Traditional favorites bring prosperity for the new year and across the globe, people eat certain foods that are thought to symbolize good luck.
1. Lentils have long been believed to be a food symbolizing wealth and prosperity for the new year, because of thier coin-like appearance. All over Europe and even South America, people eat lentil soup or lentils with sausages on New Year’s Day.
2.Greens, also symbolize money. Europeans eat dishes with cabbage or sauerkraut. In the South, people eat kale or collards, oftentimes stewed together with ham hocks.
3. A common good luck food in the southern United States, black-eyed peas are thought to bring prosperity, especially when served with collard greens.
4.Pigs 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.
5.Fish is an obvious choice for celebrating the new year, because fish also symbolizes forward progress and wealth (fish scales represent coins). In some countries, people associate fish with moving forward into the new year since fish swim forward. Other people think fish symbolize abundance since they swim in schools
6.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.
7.Round and ring-shaped cakes and baked goods are traditional to have for the new year. Fritters and doughnuts are popular in Italy and eastern Europe. In Greece they make an almond cake called vasilopita, in which a coin is hidden. Whoever finds the coin is guaranteed good luck in the new year. Other cultures also hide trinkets in their New Year’s baked goods.
8. In many Asian countries, long noodles are eaten on New Year’s Day in order to bring a long life. One catch: You can’t break the noodle before it is all in your mouth.
9. Associated with abundance and fertility, pomegranates are eaten in Turkey and other Mediterranean countries for luck in the New Year
