Writer: Helena Bergström
As the clock approaches midnight on New Year’s Eve, the world is filled with fireworks, promises and hope for a better year. In many places, extra good dinners are prepared, and in some parts of the world they also serve special dishes or delicacies, which are supposed to bring good luck or success in the coming year…
Dishes that symbolize hope and faith in the future
In many places it is the food that carries the symbolism: every bite represents hope for wealth, health and happiness. Whether the food is eaten on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day, it is about the same thing: the wish for a good future. In this post we travel around the world (well, figuratively in this case!) and talk about seven New Year’s dishes that bring happiness and confidence in the future.
1. Spain: 12 grapes
- Right: 12 grapes, one for each clock at twelve o’clock
- Symbolism: Good luck in every month of the new year
In Spain, it is traditional to eat twelve grapes at exactly twelve o’clock on New Year’s Eve, to bring good luck and prosperity for the next twelve months. Each grape symbolizes a month, and if you miss a grape, it is said that you will have bad luck in the missed month… The tradition is best known from the Puerta del Sol in Madrid, where thousands of people gather every New Year’s Eve.
2. Italy: Lentils
- Right: Kokta-linser, ofta with zampone or cotechino
- Symbolism: Wealth and financial success (similar to coins)
In Italy there is a New Year’s tradition of eating cooked lentils, preferably small varieties such as Castelluccio lentils. The round shape of the lenses is reminiscent of coins and the lenses therefore symbolize wealth and good finances. For example, together with the lentils you can eat cotechino or zampone sausage, and sometimes polenta.
3. Japan: Osechi ryori
- Right: Osechi ryori – colorful dishes in beautiful boxes
- Symbolism: Each ingredient has a certain meaning (health, wealth, etc.)
Osechi ryori is a traditional Japanese New Year’s meal, consisting of a variety of small colorful dishes that are beautifully packaged in small boxes. Each ingredient has a special meaning, such as black soybeans for endurance, sweet potato for wealth, rolled omelette for learning and fish cakes for longevity.
4. Southern United States: Black-eyed peas
- Right: Black-eyed Peas (beans with a black spot)
- Symbolism: Prosperity (similar to coins)
In the southern parts of the United States, it is traditional to eat black-eyed peas (white beans with a black spot) at New Year’s. Like the lentils in Italy, the beans resemble coins and thus symbolize money, prosperity and wealth. The beans can be served with other side dishes that also have symbolism: pork (abundance), green leaves (bills), and cornbread (gold).
5. Depth: Dumplings
- Right: Jiaozi (dumplings)
- Symbolism: Wealth (in the form of a gold bar) and future (the word sounds like ‘transition between times’)
During the Chinese New Year (according to the lunar calendar, not the Western New Year!) it is customary to eat dumplings. This dish is partly symbolic because jaozi (dumplings) are shaped like gold bars and partly because the word sounds like “transition between tenses”. It is common for entire families to get together to make dumplings together, and in some families they put a coin in a dumpling – whoever gets the coin gets extra luck.
6. Germany and Austria: Pretzels and pastries
- Right: Pastries in the shape of pretzels
- Symbolism: Pretzels symbolize eternity and endless happiness
In some parts of Germany and Austria it is customary to eat different types of cookies in connection with the New Year. For example, you can eat a New Year’s pretzel (neujahrsbrezel), where the shape symbolizes eternity and happiness without end. There can also be cookies that look like keys (open doors, new opportunities), four-leaf clovers (luck) or marzipan pigs (luck and prosperity).
7. Poland: Sauerkraut
- Right: Sauerkraut, often served in bigos or stuffed pierogi
- Symbolism: Abundance, endurance and financial security
In Poland you can expect, among other things, sauerkraut for New Year’s Eve; a dish that can be said to represent prosperity and happiness. The cabbage symbolizes having food for the winter/looking forward to the future, while the many layers symbolize abundance. The sauerkraut can be served in the form of a pot of bigos, as a filling in pierogi (steamed dough balls) or together with sausage or pork.
Even more New Year’s dishes that symbolize hope and faith in the future
Are there any other New Year’s dishes in the world that symbolize hope and faith in the future? Have you come across any exciting New Year’s food traditions at home in Sweden or while traveling? Do you like the idea that food represents luck or happiness? Please tell me!
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