Even for people who aren't normally superstitious, lots of New Year's
traditions revolve around ritualistic ways to ensure you have a good year, including that
midnight kiss. Lots of those traditions involve what you eat. Or, really, what you shouldn't eat.
Surf and turf might seem like the perfect meal for a fancy New Year's shindig, but some cultures say
lobster is a dish to skip. Smithsonian Magazine notes that the crustaceans are considered bad
luck because they move backwards. According to Classroom, the superstition can be traced back
to Austria and Eastern Europe, where it's believed that eating any New Year's meal
that moves backwards will cause setbacks in the year to come. One Kind Planet notes that
lobsters swim forwards, obviously, but they can quickly go backwards when they sense a predator.
Other shellfish like shrimp and crabs are also considered bad luck because they move
from side to side. The only seafood considered to bring good luck is fish that only swim forwards,
like salmon, which is considered especially lucky because it swims in schools,
which promotes prosperity and progress in the year ahead.
"Salmon for everyone! On me!"
Like we said, any fish that swims forwards is considered a lucky New
Year's entrée. That's particularly true if the fish has shiny scales,
according to Southern Kitchen. Pickled herring is considered a lucky tradition
in Germany and Sweden, and in China, they prefer the whole fish, eyeballs and all.
But make an exception for the bottom feeders, which include fish like cod, halibut, bass, and
worst of all: catfish. The superstition goes that if you feast on catfish, you'll be feeding off of
scraps for the year to come. That's because bottom feeders, as their name implies, scavenge for food
along the murky bottoms of lakes and oceans. Not what you want to be doing in your new year.
If you don't want your luck to fly away on New Year's Eve, then you're encouraged
to steer clear of chicken – or any type of bird, for that matter. The Victoria Advocate
explains that winged fowl such as chickens or turkeys scratch around in the dirt looking for
their food. So the superstition goes that if you consume these at the start of the year,
you'll likely be scratching in the dirt looking for food and fortune over the next 12 months.
Chickens and turkeys also move backwards while they scratch for food, so that's a double red
flag. Though it's hard to source where it came from, you may also hear that eating anything with
wings on New Year's Eve is also considered a no-no because it could symbolize your luck flying away.
"Good luck."
"Saying good luck is bad luck."
"I take it back."
"Taking it back's even worse luck."
Colorful foods are good luck on New Year's. The green and gold of collard greens and tamales,
respectively, symbolize wealth and prosperity. Oranges and tangerines
are lucky golden charms, too. Gifting, displaying,
or eating them in China means your year ahead will be chock full of luck and money.
By contrast, foods without a lot of color aren't so lucky. How Stuff Works explains
that Chinese tradition warns to avoid white foods like tofu, white potatoes, egg whites,
rice, and bread, unless the bread is served as a round cake. In China, white represents death,
mourning, and bad fortune. It's the color people wear to funerals. If you want to have a lucky and
lively new year, it's best to avoid white foods. Except sauerkraut, that is. It's popular among the
Pennsylvania Dutch and considered lucky on New Year's Eve, especially when paired with pork.
Since the 1700s, long soba noodles have been a traditional New Year's Eve delicacy. In Japan,
they're believed to promote longevity, health, resilience,
and luck. Spot explains that eaters should beware of any noodle that is cut short or broken in half,
though. Short noodles are a symbol of bad luck and a shortened lifespan.
This applies to noodles even after they go in your mouth. Don't bite them! And
don't cut them with knives or chopsticks when they're in the bowl in front of you. Slurping
down long noodles in their entirety is essential for longevity and luck.
If you were thinking of gifting your New Year's party host an assortment of herbs,
leave out the parsley, the Darlington & Stockton
Times warns. There's a superstition about it that dates all the way back to 1600.
The book "25 Essential Herbs You Need To Know" offers the backstory. The legend
goes that a Greek army on its way to battle encountered some donkeys covered
in parsley. They interpreted the animals as a sign of impending doom and retreated.
"Run away! Run away! Run away!"
From then on, parsley became associated with death in Greece. Garden Betty Explains that it
was used to decorate wreaths at funerals and placed on top of graves to honor the dead.
At any time of year, slicing into a fresh loaf of bread and finding a huge, gaping hole
is considered to be a very bad omen. According to ABC News, air pockets in bread are thought to be a
symbol of a coffin and a premonition of impending death — either yours or someone's you know.
According to The Bread Guide, these holes are actually referred to as tunneling and
can be caused by a multitude of reasons, such as not kneading the dough enough,
being impatient with rising time, or using flour that's too dense.
Trapped carbon dioxide from the yeast causes these bready pits of despair. If your bread
isn't scored deeply enough, the gas can't escape and you'll be left with holey bread.
If you're even a wee bit superstitious, perhaps stay away from fresh loaves of
bread around New Year's Eve. Or you can slice the bread horizontally like one big
sandwich. If there are any big holes in the loaf, that'll fix the problem.
According to the language blog Learn German, it's customary in Germany to leave a portion
of food on your plate on New Year's Eve. The plate of leftovers is meant to sit out
past midnight to bring food abundance in the new year. Quad Cities Daily notes that
finishing all of your food on New Year's Eve is believed to actually bring about a spell of
bad luck. So maybe just leave a nibble or two on your plate at the end of your festivities.
So why are there so many food-related New Year's superstitions? Anthropology
professor Nan Rothschild told the New York Times,
"To say that a food brings good luck is a way of controlling the environment and one's destiny."