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December 29, 2005

Black-eyed peas said to bring good luck

CNHI News Service

Some celebrate the new year by making resolutions.

Others sit in front of the television and count down the seconds until the ball drops, then party until the break of dawn.

And then there are those who cook up a steaming bowl of black-eyed peas and scarf them down, hoping that the New Year's tradition brings them good luck.

Consuming black-eyed peas is the best known U.S. tradition during the New Year's holiday. The tradition, which began in the South, is said to bring good fortune and prosperity.

A traditional Southern New Year's meal includes ham, corn bread, black-eyed peas, and collard greens. Black-eyed peas are thought to bring wealth because they resemble coins, not to mention they swell when cooked. The swelling is said to symbolize prosperity for the New Year. Collard greens are associated with wealth because they are green like money.

Pat Stinson of Webb City, Mo., carries on her family's tradition of eating black-eyed peas on the first day of the new year.

"It came from my grandmother who lived in Arkansas," she said. "We would always tell the children, 'Just take a bite for good luck.'"

Eileen Nichols, also of Webb City, remembers eating black-eyed peas with family friends in Texas.

"It was a county north of Dallas, a farm community, and everyone insisted on having black-eyed peas for the New Year," she said. "If you didn't eat them on New Year's Day, it was said that you would have bad luck all year."

The Web site www.allrecipes.com offers information about how people around the world prep their dinner table to celebrate the new year.

Greece

There is a Greek tradition of eating a special cake called vasilipita on New Year's Day. Vasilipita is a cake baked with a coin inside. When the cake is served, the person who bites into the piece of cake with the coin will supposedly be blessed with good luck in the year to come.

Japan

The three-day Japanese New Year celebration begins Jan. 1. Holiday foods are prepared in advance so that everyone -- including the cook -- can relax.

Good luck can be ensured by sucking the extra long soba noodles into your mouth without breaking them.

Spain

People in Spain observe the new year by eating 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight. The good-luck tradition began with a bountiful grape harvest years ago.

Italy

Cotechino con lenticchie is an Italian dish, traditionally served on the New Year's holiday, that is thought to symbolize abundance. The dish is pork sausage served over lentils. The sausage is symbolic because it is rich in fat, and the lentils because of their coin-shape and green color.

Rachel Kubicek writes for The Joplin (Mo.) Globe.

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