EE_
30th December 2011, 12:17 PM
Do you have New Year traditions?
Because of their coin-like appearance, lentils have long been believed to be a food symbolizing wealth and prosperity for the new year. All over Europe and even South America, people eat lentil soup or lentils with sausages on New Year's Day.
Greens, unsurprisingly, also symbolize money. Europeans eat dishes with cabbage or sauerkraut. In the South, people eat kale or collards, oftentimes stewed together with ham hocks. Eat your greens for a wealthy -- and healthy -- new year!
In the South it's traditional to eat foods with black-eyed peas, which like lentils, are meant to symbolize money and wealth.
Because a pig digs forward with its snout, it symbolizes forward progress. Eat pork or ham for prosperity but stay away from eating chicken, because it scratches backward, and lobster, which scuttles backward. Pork on New Year's Day is especially popular in Europe and the United States.
Fish is an obvious choice for celebrating the new year, because fish also symbolizes forward progress and wealth (fish scales represent coins). In Italy, dishes of cod and salt cod (baccala) are traditionally prepared. Scandinavians and eastern Europeans often enjoy herring for the new year.
In Spain it's a tradition to eat 12 grapes at midnight, with each grape representing the months in the old year. One grape might be sweet but another sour, representing good and bad months that have passed. The custom is also popular in Portugal and South America.
Have a clean home and a stocked refrigerator to start the new year too!
Because of their coin-like appearance, lentils have long been believed to be a food symbolizing wealth and prosperity for the new year. All over Europe and even South America, people eat lentil soup or lentils with sausages on New Year's Day.
Greens, unsurprisingly, also symbolize money. Europeans eat dishes with cabbage or sauerkraut. In the South, people eat kale or collards, oftentimes stewed together with ham hocks. Eat your greens for a wealthy -- and healthy -- new year!
In the South it's traditional to eat foods with black-eyed peas, which like lentils, are meant to symbolize money and wealth.
Because a pig digs forward with its snout, it symbolizes forward progress. Eat pork or ham for prosperity but stay away from eating chicken, because it scratches backward, and lobster, which scuttles backward. Pork on New Year's Day is especially popular in Europe and the United States.
Fish is an obvious choice for celebrating the new year, because fish also symbolizes forward progress and wealth (fish scales represent coins). In Italy, dishes of cod and salt cod (baccala) are traditionally prepared. Scandinavians and eastern Europeans often enjoy herring for the new year.
In Spain it's a tradition to eat 12 grapes at midnight, with each grape representing the months in the old year. One grape might be sweet but another sour, representing good and bad months that have passed. The custom is also popular in Portugal and South America.
Have a clean home and a stocked refrigerator to start the new year too!