New Year's Good Luck Menu

Here it is, a few days out from New Year's 2011 and we are busy finalizing a New Year's Eve menu featuring a whirlwind, round the world gathering of tradition foods to bring good luck in the New Year. Pretty interesting, so we thought we'd share.
Here's a partial list of the food and dishes that people feel will hearken a Prosperous New Year!

Lentils and Black Eyed Peas
Legumes like Lentils have a long standing connection symbolizing wealth due to their round shape which resemble coins it is said. Also, they swell as they cook symbolizing a swelling of wealth for those consuming them.
Similarly Black Eyed Peas symbolize coins, but also have a good luck connection apparently due to folk stories from the Civil War when the town of Vicksburg, Mississippi ran out of most food and survived on black eyed peas. Good luck indeed!

Pork
Pigs root forward with their noses, symbolizing progress and therefore are another New Year's food. Chickens on the other hand scratch backward, and should never be served on New Year's.
Pork's connection to fat and richness is another reason for it's place on the New Year's table.


Greens
As in folding money... and hence it's connection to the good luck meal. It's said the more greens your eat on New Year's the greater fortune you can expect in the coming year. In Germany it is consumed as Sauerkraut, in the American South, collards are the greens of choice.



Grapes
In Spain and many of it's former colonies, it's tradition to swallow twelve grapes on Midnight on New Year's Eve to bring luck to the New Year. There's two thing's we love about this tradition.
One - The level of sweetness in each grape is said to predict the sweetness (or lack thereof) in the corresponding month. Fourth grape a little sour? Watch out for April...
Two - The entire tradition of swallowing grapes is purported to have been started by the Alicante region of vineyards to handle an over-abundant harvest!

Fish
Cod specifically. The abundance and nourishment that Salt Cod brought to so many remote areas of the globe, before refrigeration of quick transportation, have insured it's legacy as a symbol of prosperity.


Noodles
The longer the better! Noodles have long symbolized longevity and New Year's is the perfect time to aspire to a long health and successful life!

Cakes
Cakes or cookies either round or ring shaped have a long history of being served at New Year's to bring longevity, symbolized by the continuity of the circle.

So choose your menu with care, but whatever you find on the table, all of us at DM Cuisine wish you a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!