It's New Year's Eve and we're all planning something tonight... whether home alone or with friends or out partying... we all hope that the coming year would be better and more prosperous year ahead... some say that eating certain foods on this evening will bring you luck... let's see what and why...
Beans
Supposedly greens are eaten on New Year's Eve because they resemble money more so they symbolize coins. Whether you choose black beans, lentils, or black-eyes peas, healthy fiber-filled beans will help soak up that champagne. Try: Lentil, Roasted Red Pepper, and Spinach Salad with Walnuts, Olives, and Sherry Vinaigrette
Noodles and Grains
Noodles are symbols of long life, and grains like rice, quinoa, and barley stand for abundance. Slurp the noodles whole for even more luck.
Fruits
On New Year's Eve, Mexicans pop a grape for each stroke of midnight, with each representing a page of the calendar ahead. If one is bitter, watch out for that month! Other popular fruits to eat include the pomegranates, with its many seeds standing in for prosperity, and figs, which are a symbol of fertility. Try: Watermelon Boat Salad In Spain, it’s tradition to scarf down 12 grapes at midnight — one for each of the clock’s chimes. The custom can be traced to 1909, when a grape surplus in the country’s Alicante region inspired growers to find a way to offload their crop. The idea later spread to Portugal, Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru. According to Epicurious, “Each grape represents a different month, so if for instance the third grape is a bit sour, March might be a rocky month.”
Pork
Pigs are a lucky symbol because they root forward, and are rotund. Traditionally, in the American South, pork, beans, and greens are combined in a dish called Hoppin' John for New Year's Eve.
Cake
Ring shaped cakes—sometimes with trinkets baked inside—are a symbol of coming full circle. Try: Molten Chocolate Cakes Round or ring-shaped cakes which are eaten around the world, representing the cyclical nature of life. There’s vasilopita in Greece, galette des rois in France and Lebanon banitsa in Bulgaria, and Rosca de Reyes in Mexico. Inside many cakes is secreted a gold coin or figure, meant to symbolize a prosperous year.
Fish
Fish are believed to be lucky because their scales resemble coins, and they swim in schools which invoke the idea of abundance.
