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New Year’s food traditions offer recipe for good luck

To say this past year was full of challenges is putting it mildly;  it is no wonder people around the globe are ready for a new year. Personal chef Jill Aker-Ray says food is often believed to be the way to good luck and fortune.

“In Roman culture it was very traditional to give a leather bag of lentils...in hopes of it turnings into gold coins,” she says.

Some cultures have a smashing good time when seeking out their fortune.

“In Denmark it’s tradition to go your neighbors home, take your old plate and you smash it at the doorway, and the more shards that you get, the more luck you have in the coming year,” Aker-Ray says. “In Greek culture pomegranates at the stroke of midnight are pummeled at the front door of the home.  The more seeds that fall the more good fortune you have.

Soba noodles are the New Year’s food of choice in Asian cultures, where slurping the noodles without breaking them is said to bring good luck.

Spaniards prefer grapes, popping one at each stroke of midnight representing the months of the year.

One of the sweetest traditions includes a peppermint pig, for prosperity.  After it’s smashed, each piece represents the sweetness of the coming year.

And while you may not want to clean on New Year’s, it may help move 2020 into the past.

“In Mexico, many tias and abuellas sweep out every corner of the house to brush away and get the bad and stagnant energy and residual dirt in to the coming year,” Aker-Ray says.