In almost every country around the world, there are customary foods eaten traditionally and believed to assure a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. Our Italian best restaurant Orlando knows which foods will bring you good luck throughout 2015.
In most Scandinavian countries, pickled herring is always on the menu for New Years while German families consume roast pork and sauerkraut. People living in the southeastern U.S. eat black-eyed peas or collard greens or both.
In Asian countries, dining on long noodles will result in an extensive and full life. In Spain, Portugal and a few other countries around the globe dining on pork or even pig-shaped foods (sugar cookies cut out to look like pigs) means that you are pushing forward to the New Year since pigs move forward with their snouts and never move backwards. In Spain, people also eat 12 grapes right before midnight. In the Philippines, circles are very prevalent in foods served and in clothing worn. It is believed that eating a round fruit for every month of the year brings luck and then one more is consumed for extra wealth.
La Festa di San Silvestro is celebrated on New Year’s Eve. This is a big holiday in Italy. Italians prepare and dine on a dish of sausage with green lentils and sometimes escarole to ring in the New Year. This dish is called Cotechino e Lenticchie. Cotechino is a spicy sausage and Lenticchie is Italian for lentils.
As you’ve been reading along, you may have picked up on a common thread amongst these ethnic food traditions. There is a plethora of round food items being offered at this time of the year. These foods are shaped like coins, which represent prosperity. Leafy green vegetables resemble paper currency, which translates to wealth. Pork products are fatty and mean a growing wallet. It’s noted that lentils resemble the Roman coins from days of old right down to the patina. As they cook, the lentils plump up, which indicates a growth in prosperity. The sausages are cut into coin-like shapes as well. It becomes a win-win for kicking off the New Year the right way. Italians don’t consume champagne on this night, they enjoy Prosecco or Spumante – both are sparkling wines. Other foods on the menu may include risotto in bianco (this means white risotto), Zambone, which is a milder pork sausage and honey sesame seed cookies.
An item that isn’t food related, but one worth mentioning for it’s an unusual tradition, is that many Italians wear red undergarments on New Year’s Eve as this is supposed to guarantee passion and love in the coming year. Oh, and watch out for items that may be hurled out of windows as some Italians believe that you throw out old items to bring in new. New clothes are worn on New Year’s Day as gifts are exchanged between family members. Each gift must be carefully selected to be representative of prosperity and good health in the coming year. Typical gifts include honey jars, coins, silver, gold and even lamps. Celebrate your future fortune with a marvelous meal at this best Italian Orlando restaurant. Happy New Year!
