It’s a southern tradition to gather as a family on New Year’s Day and celebrate by eating a meal full of certain foods. These foods are meant to bring luck, health, wealth, etc. and each has a meaning. Now, these meanings obviously vary by family, but these are the basics so maybe you can start a nice tradition with your family next year!
Pork for Luck
Starting with the main dish, pork is supposed to bring you luck in the new year. The more pork you have in a meal, the better luck you will have. So as a rule, you include a little bit of it in every dish. To top it off, I make a Seared Pork Tenderloin to really ramp up the luck. All this pork makes me want to eat something a bit healthier.
Greens for Wealth
Greens = Money, makes sense to me! Greens aren’t for everyone, but if you cook them right, with the right additional ingredients, they can be pretty spectacular. In addition, greens usually have a fair amount of ham hock or bacon cooked in with it for flavor and luck. I’ll take all the luck I can get, so I scarf down my Turnip Greens with gusto.
Peas or Beans for Prosperity
While greens resemble crumpled dollar bills, beans and peas resemble coins if you squint enough. The thought is if you eat black-eyed peas or lentils on New Year’s Day, coins will flow into your pockets and not out. While this feels like a bit of a stretch to me, black-eyed peas are so good I’ll take a leap of faith and have second helpings. In our meal, we had two different black-eyed pea dishes: Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas, and then a Beans and Barley Salad to add a little variety (and vegetables). Both were spectacular, so I will make these every year.
Cornbread for Gold
Eating cornbread is a truly southern meal addition, and in this case, it is supposed to represent gold. Eating cornbread brings gold, count me in. Traditional cornbread is unsweetened, and a bit bland for my midwestern palate. Even with butter. And if you have tried the recipe on the back of the Jiffy box, you are obviously looking for a better recipe… So, I found this Cornbread Casserole recipe in our family cookbook. It is easy to put together and bakes up into a memorable, golden dish. It can also be made the day before to help ease the cooking burden. (I forgot to take pictures of the finished product, I’ll add it later)
Potlikker for Resourcefulness
“Ummm, you spelled that wrong…” Nope, Potlikker is a super traditional recipe which uses the broth from the greens to make a heart warming soup. The use of leftover ingredients to make more food, to me, represents resourcefulness and using what you have wisely. Starting a year off using the liquid from one dish to create another entirely delicious meal, is starting on the right foot to use your money wisely. (I forgot to write this one down, I’ll publish it shortly.)
Unlucky Foods for New Years Day…
If there are lucky dishes, ingredients, etc. then there should obviously be unlucky ones. Lobsters, prawns, and shrimp are thought to be unlucky since they swim backward. Eating these to start the year will see you not getting anywhere. Chicken is thought to be the same, since they scratch backward while foraging, again with avoiding going backward. If I come across any other mentions, I’ll be sure to add them here!