The Cook’s Corner
If you’re the suspicious type, seize the moment. There’s a huge handful of foods one can eat around the New Year which are thought to ensure luck for the next 365 days.
Pomegranate, generally found in smoothies this time of year, is thought to invoke abundance and fertility by those living in Turkey and the surrounding Mediterranean countries. Pretzels, so say the Germans, bring wealth and success. Lots of cultures boast of some sort of good luck cake, but my favorite is Vasilopita, a spongy citrus-flavored cake with a coin baked in it. It is often cut up and eaten at the stroke of midnight, and if you find the coin in your slice, good luck will follow! In southern tradition, black-eyed peas and collard greens are good luck soul foods. Black-eyed peas are thought to bring luck in general and collard greens are thought to bring fortune, as the leaves are green like money. Pork and cabbage are eaten all over eastern Europe on New Year’s Day and is my personal favorite analogy: supposedly because pigs move in a forward motion when they root for food, therefore symbolizing progress. Some forms of cabbage usually accompanies it since, like collard greens, it symbolizes money.
So try a culinary bite of good luck this year and even if you don’t try any at the stroke of midnight or the following day, have a bite sometime in January. I’m pretty sure the luck is still potent in the leftovers!
Hope Ratliff
Chef
hratliff@saratogaresortandspa.com