12 New Year’s Food Traditions From Around the World

You may toast the arrival of the new year with a glass of champagne, but does your New Year’s menu reflect any other special family traditions? It probably depends on where you live. From black-eyed peas and grapes to pomegranates and chocolate mousse, these “good luck” foods from around the world just might inspire you to add something new to your own holiday menu this year.

1. American South: Black-Eyed Peas & Collards

This traditional New Year’s dish in the American South is comprised of black-eyed peas and rice, often served with cornbread and collard greens. The black-eyed peas symbolize coins, the cornbread represents gold and the collard greens are the color of money. It’s an easy enough conclusion: Eating this dish is supposed to bring you good luck (and fortune) in the new year.

2. Germany & Austria: Marzipanschwein

We may call it New Year’s Eve, but many Austrians and Germans know the final day of the year as Sylvesterabend, or the eve of Saint Sylvester. They celebrate with a spicy red wine punch and suckling pig for dinner. But the best part just might be their table decorations, which consist of miniature “good luck” pigs made of marzipan, otherwise known as marzipanschwein.

3. Mexico: Tamales

We all know tamales are a traditional Mexican dish, but did you know they are consumed at high frequency around the new year? Stuffed to the brim with meat and cheese and wrapped in a corn husk (or banana leaf), tamales are said to symbolize strong family bonds as everyone gathers together to prepare and cook the iconic dish. Tourists can even find vendors selling steamed tamales on almost every street corner from New Year’s Eve to New Year’s Day.

4. Italy: Lentils

Lentils are commonly found in Italian homes on New Year’s Eve. These round legumes symbolize coins. In addition to being a nutritious way to start the new year, they suggest that your household will be prosperous in the year ahead. Most Italian households serve these alongside pork or sausages.

5. The Netherlands: Oliebollen

If you’ve never celebrated the new year in the Netherlands, you may not know what oliebollen even are. Translated to fried oil balls, these tasty treats are sold at celebratory fairs and from street carts and often eaten on New Year’s Eve. What do they taste like? The best way to describe them is a doughnut dumpling made by frying a scoop of currant- or raisin-filled dough before shaking them off and dusting them in powdered sugar.

6. Scandinavia: Pickled Herring

People in many parts of Scandinavia dine on pickled herring on New Year’s Eve in hopes of bringing good luck and prosperity to their homes in the coming year. But you can’t just eat them whenever you please. This specific dish is reserved to be eaten at the stroke of midnight, and often alongside a cream sauce or side of onions.

7. Spain: Grapes

If you find yourself in Spain when the clock strikes twelve, you may be surprised to see people eating one grape for every toll of the bell. Some people even peel and core them ahead of time so they can quickly and easily eat one per clock stroke. The tradition is said to have started at the turn of the 20th century, thanks to a bumper crop of grapes in the southern region, and has continued ever since.

8. Denmark and Norway: Kransekage

As tasty as it is beautiful, kransekage translates to “wreath cake” and is a beloved tradition among residents of Denmark and Norway. These beautiful marzipan cakes contain a bottle of wine in the center and are often decorated with flags, crackers and other holiday ornaments.

See more: The History Behind Traditional Christmas Foods

9. Greece: Pomegranates

Pomegranates have traditionally been associated with fertility, which may explain why their seeds are thrown across the floor in a fun-filled Greek tradition symbolizing fertility and abundance in the new year. If you’d rather avoid scattering them across your house, you could always top your morning toast with the seeds and hope for the best.

See more: 18 Holiday Appetizer Recipes to Get the Party Started This Season

10. Armenia: Good Luck Bread

Few of us can argue with the tradition of eating good luck bread to bring in the new year. This Armenian tradition involves a large, flat loaf of baked bread, within which a single coin is hidden. Whoever finds the coin is said to be the recipient of good luck throughout the new year.

11. Wales: Apples

In Wales, an ancient tradition exists that is often referred to as the “Calennig.” While this translates quite literally to “New Year’s celebration,” it usually refers to the tradition of skewering apples coated with diced fruits, herbs and nuts. Throughout the centuries, you’d often spot this dessert propped up on three legs to make a curious and edible centerpiece. Legend also says you need to finish it up before noon on Jan. 1, or else you’re considered a fool.

12. Japan: Soba Noodles

While you can devour soba noodles any time of year, the Japanese find them particularly celebratory on New Year’s Eve. It’s a longstanding tradition dating all the way back to the 17th century. On the last day of the year, the Japanese bid farewell to the year behind and hello to the one ahead, and the long noodles represent a long and prosperous life in Japanese culture.