symbolic of economic fortune because the green leaves look like folded money.  Here are a couple recipes to try out:

Vegetarian “Southern Style” Collard Greens soup found on The Food Network here.

Image courtesy of Flickr

Grapes

In Spain they eat twelve grapes at midnight – one grape for each stroke of the clock.  This tradition dates back to 1909, when grape growers in the Alicante region of Spain started this practice to help with a grape surplus they were experiencing.  This tradition stuck and spread from Portugal, Spain, Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru.

 

The recipe for Brussels Sprout Salad by Jamie Deen looks delicious and incorporates red grapes.

 

 Image courtesy of Flickr

Cakes, Etc.

As I mentioned, I don’t think this will be too tough to incorporate if you want the family to eat some auspicious foods to bring in the new year!  Cakes and other baked treats are served around the world from Christmas to  New Year’s and a special emphasis is placed on round or ring-shaped items, such as a glazed donut.  Some cultures will even hide a trinket or coin inside the cake and the person who is lucky enough to have that slice will have good fortune the coming year.

 

Foods to Avoid:

There are a few foods that are to be avoided such as lobster because it is believed that since they move backwards, it could lead to setbacks.  Also since chicken scratches backwards, it could cause regret or dwelling on the past.  It might be fun to incorporate some of these lucky foods into your meal and talk about the different cultures that eat them and the belief behind why they are considered lucky.  I plan to incorporate some cakes and lentils – just in case!

 

 

 

 

 

 

References: Epicurious. 

 

 

 

 

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