Traditional Eats During the New Year

Black-eyed peas are eaten primarily in the Southern states on New Year’s Day to insure good luck in the upcoming year. They are typically eaten with ham, which symbolizes prosperity, and cabbage, which symbolizes wealth.

Twelve grapes are eaten during the last twelve seconds before midnight on New Year’s Day in Mexico and Spain, usually when the clock starts to chime. It is also traditional for wishes to be made on these grapes, and if finished by midnight the wishes will come true.

Traditional foods such as pancit, lechon and other circular shaped fruits are served in the Philippines. Pancit is a stir-fried noodle dish, and lechon is a roasted suckling pig. Food on the table at midnight is important in ensuring an abundance of food in the upcoming year. The roundness of the fruits symbolizes money.

Herring is often served for good luck in the coming New Year by people of German or Polish descent.

Diets are a popular New Year’s resolution made in the United States, in order to lose weight for the upcoming year.

Sheera is a popular traditional Indian dish eaten on the first day of Diwali. It is made with semolina, saffron, cardamom, raisins, and nuts. It is usually eaten with a spicy curry.

Darin is a large, flat pastry served in Armenia prepared with a coin hidden inside. The member of the family who found the darin with the coin in it was regarded as the lucky one during New Year.

Jiao zi are dumplings filled with ground meat or vegetables that boiled in water, and are a major dish during the Chinese New Year. They can also be served with sweet fillings. There is a long history behind jiao zi which dates back to the early Northern Song dynasty.

Champagne and other “effervescent wines ship around 475 million dollars worth in the U.S.,” according to the U.S. Census Bureau.